Source: https://fincobra.com/blog/bitcoin-or-usdc-checkout.html


# Bitcoin or USDC Checkout: Pick the Rail by Invoice Timing

If you are searching **bitcoin or usdc checkout**, you already know both rails exist.

The remaining question is not “which coin is better?”

It is: **which rail belongs on this invoice**, given how you bill.

**Quick answer:** Due-date and net-terms invoices need USDT or USDC enabled. Bitcoin is **not** used on due-date invoices. Immediate countdown invoices can take BTC, stables, or both. You create one USD-priced invoice; the buyer pays with any method you enabled, on `/pay/:id`.

If you already picked the rail and need the implementation page, stop here:

- [Accept Bitcoin payments with your own wallet](https://fincobra.com/blog/accept-bitcoin-payments-with-your-own-wallet.html)
- [Accept USDT and USDC on Ethereum](https://fincobra.com/blog/accept-usdt-and-usdc-payments-on-ethereum.html)

This page is only the timing decision.

## The split that actually matters

| Invoice timing | Bitcoin | USDT or USDC |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Immediate countdown (`expiresAfterMinutes` 1–1440) | Yes | Yes |
| Due date + grace (`dueAfterDays` 1–60, grace 0–90) | **No** | **Required** |

That pairing is in the Checkout docs, not a preference. Due-date invoices require an enabled USDT or USDC payment method. Bitcoin payment methods are only used for immediate invoices.

Volatility is a real merchant concern. It is not the rule that decides the rail.

## Due-date / net terms → enable USDT or USDC

Use due-date timing when the invoice should stay payable through a due date and a grace window — net-7, net-30, a client bill that is not a 20-minute cart.

Documented bounds: `dueAfterDays` 1–60, `gracePeriodDays` 0–90. There is no live countdown. The invoice stays payable until `dueAt + gracePeriodDays`, then it expires.

Bitcoin does not participate on that invoice. If you only enabled a Bitcoin method, you do not have a due-date rail.

Enable USDT and/or USDC **before** you create the net-terms invoice. Then create the invoice. Do not wait until the buyer opens `/pay/:id` to discover the only method is BTC.

## Immediate countdown → Bitcoin, stables, or both

Use immediate timing for a standard checkout clock.

`expiresAfterMinutes` must be between 1 and 1440. The hosted page shows the countdown. The buyer pays before `payableUntilAt`, or the invoice expires.

On that clock, you can enable:

- **Bitcoin only** — unique address from your xpub, quoted in BTC against the USD amount
- **USDT / USDC only** — dollar-stable settlement on the networks you turned on
- **Both** — one invoice; the buyer picks

Pick Bitcoin when the buyer is Bitcoin-native and you will live with a BTC quote that moves until they broadcast. Pick stables when you want the paid amount to stay a dollar. Enable both when you do not want to guess.

## One USD invoice, buyer picks on /pay/:id

Each invoice is one USD payment request. Minimum `amountUsd` is 0.01.

You do not choose the coin on a standard invoice create. The dashboard methods become `paymentOptions[]`. Send the buyer to `https://fincobra.com/pay/:id`. They use any enabled method that exists on **that** invoice.

That is why timing has to be decided first. A due-date invoice will not grow a Bitcoin option because the buyer prefers BTC. An immediate invoice will only show the methods you actually enabled.

## Networks and where the funds land

| Network | Assets | Settlement |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Bitcoin | BTC | Unique invoice address derived from your Bitcoin xpub (ypub / zpub also accepted) |
| Ethereum mainnet | USDT, USDC | Wallet-contract or address-transfer → your Ethereum payout wallet |
| Solana | USDT, USDC | Connected wallet pays your Solana recipient wallet |
| Arbitrum One | **USDC only** | Wallet-contract or address-transfer → your Arbitrum payout wallet |
| Base | **USDC only** | Wallet-contract or address-transfer → your Base payout wallet |

No USDT on Arbitrum or Base.

Funds go to the wallets you configured. FinCobra records volume for billing; it does not hold a merchant balance you later withdraw.

## Bitcoin or USDC checkout when both rails are on

Enable both when your **default** invoices are immediate and your buyers are mixed.

Then a $49.99 invoice can be paid in BTC **or** USDC (or USDT) without a second create. That is the whole point of one USD invoice and a hosted `/pay/:id` page.

Do not enable Bitcoin as a “nice extra” if your real billing is due-date. It will not appear on those invoices. Enable the stablecoin method that due-date actually uses.

If most invoices are net terms and a few are 20-minute carts, enable stables for the book, and add Bitcoin only if those immediate carts need it.

## What this page is not choosing

Say the boundaries once.

- **No Lightning.** There is no LN invoice. If the job is sats over Lightning, this is the wrong product.
- **No fiat bank settlement.** Funds land in your crypto wallets. There is no “get paid in USD to the bank” path.
- **No Shopify app.** Hosted invoices and the Checkout API. Not a cart adapter.
- **No any-token catalog.** Not native ETH. Not Tron. Not Polygon. Coinbase Business lists Polygon for USDC pay-ins; FinCobra does not. Our EVM set is Ethereum, Arbitrum One, and Base, with USDC-only on the last two.

Those are other articles, or other products.

## Enable the methods, then create the invoice

1. Decide the invoice timing you actually use (immediate clock vs due date).
2. Enable the methods that timing allows (stables for due-date; BTC and/or stables for immediate).
3. Point wallets: Bitcoin xpub; EVM payout wallets; Solana recipient wallet.
4. Create the USD invoice and send the buyer to `/pay/:id`.

Checkout billing is Free Start on the first $1,000 of paid invoice volume, then 0.5% of paid volume, billed monthly in arrears. Unpaid invoices do not count.

If that is the model — hosted invoice, your wallets, documented rails — book a **live walkthrough** and configure **your own wallets**. Docs: [configuration](https://fincobra.com/docs/checkout/configuration.html), [invoices](https://fincobra.com/docs/checkout/invoices.html), [billing](https://fincobra.com/docs/checkout/billing.html).

If you already know you only want Bitcoin, use the [own-wallet Bitcoin page](https://fincobra.com/blog/accept-bitcoin-payments-with-your-own-wallet.html). If you already know you only want stables, use the [USDT/USDC Ethereum page](https://fincobra.com/blog/accept-usdt-and-usdc-payments-on-ethereum.html).

Do not turn this URL into a second how-to for either query.