Merchants

This page highlights key considerations for merchants who accept Cashu ecash in exchange for goods and services.

There are two recommended setups for accepting Cashu ecash as payment.

Accept Cashu ecash from trusted mints, then melt occasionally

You accept Cashu ecash as payment if the token is valid. You do not melt (convert it to LN sats) right away.

Keep in mind:

• Before accepting a token as payment, validate it by ensuring that
  • it has the correct amount
  • it has the correct unit
  • it is from one of your trusted mints
• If the received Cashu token is valid, always swap it before treating the transaction as complete.
• If you use NUT-18 Payment Requests, always specify the trusted mints in the m field of the request.
• Remember to regularly melt your cashu tokens to LN sats, for example when a certain balance is reached or at a set interval.
• Remember to account for swap and melt fees.

Accept Cashu ecash from any mint and immediately melt

You accept Cashu ecash from any mint, if the token is valid and you successfully melt it to LN right away.

Keep in mind:

• Before accepting a Cashu token as payment, validate it by ensuring that
  • it has the correct amount (expected LN amount + fee_reserve)
  • it has the correct unit
  • the token was successfully melted
• Remember to account for fee_reserve when showing the "pay with ecash" price in the UI (price when paying with Cashu = price when paying with LN + fee_reserve).
• Consider that fee_reserve may underestimate the LN fees, which can cause the melt to fail. In this case, consider increasing the fee_reserve.
• To reduce or eliminate LN fees, open LN channels with your trusted mints.