Support / Knowledge base / New to Bitcoin
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New to Bitcoin? Start here
Your phone can pay anywhere that takes Bitcoin, at home or on the road. No cash to carry, no card number handed over, and it clears in seconds. Here is why it is worth setting up.
Paying with Cash App? It pays from the dollars already in your balance. Step by step: Pay with Cash App.
Why would I want to pay with bitcoin?
More of it reaches the business. Card payments take a cut of every sale, and they can be reversed months after the fact. A Bitcoin payment settles in seconds and cannot be charged back, so the shop, the operator, or the truck you are buying from keeps more of what you hand over. On a small ticket that difference is most of the margin. You do not need to own any bitcoin to do this: Cash App and Strike both pay these codes straight from your dollar balance.
If you already hold bitcoin, this is the part where you get to use it. Plenty of people keep some because the dollar in their pocket buys a little less each year, and bitcoin has a fixed supply that no one can add to. Spending it directly at a business that takes it beats selling it first and paying with the proceeds. That is a view people hold rather than advice from us, and nothing here depends on it.
Paying from a Bitcoin wallet
Any wallet that supports the Lightning Network works: Strike, Phoenix, Wallet of Satoshi, Muun, Cash App's Bitcoin balance, and most others. At the machine or the register:
- Choose Bitcoin as the payment method
- A square code appears on the screen
- Open your wallet, tap scan, and scan the code
- Check the amount and confirm
The payment clears in seconds. There is no account to create with the business and nothing to sign up for. Strike can also pay from a dollar balance, the same way Cash App does.
Not doing this right now?
Send yourself the steps and set a wallet up when you have five minutes.
What to expect
It is fast. Payments confirm in seconds, not days.
It is final. A Bitcoin payment cannot be reversed once it clears, the same way handing over cash cannot be reversed. Check the amount before you confirm. More detail in Payment finality and chargebacks.
The code on the sticker is not the payment code. The code you scanned to reach this page is just a link to these instructions. The code you pay with is the one the machine or the register shows you at checkout, and it is different every time.
Small amounts are fine. There is no minimum. Lightning was built for small payments, so a two dollar vend works the same as a two hundred dollar one.
Common questions
Do I need to buy bitcoin first?
Not with Cash App. It can pay from your dollar balance. Other wallets pay from bitcoin you are
already holding.
Do I need to understand Bitcoin to use it?
No. If you can use a banking app and a camera, you can pay this way.
What if the code expires before I confirm?
Nothing is charged. Ask for a new code and try again.
What if I paid and did not get my item?
Contact the business first, the same as you would with any other payment. If a vending machine took
payment and did not dispense, the operator's contact information is usually on the machine.
Is my personal information shared with the business?
No. Paying this way does not hand the business your name, your phone number, or your card
details.
Who is riverArk?
riverArk is the payment software the business uses to accept Bitcoin. We are not your wallet and we
do not hold your money. Questions about your wallet, your balance, or your verification go to your
wallet app's support team.