SatSale primary sources — 2026-05-02

Project status in this pass

• No canonical standalone SatSale whitepaper or litepaper surfaced.
• The clearest current sources of truth were the official GitHub README plus the first-party Lightning and WooCommerce docs inside the repository.
• The materials consistently frame SatSale as self-hosted merchant acceptance infrastructure rather than as a hosted donation button or thin plugin.

Primary-source snapshots

1) Official repository README

• URL: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SatSale/SatSale/master/README.md
• Key excerpt:
  • The README says SatSale is a lightweight Bitcoin payment processor with the option of connecting to the operator’s own Bitcoin node or Lightning node.
  • It says SatSale can be used as an embeddable donation page, a WooCommerce payment gateway, and a versatile API and payments platform for onchain and Lightning payments.
  • That combination immediately makes the project look like merchant-control-plane infrastructure rather than a simple donation page.

2) Node verification and self-custody posture

• URL: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SatSale/SatSale/master/README.md
• Key excerpt:
  • The README says SatSale can talk to the operator’s own Bitcoin node and verify payments using the operator’s own copy of the blockchain.
  • It also says payments go directly into the operator’s wallet with no third party, while an xpub-only mode remains available if a full node is not yet running.
  • This is the clearest signal that SatSale is packaging sovereign payment acceptance rather than outsourced processing.

3) Lightning integration

• URL: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SatSale/SatSale/master/docs/lightning.md
• Key excerpt:
  • The Lightning docs say SatSale supports both LND and Core Lightning.
  • They document the configuration needed to connect to those nodes and note practical operator concerns like macaroon handling, SSH copying of credentials, and required node liquidity.
  • That expands the picture from simple onchain checkout into a reusable dual-rail merchant stack.

4) Merchant embedding and ecommerce extension

• URL: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SatSale/SatSale/master/README.md
• Key excerpt:
  • The README documents embeddable iframe donation buttons, HTTPS/domain setup, and Lightning Address support.
  • It also points to a WooCommerce gateway for WordPress storefronts.
  • This is strong evidence that SatSale is trying to serve real merchant and creator payment flows, not only hobby demos.

5) WooCommerce plugin operations

• URL: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SatSale/SatSale/master/docs/woocommerce.md
• Key excerpt:
  • The WooCommerce docs say merchants can install the SatSale plugin into WordPress, activate it in WooCommerce settings, point it at their SatSale instance, and use the generated SatSale API key for checkout integration.
  • That plugin flow reinforces that SatSale reaches beyond a standalone donation page into reusable store operations infrastructure.

6) Security guidance

• URL: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SatSale/SatSale/master/README.md
• Key excerpt:
  • The README recommends running SatSale on a separate machine from the node, using watch-only wallet access where possible, and preferring an invoice.macaroon instead of broader Lightning credentials unless required.
  • Those recommendations suggest an operator-focused design with real custody and network-boundary concerns.

Working conclusion

SatSale is best cataloged as a self-hosted bitcoin merchant-payments control plane. The deciding evidence in this pass was the combination of node-verified onchain acceptance, optional Lightning-node integration, embeddable donation flows, reusable payment APIs, Lightning Address support, concrete WooCommerce plugin operations, and explicit security guidance for sovereign deployment.