Accelerating Bitcoin adoption: 2024 in review & 2025 ambitions

Posted in Releases by Pavlenex, r0ckstarDev on 1/21/2025

BTCPay Server Blog

2024 marked one of the most transformative years in BTCPay Server's seven-year journey. Here we highlight our key achievements showcasing the progress made and detailing ambitions for the year ahead, that ensure BTCPay Server continues to lead the way in empowering merchants, developers, activists and local communities (opens new window) to embrace Bitcoin as a medium of exchange.

# Our Mission

We empower individuals and businesses with tools to accept Bitcoin payments directly, eliminating trusted third parties and fees. By creating open-source, privacy-focused infrastructure, we provide merchants, developers, and community leaders with solutions that break down geographic, political, and financial barriers, driving the global adoption of Bitcoin.

# Our Vision

We want to help transform the global financial landscape and make Bitcoin the universal standard for payments. We aim to lead by example in this evolution by fostering innovation and adoption through open-source, censorship-resistant, and self-custodial technologies, building a future where tools for financial freedom are accessible to all.

# 2024 Key achievements

# Major product milestones

  1. Release of BTCPay Server 2.0:
    • The most significant update since the project’s inception in 2017, BTCPay Server 2.0. (opens new window) addressed technical debt, improved user experience, and expanded integration capabilities.
    • Five subsequent minor releases shipped (2.0.1 to 2.0.5) ensured migration stability and addressed user feedback.
  2. Minor releases (Versions 1.2.4 through 1.13.5):
    • Focused on squashing bugs, making improvements, and adding smaller features, these incremental updates ensured the stability and usability of BTCPay Server.
  3. BTCPay cross-platform App development:
    • Significant efforts were made in developing the BTCPay App, culminating in a functional skeleton by year-end targeting a closed beta testing in Q1-Q2 2025.
    • The app aims to simplify non-custodial Lightning payments for merchants in physical retail, by leveraging the LDK (opens new window) and offering easy onboarding, backups, features such as enhanced integration with Lightning Service Providers (LSPs) and more.
  4. Documentary "My Trust in You is Broken"
  5. New e-commerce integrations:
    • Integration with leading e-commerce platforms, including BigCommerce, Odoo, XenForo, Wix, Shopify (V2 Update), GrandNode, and NopCommerce, Smartstore, PhocaCart (3rd party) unlocked the ability for potentially millions using these platforms to leverage Bitcoin as a payment option.
  6. Plugin ecosystem growth:
  7. Case studies & Bitcoin MOE initiatives:

# Community events and engagement

  1. BTCPay Day 2024 (Riga):
    • Over 170 attendees celebrated (opens new window) BTCPay’s achievements, including keynotes, panels, and the first public demo of the BTCPay App.
  2. Conferences and meetups:
    • BTCPay was showcased at major events, including Bitcoin Atlantis, Bitcoin Nashville, Baltic HoneyBadger and Nostriga, processing thousands of transactions and demonstrating real-world Bitcoin adoption.
    • Contributors also represented the project at BTCPrague, Oslo Freedom Forum, Plan B Lugano, Africa Bitcoin Conference, and numerous other industry events and meetups..
  3. Documentaries
    • Released the"My Trust in You is Broken (opens new window)" to highlight BTCPay’s journey and the value of open-source technology. The film won the Audience Choice Award at the Bitcoin Film Festival.
    • Released “Paid in Bitcoin (opens new window)” - capturing Bitcoin as a medium of exchange at the Bitcoin Conference 2024. BTCPay Server, in collaboration with Strike and Bitcoin Magazine, enabled every vendor to accept Bitcoin payments.
  4. Educational initiatives:

# Team growth and supporters

  1. BTCPay Foundation Supporters
    • 2024 saw the conclusion of Baillie Gifford's and Strike support for the BTCPay Foundation.
    • New supporters: Tether and Unbank.
    • The following entities currently support BTCPay Foundation: Spiral, OpenSats, Tether, LunaNode, Wallet of Satoshi, CoinCards, iVPN, Unbank
  2. Team structure
    • We welcomed new core member TChukwuleta (opens new window), focusing on plugin development, documentation and education.
    • Collaborated with Bitcoin Design and BitShala to onboard a new fellow designer, Sanya Malhotra (opens new window) through the 6-months BitShala Fellowship program.
    • The scheduled departure of two key contributors presents a significant challenge for the project. Kukks (opens new window) will transition to an advisory role, allowing us to continue benefiting from his expertise while he steps back from day-to-day responsibilities. Meanwhile, D11n (opens new window) will be inactive for the foreseeable future due to personal commitments, with his potential return to the project currently uncertain. To address these transitions, we are actively working on recruiting skilled developers who can uphold the high standards and momentum set by these incredible contributors.

# Looking ahead to 2025

As we move into 2025, our key priorities are centered on driving Bitcoin adoption in commerce, expanding the core team, and fortifying our plugin ecosystem. We aim to deliver three major releases of BTCPay Server (2.1.0 to 2.3.0), alongside regular minor updates to ensure stability and performance.

The BTCPay App will see significant progress, with a closed beta planned by Q2 and an open beta by Q4, bringing non-custodial lightning closer to retail merchants. Our efforts will also include six new e-commerce integrations and a redesigned plugin store to enhance user experience. All of these efforts should culminate with a redesigned btcpayserver.org ensuring proper

On the community front, we will focus on empowering ambassadors through educational materials, multilingual support, and community-building initiatives. Our educational strategy will include launching a new documentary, publishing case studies,enhancing documentation and participating in major industry events to increase projects visibility.

To ensure sustainability, we will strengthen our financial position by trying to find new funding sources, optimizing donation channels, and expanding our core team with at least 3 more developers to meet growing demands.

# Roadmap

Miro link to the roadmap here (opens new window)

# Q1: Laying the foundation

In the first quarter of 2025, we will focus on strengthening the team and establishing a solid foundation for the year. A key priority will be the recruitment and onboarding of new developers for both the BTCPay App and BTCPay Server, ensuring a stable team structure and clear ownership of key project areas. BTCPay Server 2.1.0 is scheduled for release, bringing multi-sig wallet improvements, new plugins, and transitioning XMR and ZEC integrations into community-maintained plugins. This shift allows the core team to remain focused on Bitcoin while reducing the burden of maintaining external projects. At the same time, the BTCPay App will move closer to closed beta testing, with advancements in authentication refactoring, manual backup, and new device pairing functionality. We’re confident that we’ll ship at least 2 new integrations with popular e-commerce platforms further enlarging the user base.

# Q2: App closed-beta and monetization for admins

In Q2, BTCPay Server 2.2.0 will ship, focusing on membership plugins,ensuring monetization options for server hosts. Furthermore we want to improve server reporting, and redesign the plugin store. For the BTCPay App, we aim to finalize LSP integration and restore functionality while initiating closed beta testing with users who host BTCPay for local communities. On the integration front, we will add compatibility with platforms like Cal.com, Salesforce, and GetPaid (WP), opening new opportunities for merchants. Alongside these updates, new plugins like the rate fallback plugin will further enhance the merchant experience by allowing them to have a safe net in case one of the price sources goes offline.

# Q3: Expanding features and usability

In the third quarter, our focus shifts to expanding features and improving usability. BTCPay Server 2.3.0 will introduce key updates such as admin default settings for user time zones and possible LSP integration for server users, alongside improvements to the plugin store. On the BTCPay App side, we’ll be testing and iterating on the feedback gathered from the closed beta phase, ensuring the app is running without critical bugs, while ensuring all feedback is logged in GitHub. New integrations, including SquareSpace (we still need to research the likelihood of integration) and additional plugins like the Cashu plugin, will strengthen our offering for merchants and users. Educational efforts will focus on Bitcoin for corporations and scaling ambassador communities.

# Q4: Polishing and open beta

The final quarter of the year will be dedicated to stabilizing and polishing. BTCPay Server minor releases in that period will focus on removing outdated features from the core codebase while maintaining and improving existing integrations. The BTCPay App will enter its open beta testing phase, marking a significant milestone in our journey to make non-custodial Bitcoin payments more accessible for physical stores worldwide. This quarter will also feature a revamped website launch to showcase our evolving product range to the adequate user-groups.

# Summary

2024 was a pivotal year for BTCPay Server, and we want to thank all of you who have been with us over the last 366 days. Your support has been instrumental in helping us deliver BTCPay 2.0, expand our plugin ecosystem, integrate Bitcoin into existing e-commerce solutions, and produce several educational videos, including two full-length documentaries.

We hope these efforts inspire businesses and individuals worldwide to embrace Bitcoin.

There’s so much more to achieve in 2025. If you have ideas on how we can collaborate and make the upcoming year even better, please reach out to us - let’s turn these ideas into reality together. 💚

Last Updated: 1/20/2025, 6:26:25 PM

The BTCPay Server Project is proudly supported by these entities through the BTCPay Server Foundation.

Spiral OpenSats Tether HRF LunaNode Wallet of Satoshi Coincards IVPN Unbank

If you'd like to support the project, please visit the donation page.