How to Handle Bitcoin Deposits with External APIs?

Hey everyone! I need to figure out how to handle Bitcoin deposits, but I'm not sure where to start. I can't run my own node right now since it means downloading the whole blockchain, which seems like a hassle. So, I’m looking into using external APIs only.

That sounds tough. Have you thought about BTCpayserver? You could avoid the whole blockchain download thing. If you set it up on a Raspi, you can run it in pruned mode. It provides unique BTC addresses for each transaction instead of using one address all the time.

Yeah, I don't get why it's so complicated. I thought crypto was supposed to simplify payments. I've seen that BTCpayserver thing, but I need something for Ethereum and Litecoin too. I want to stick with one deposit address to avoid all that confusion.

Payment gateways can handle this for you. There are options like CryptoApi and nowpayments that do this. Running a full node is pretty resource-heavy and it can get pretty technical.

I tried quicknode before and it works well. Just be ready to set up SSL, that's the only tricky part. After that, tracking balances is easy.

For me, it's all too technical. I prefer letting BTCpay handle my payments. It's open-source and you can add whichever coins you want. Just check out how to add them.

What do you mean by adding bitcoin? So I just ask them and they enable it? But it’s odd they don’t support Litecoin, which is pretty common for payments.

BTCpayserver takes no fees; all funds go straight to your own wallet. Pretty handy if you're using something like a Trezor. And yeah, it started as a Bitcoin thing, but they added more coins later on.

I get that, but why are you so set on one address? If you're using a custodial wallet, BTCpay won’t work as it needs a master public key.

bcoin lets you track balances through their API, but no Litecoin support there.

My concept needs a single deposit address. So BTCpay generating new ones won’t fit my needs. I thought I could just call an API for transaction data, but now I’m reconsidering.

Nah, you need separate addresses for each deposit. It’s like giving out invoice numbers. If you use the same address, it becomes a mess when multiple users send funds.

Thanks for clarifying. But I’m still refusing to budge on the single address thing. How I link users is my business, lol. It's like a donation address; just want to log incoming donations.

If it’s just for donations, don’t bother with BTCpay. A single BTC address works fine for that. But if you want to track who gives, then BTCpay is the way to go.

So, running my own node with Bitcoin Core is the best option? Is it really that much better than other tools for getting the data I need?