How to Pay an Onchain Invoice From Bitcoin

Paying an onchain merchant invoice from a Bitcoin wallet means delivering the requested asset to the invoice’s address on its specified blockchain. The decisive condition is that your wallet holds—or can produce—the exact asset on that chain before the invoice expires.

What exactly does the invoice require?

Read the invoice fields before choosing a payment route; a Bitcoin amount alone does not identify what the merchant will accept.

1. Record the chain, token contract, amount, recipient, memo and expiry. An invoice for 0.01 BTC on Bitcoin calls for a native Bitcoin payment. An invoice for 0.01 renBTC on Ethereum calls for an ERC-20 transfer on Ethereum; sending BTC to the displayed Ethereum address cannot satisfy it. Treat the chain and contract address as part of the payment instructions.
2. Check whether the invoice allows partial payment or overpayment. Some processors match an exact amount and memo; others tolerate small differences or issue a new invoice if the rate changes. Ask the merchant for a fresh invoice if the asset, chain or payment window is unclear.

Can a Bitcoin wallet pay an invoice on another chain?

A Bitcoin wallet cannot directly sign an Ethereum transaction, so a cross-chain invoice requires an intermediate conversion or a service that accepts Bitcoin and pays the merchant. In the legacy RenVM route, how to move funds after RenBridge depends on the destination asset and chain, since the bridge’s wrapped output had to match what the receiving app accepted.

1. Confirm that the invoice accepts a live asset and route. RenBridge historically locked BTC in a RenVM gateway and, after Bitcoin confirmations, allowed Darknodes to authorize minting renBTC to an Ethereum address. The merchant then had to accept that specific token on Ethereum. This was a two-chain flow: a Bitcoin deposit, followed by a separate Ethereum token payment.
2. Check whether RenBridge is operating before sending anything. As of 20 October 2026, RenBridge is discontinued, so do not send BTC to an old gateway address or rely on a legacy interface to complete a new invoice. An existing address is not proof that deposits will be processed, and a Bitcoin confirmation cannot reverse a transfer to a gateway that no longer services it.

What is the shortest workable payment path now?

Use the shortest route that ends with the invoice’s exact asset on its exact chain, and confirm that route can complete before expiry.

1. If the invoice is payable in native Bitcoin, pay it directly. Copy the invoice’s Bitcoin address or use its payment request, enter the exact BTC amount, and include the required data if your wallet supports it. Set a competitive fee rate based on current mempool conditions; a transaction that confirms after the invoice expires may not be credited automatically.
2. If the invoice requires a token on another chain, obtain that token through a currently supported service. Use a provider only if it explicitly supports the source BTC, destination chain and requested token, and can deliver before the invoice deadline. Check the receiving address, network, minimum amount and refund policy in the quote. If the provider sends native BTC while the invoice expects an ERC-20 token, the payment is still wrong.
3. When direct BTC-to-token payment is unavailable, use a two-leg route. First acquire the invoice token on the required chain, then pay the merchant from a wallet that can sign on that chain. This requires a funded source account or an exchange that supports both withdrawals. Allow for withdrawal delays and destination-chain gas; a token balance without enough gas cannot make the final transfer.

How do you verify the payment and avoid a mismatch?

Verify both legs independently, because a confirmed Bitcoin transaction does not establish that the merchant received an onchain token payment.

1. Before the final transfer, compare every invoice parameter. Check the chain ID, recipient, token contract, amount and memo against the merchant’s current invoice. For an ERC-20 payment, send the token contract’s asset, not native ETH or a token with a similar ticker. If the invoice has expired, request a replacement instead of assuming the amount remains valid.
2. After sending, give the merchant the transaction hash for the payment chain. Confirm that the transaction succeeded, the token contract is correct, and the recipient address received the required amount. Keep the Bitcoin transaction hash too if a conversion service was involved; it documents the source leg but does not substitute for the destination receipt.

• Pay native Bitcoin invoices directly from a Bitcoin wallet.
• For token invoices, match the chain, contract, amount and expiry exactly.
• RenBridge is discontinued; do not use a legacy gateway to fund a new payment.
• Verify the destination-chain receipt with the merchant.