One of Bitcoin’s most powerful properties is that every transaction ever made is publicly visible. You don’t need an account, a login, or anyone’s permission to look up any payment on the network. All you need is a block explorer and a transaction ID.

This is genuinely useful for merchants. If a customer says they sent payment, you can verify it yourself in seconds. No phone call to a bank. No waiting for a receipt. The blockchain is the receipt.

Step one: get the transaction ID

Every Bitcoin transaction has a unique identifier called a transaction ID (also called a TXID or transaction hash). It looks like this:

Example Transaction ID
4a5e1e4baab89f3a32518a88c31bc87f618f76673e2cc77ab2127b7afdeda33b
A 64-character string of letters and numbers. Every transaction has one. No two are the same.

When a customer pays with Bitcoin, their wallet generates this ID the moment the transaction is broadcast to the network. OrangeTill displays it in your payment history. The customer’s wallet will also show it. Either way, this is your starting point.

Step two: open a block explorer

A block explorer is a website that reads the Bitcoin blockchain and displays it in human-readable form. Think of it as a public ledger viewer. Three reliable options:

1

mempool.space

The best real-time view of the Bitcoin network. Shows pending and confirmed transactions, fees, and current network congestion. Free, no account needed.

2

blockstream.info

Clean, fast, and reliable. Good for straightforward transaction lookups. Built by Blockstream, a major Bitcoin infrastructure company.

3

blockchain.com/explorer

The oldest and most widely known. Works well, though the interface is busier than the others.

Paste the transaction ID into the search bar on any of these sites and press enter. You’ll land on the transaction page.

What you’re looking at

A Bitcoin transaction page has several fields. Here’s what each one means:

Transaction ID (TXID)
The unique identifier for this specific transaction. Matches what your wallet or OrangeTill showed you. If it matches, you’re looking at the right transaction.
Status
Unconfirmed / Pending means the transaction has been broadcast to the network but not yet included in a block. Confirmed means it has been included in at least one block. For most merchant transactions, one confirmation is sufficient. OrangeTill will notify you when payment is confirmed.
Confirmations
How many blocks have been added to the blockchain since the block containing this transaction. One confirmation means it’s in a block. Six confirmations is considered highly secure for large amounts. For everyday purchases, one to three confirmations is standard practice.
Block Height
The number of the block that contains this transaction. Bitcoin’s first block was Block 0 (the Genesis Block, mined January 3, 2009). The number goes up by one every time a new block is mined — roughly every ten minutes. Block 900,000 was mined in early 2025.
Timestamp
When the block containing this transaction was mined. This is when the transaction became confirmed, not necessarily when it was first broadcast.
Amount
The value transferred, shown in BTC or satoshis. 1 BTC = 100,000,000 satoshis. If you invoiced for $25 worth of bitcoin, the amount will show the equivalent BTC at the time of the transaction.
Fee
The network fee paid by the sender to the miners. This is separate from any OrangeTill fees. The fee goes to Bitcoin miners as compensation for including the transaction in a block. The sender pays this, not you.
Inputs and Outputs
Bitcoin transactions work differently from bank transfers. The “inputs” show where the bitcoin came from (the sender’s previous received funds). The “outputs” show where it’s going: your address, and possibly a “change address” back to the sender. Don’t be alarmed by change addresses — they’re normal. What matters is that your address appears in the outputs with the correct amount.

How to confirm a payment is genuinely yours

To verify a payment, you need to confirm two things:

1

Your wallet address appears in the outputs

Find your Bitcoin receive address (visible in OrangeTill under any invoice). Confirm it appears in the transaction’s output section. If your address is there, the bitcoin was sent to you.

2

The amount is correct

Confirm the output to your address matches the invoice amount. Bitcoin amounts are precise to eight decimal places, so even a tiny discrepancy is visible.

For most merchants

You won’t need to do this manually often — OrangeTill tracks confirmation status automatically and notifies you when payments are complete. But knowing how to verify a transaction yourself is one of the most empowering things about accepting Bitcoin. You don’t have to trust anyone. The blockchain is public.

Lightning Network transactions

If a customer pays via the Lightning Network (instant, low-fee Bitcoin payments), the transaction does not appear on the main Bitcoin blockchain. Lightning payments settle off-chain and are finalized almost instantly. OrangeTill handles Lightning confirmations automatically. You can trust a completed Lightning payment the moment OrangeTill marks it confirmed — no block explorer lookup needed.

Your payments, fully verified.

OrangeTill tracks every on-chain and Lightning payment automatically — with full transaction history you can reference any time.

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