How Payments Work

We offer two ways to pay — card (Stripe) or Monero (XMR). Both use PGP encryption to keep your personal data private, but the payment step itself works differently. Here's the full flow, step by step.

1

Choose Your Items

Browse the shop, add items to your cart, and proceed to checkout. Prices are shown in EUR throughout — the Monero amount is calculated and locked at the current rate when you choose XMR payment.

  • Free shipping on orders over €150 (~$165) — excl. Zone 2
  • Prices include all applicable taxes (VAT for EU customers)
  • No account needed — your cart is stored locally in your browser
2

Choose Your Payment Method

At checkout, you pick how to pay. The payment step differs depending on your choice, but everything after it is the same.

Pay with Card (Stripe)

Your card details are handled entirely within Stripe's secure iframe — we never see them. Payment is processed instantly by Stripe.

  • No account needed — just your card and shipping details
  • Stripe receives only the payment amount, never your personal data
  • PCI DSS Level 1 compliant — your card number never touches our servers

Pay with Monero (XMR)

When you select XMR, we generate a fresh Monero address just for your order — think of it as a temporary PO box that only exists for this one transaction. You send your XMR from your wallet to this address.

One thing to keep in mind: please use a personal wallet (Cake Wallet, Monerujo, Feather…) rather than an exchange like Kraken, Binance or Coinbase. Exchanges strip away transaction IDs, which makes it impossible for us to match your payment. A personal wallet takes two minutes to set up and gives you full control.
  • The exchange rate is locked the moment you click Buy — no surprises
  • You pay exactly the amount shown, plus a tiny network fee (pennies)
  • The rate is locked for approximately 1 hour — enough time to send your payment
3

Your Data Gets Locked

Once your payment is underway, you fill in your shipping details. Here's the part we really care about: your address gets encrypted in your browser, before it ever travels across the internet. We use OpenPGP.js — the same encryption standard that journalists and human rights organisations rely on.

This is what makes our architecture zero-knowledge: your name, email, and shipping address are encrypted before they leave your browser. Our servers store only a scrambled blob that cannot be read without the private key, which stays safely offline. The servers never see your plaintext — by design.

When it's time to ship, we do decrypt your address — the postal service needs it. This is the single necessary moment your data is visible, and it's purpose-limited: once your package is on its way, your data exists only in its encrypted form again. No lingering plaintext, no customer database, no third-party sharing.

4

Payment Confirmation

For Card (Stripe) payments

Card payments are confirmed instantly by Stripe. As soon as you submit the order form, the payment is processed and you'll see a confirmation on screen. No waiting for network confirmations — your order moves directly to packing.

For Monero (XMR) payments

Our payment processor keeps an eye on the Monero network until your transaction goes through. This usually takes between 20 and 60 minutes from the moment you send your payment until our processor marks it finished. You don't need to keep the page open; the payment status updates in real-time on the order page when you come back.

If you stick around, you'll see the status update live:

Waiting for your transaction to appear on the network
Transaction detected — waiting for confirmations
Payment confirmed — processing your order
All done

A quick note on privacy: Monero's latest upgrade (FCMP++, activated May 2026) means your transaction is mathematically indistinguishable from over 150 million other outputs on the chain. No analytics company can trace it. That's not a feature we added — it's how Monero is built.

5

We Pack and Ship

Once everything checks out, we decrypt your shipping details, carefully pack your order, and send it your way. Your order status updates on the order page. No leftover data, no lingering accounts, no trace — just your order on its way.

What's Protecting Your Payment

Every transaction is wrapped in several independent layers of protection. Here's what's working behind the scenes:

Monero Blockchain
FCMP++ upgrade makes every transaction blend in with the entire chain. Untraceable by design.
MAX
Stripe PCI Compliance
Card payments are handled entirely within Stripe's secure iframe (PCI DSS Level 1). Your card number never touches our servers.
MAX
PGP Encryption
Your order data (name, email, shipping address) is encrypted before it leaves your browser. Our servers never see it.
MAX
Signed Webhooks
Every status notification is cryptographically signed. Fake notifications are rejected on arrival.
MAX
Rate Limiting
All endpoints are throttled per IP address. Brute-force and spam attacks don't stand a chance.
HIGH
Replay Protection
Each notification is fingerprinted and stored for a week. Duplicates are quietly ignored.
MAX
No Trackers
Zero analytics, zero third-party scripts, zero cookies. Your visit leaves no trace.
MAX
Cross-Check
Webhook statuses are verified against the provider's API when the key is configured. Mismatches are rejected.
HIGH
Data Cleanup
PGP-encrypted data blobs are zeroed 90 days after fulfillment — only order metadata (items, amount, status) is retained for 10 years as required by French law. Since all data is PGP-encrypted, even retained records are unreadable without the private key.
MAX
HSTS + HTTPS Only
Strict-Transport-Security with preload (1 year). All connections forced to HTTPS. Referrer-Policy set to no-referrer.
MAX
Content Security Policy
Strict CSP blocks unauthorized scripts, frames, and connections. No unsafe-eval. Only js.stripe.com is allowed as an external script for card payments.
MAX
Secrets Encrypted
All API keys and webhook secrets stored as Cloudflare encrypted secrets. Stripe publishable key injected via env var at build time — never committed to source code.
MAX
Anti-Fingerprinting
Canvas capture blocked by default to prevent browser fingerprinting. Permissions-Policy disables all browser APIs (camera, microphone, geolocation, etc.).
HIGH

Questions You Might Have

"I've never used Monero. Where do I start?"

Download Cake Wallet on your phone (iOS and Android). It's free, open-source, and guides you through everything. You can buy a small amount of XMR directly inside the app, or receive some from a friend to try it out. If you prefer not to use crypto at all, you can also pay by credit/debit card via Stripe — no wallet needed.

"What if I send the wrong amount?"

Monero: The exact XMR amount is shown when you start your purchase. If you send less, we'll detect a partial payment — our team will decrypt your order data and reach out to help. Overpayments aren't automatically credited — contact us if this happens. Card (Stripe): The exact amount is charged, so there's no risk of under- or overpayment.

"How long does it take, from start to finish?"

Monero: Usually around 30 to 60 minutes from the moment you send your payment until our processor confirms it. Card (Stripe): Instant — as soon as you submit the order, the payment is confirmed. The payment status updates in real-time on the order page.

"Can I change my mind and get a refund?"

Absolutely — we offer a 30-day return policy. Monero: Refunds are issued in XMR at the current rate — since we can't see the original sender, you'll need to provide a wallet address via our contact form. Card (Stripe): Refunds are issued back to the original card — no wallet address needed. See our Returns & Refunds page for the details.

"Is my shipping address really safe?"

Yes. Your address is encrypted in your browser with PGP before transmission — our servers store only a scrambled blob. This is zero-knowledge architecture: we literally cannot read your data without the private key. The single moment your address is decrypted is when we pack your order for shipment — unavoidable, purpose-limited, and never stored in plaintext.

"Are there any extra fees?"

Monero: The exact XMR amount shown at checkout is locked by NOWPayments and includes their transaction fee. The total order is displayed separately in your selected currency. Card (Stripe): Standard Stripe processing fees apply, which are included in the displayed price. You pay exactly the amount shown.

"Do you keep my data?"

Only your PGP-encrypted order data (name, email, shipping address). Since it's encrypted, even if leaked it's unreadable without the private key. The encrypted blob is automatically zeroed 90 days after fulfillment — order metadata (items, amount, status) is retained for 10 years as required by French accounting law. We never sell, share, or expose your information to anyone — ever.

Still have questions? Write to us at advancelab@proton.me — we typically reply within a day.