As more of the world’s cash balances migrate into Bitcoin, it enriches those who have chosen to store their value in this $2 trillion-sized digital asset class.
If you’ve held any Bitcoin over the last 1, 2, 3 or even four cycles, you’re sitting on some pretty sweet gains and good on you for managing to hold on to those funds for so long.
But with newfound purchasing power comes a new set of problems; spending Bitcoin still has considerable friction, and that may be why many have kept their Bitcoin instead of spending it.
Despite the growth in Bitcoin adoption and the emergence of circular economies, spending Bitcoin directly isn’t easy; you have to go out of your way to find a merchant, or worse, have to sell or swap your Bitcoin into fiat currency before you can spend it.
Talk about a pain!
Reducing that friction for customers and merchants is how we get sats out of cold storage or sticky hot wallets and have them circulating to facilitate trade.
Recently, JAN3 and BTCPay Server have joined forces to launch the Samrock Protocol—a revolutionary solution designed to streamline Bitcoin merchant payments and address long-standing challenges in cryptocurrency commerce.
BTC Pay Server, Your Friendly Neighbourhood Payment Processor
If you’re not willing or comfortable with letting a company process your Bitcoin payments, you could always lean on the open-source software application BTCPay Server.
It’s free and self-hosted, compatible with many Node in a Box setups, and enables businesses and individuals to accept Bitcoin and Lightning Network payments directly into their own wallets, without fees or intermediaries.Â
However, not particularly normie-friendly.
Merchants often needed to copy XPUBs manually, manage derivation paths, and operate Lightning nodes to receive payments.Â
The SamRock Protocol eliminates these steps with a simple QR code handshake between the AQUA wallet and BTCPay Server.
What is the Samrock Protocol?
The Samrock Protocol enables merchants to accept Bitcoin, Liquid, and Lightning payments through a unified, simplified system. This protocol is specifically engineered to eliminate the technical barriers that have traditionally prevented widespread merchant adoption of Bitcoin payments.
The protocol builds upon the robust foundation of BTCPay Server to create a comprehensive solution that addresses multiple payment layers within the Bitcoin ecosystem.
Particularly aimed at expanding invoicing services to those who might not be ready to become Bitcoin power users overnight and require some hand-holding.
Of course, there are trade-offs!
While the BTC Pay Server can be self-hosted and your On-chain payments are self-custodied, you are leveraging a “trustodial model” as you rely on the Liquid federation for your L-BTC payments. In contrast, Aqua Lightning does rely on Boltz to assist with Liquid-to-Lightning swaps on the backend.
If you’re comfortable giving up complexity for trust in their expertise, then this shouldn’t be a concern. If you are starting to process considerable volumes, you can always rebalance and move funds on-chain, reducing your exposure to the federation and third parties in the tech stack.
The Problem: Traditional Bitcoin Payment Challenges
Traditional Bitcoin merchant payments have faced several significant obstacles, namely:
Technical Complexity
Setting up Bitcoin payment systems has historically required substantial technical knowledge. Merchants needed to understand blockchain technology, manage private keys, configure Lightning Network nodes, and navigate complex wallet setups—barriers that deterred many businesses from adopting Bitcoin payments.
Custodial Risks
Many existing payment processors require merchants to trust third parties with their Bitcoin, creating custodial risks where merchants don’t have full control over their funds. This arrangement contradicts Bitcoin’s fundamental principle of financial sovereignty and introduces counterparty risk.
Lightning Network Adoption Friction
While the Lightning Network offers fast, low-cost Bitcoin transactions, its adoption has been hindered by the complexity of channel management, liquidity requirements, and technical setup procedures that many merchants find overwhelming.
Multi-Layer Payment Confusion
Bitcoin’s ecosystem includes multiple payment layers—base layer Bitcoin transactions, Lightning Network payments, and sidechains like Liquid. Managing payments across these different layers has been fragmented and confusing for merchants.
The Samrock Protocol Solution
The SamRock Protocol addresses long-standing challenges in Bitcoin payments: reducing technical friction, removing custodial risks, and simplifying Lightning adoption. Here’s how it accomplishes these goals:
Unified Payment Interface
The Samrock Protocol provides merchants with a single, cohesive interface to accept payments across Bitcoin’s main layer, Lightning Network, and Liquid sidechain. This unified approach eliminates the need for merchants to manage separate systems for different payment types, significantly simplifying the user experience.
Non-Custodial Architecture
Building on BTCPay Server’s philosophy, the Samrock Protocol maintains a non-custodial approach where merchants receive payments P2P, directly to their software or hardware wallet. This ensures that merchants retain full control over their Bitcoin at all times, eliminating counterparty risk and maintaining the sovereign nature of Bitcoin ownership.
Simplified Lightning Integration
The protocol streamlines Lightning Network integration by automating much of the complex setup and management processes. Merchants can now access Lightning’s benefits—instant settlements and minimal fees—without needing deep technical knowledge of channel management or network topology.
Reduced Technical Barriers
By abstracting away the technical complexities while maintaining the security and decentralisation benefits, the Samrock Protocol makes Bitcoin payments accessible to merchants regardless of their technical expertise.
Key Features and Benefits
For Merchants
- Zero Processing Fees: Like BTCPay Server, the Samrock Protocol operates with no merchant processing fees, allowing businesses to keep 100% of their Bitcoin payments minus only network transaction fees.
- Enhanced Privacy: The protocol maintains BTCPay Server’s commitment to privacy, ensuring that merchant payment data isn’t shared with third parties or stored on external servers.
- Multi-Currency Support: Beyond Bitcoin, the protocol supports Liquid Bitcoin and Lightning payments, providing flexibility in how customers choose to pay.
- Easy Integration: The protocol can be integrated with existing e-commerce platforms and point-of-sale systems, making adoption straightforward for businesses already using BTCPay Server or similar solutions.
- Hardware Wallet Compatibility: Merchants can connect their hardware wallets directly to the system, maintaining the highest levels of security for their Bitcoin holdings.
For Customers
- Flexible Payment Options: Customers can choose to pay via standard Bitcoin transactions, Lightning Network for instant payments, or Liquid for enhanced privacy and faster settlement.
- Improved User Experience: The unified payment interface provides a smoother checkout process, reducing confusion about which payment method to use.
- Lower Fees: Lightning Network integration means customers can make small purchases with minimal transaction fees.
Technical Implementation
The first implementation is the Aqua.BTCPayPlugin, which enables a seamless connection between AQUA and BTCPay in just a few steps:
- Install the SamRock plugin in BTCPay Server.Â
- Click on the “SamRock Protocol” Button in the left navigation bar on the BTCPay Server dashboard.
- After clicking the button, select which payment methods to accept:
- Bitcoin (on-chain)
- Liquid
- Lightning
- BTCPay Server generates a QR code containing a temporary setup link.
- Create a new wallet for the store (you can have multiple wallets within the AQUA app).
- Scan the QR with AQUA wallet, which securely sends back the required public data.
- The BTCPay Server plugin configures the store with this information without ever storing or seeing private keys.
- Receive payments in BTCPay Server and see them in your AQUA wallet.
Industry Impact and Implications
The launch of the Samrock Protocol represents more than just a new payment solution—it signals a maturation of Bitcoin’s merchant payment infrastructure. Several implications emerge from this development:
- Accelerated Merchant Adoption: By removing technical barriers and custodial risks, the protocol could significantly accelerate merchant adoption of Bitcoin payments, particularly among small and medium-sized businesses that previously found Bitcoin integration too complex.
- Competitive Advantage for Bitcoin: As traditional payment processors face increasing scrutiny over fees, censorship, and privacy concerns, solutions like the Samrock Protocol position Bitcoin as a compelling alternative that offers merchants greater control and lower costs.
- Lightning Network Growth: Simplified Lightning integration could drive increased adoption of Bitcoin’s second-layer solution, contributing to network growth and improved liquidity across Lightning channels.
Getting Started with the Samrock Protocol
For merchants interested in implementing the Samrock Protocol, the process builds on BTCPay Server’s established deployment methods:
Prerequisites
- Basic understanding of Bitcoin layers
- Ability to run self-hosted software (or access to cloud deployment options)
- Compatible hardware or cloud node
- An Aqua Wallet
More To Come
The roadmap for SamRock also includes:
- Support for Liquid assets like USDt is on the horizon.
- Additional wallet integrations are in the pipeline, starting with Bull Bitcoin and Zaprite.
- An effort is underway to formalise the SamRock Protocol as an open standard that other wallets and platforms can implement.
Start Accepting & Spending Bitcoin
The Samrock Protocol represents a significant advancement in Bitcoin merchant payment infrastructure. By combining JAN3’s innovation with BTCPay Server’s proven track record, this solution addresses fundamental challenges that have limited Bitcoin’s adoption in commercial settings.
For merchants waiting for a simpler and more secure way to accept Bitcoin payments, the Samrock Protocol offers a promising solution. A solution that can offer training wheels and provide support, for a later upgrade to a fully non-custodial payment processing stack in the future.
Do your own research.
If you want to learn more about the SamRock protocol, use this article as a starting point. Don’t trust what we say as the final word. Take the time to research other sources, and you can start by checking out the resources below.
