Bitcoin (BTC)
Bitcoin is the original cryptocurrency. Ounceo accepts BTC both on-chain (2 confirmations, ~20 minutes) and via Lightning Network (instant settlement, 0.5% discount). Quote prices are USD-denominated; the BTC amount is locked for 30 minutes against the live BTC/USD rate at quote issuance.
Paying in BTC is the simplest crypto-to-gold route. Ounceo supports both on-chain BTC and the Lightning Network. Lightning is preferred for orders below $2,000 — settlement is instant and the network fee is negligible. For larger orders, on-chain is usually more reliable.
The quote PDF we send by email contains either an on-chain receiving address or a Lightning invoice (BOLT 11). Pay from any wallet you control — Sparrow, Coldcard, Trezor, Trust Wallet, Phoenix, Breez.
Related terms
The Lightning Network is a second-layer payment protocol built on top of Bitcoin. It enables near-instant, low-fee transactions by routing payments through channels of pre-committed BTC. Ounceo accepts Lightning for any quote and applies a 0.5% discount because settlement is instant and reconciliation overhead is zero.
An on-chain confirmation is one block mined on top of the block containing your transaction. Ounceo requires 2 confirmations for BTC on-chain (~20 minutes), 10 for XMR (~20 minutes), 20 blocks for ETH and ERC-20/TRC-20 stablecoins (~5 minutes on ETH, ~1 minute on TRON, ~10 seconds on Solana).
Monero is a privacy-focused cryptocurrency that uses ring signatures, stealth addresses, and confidential transactions to make on-chain analysis infeasible. Ounceo accepts XMR directly (most bullion dealers route crypto through BitPay, which does not support XMR) and applies an automatic 1.5% discount.