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How to accept crypto payments as a business

Accepting crypto payments as a business comes down to a short list of decisions. Make them in this order and the technical part is the easy part.

A crypto payment is a transfer on a public blockchain to an address you name, in a coin and on a network you chose. Nothing about it needs a bank, a card scheme or a settlement day — but it also means nobody is standing between the payer and you, so the decisions a card processor makes for you are yours to make.

The steps below are the ones every business goes through, whether it uses a gateway or a bare wallet address. Where a non-custodial gateway like Unheld changes the answer, the step says so.

The steps, in order

  1. Decide which coins and networks to accept

    Start with what your customers already hold. A dollar-pegged stablecoin removes price movement between invoice and payment; a native coin like BTC or ETH does not. Every coin lives on specific networks, and the same ticker on two networks is two different assets — pick the pairs deliberately rather than "everything".

  2. Decide where the money lands

    A custodial processor receives the payment into its own wallet and pays you out later, on its schedule and terms. A non-custodial gateway like Unheld detects the payment on an address derived from your own wallet, so the money is yours the moment it confirms and there is no payout to wait for. This is the decision that defines your counterparty risk.

  3. Choose how customers will pay

    A hosted payment link or checkout button needs no code and suits invoices, services and one-off sales. A checkout integration or API fits a store that creates orders automatically. Subscriptions give each subscriber one permanent address and a period clock: the customer sends each period, and there is no card on file to charge.

  4. Set your confirmation rule

    A payment that is visible on-chain is not yet final; it becomes final after enough blocks are built on top of it, and each network needs a different number. Release goods only when the invoice reads paid, never when it reads confirming. The confirmations guide below explains the thresholds per network.

  5. Plan for the edge cases

    Customers underpay (wallets round, fees get deducted), overpay, pay late, or send on a network the invoice did not name. Decide in advance what each one means for the order. A gateway that reports the exact amount received and lets a short payment be topped up turns most of these into states rather than support tickets.

  6. Reconcile and keep records

    Give every invoice its own receiving address so a payment identifies its order by where it arrived, and let signed webhooks carry each state change into your order system. Tax and accounting treatment varies by jurisdiction and is between you and your adviser; what a gateway owes you is a clean record of what arrived, when, and for which invoice.

  7. Test on a testnet, then go live

    Unheld lists test networks whose coins cost nothing. Create an invoice on one, pay it from a test wallet, and watch each webhook arrive before a real customer does. Then switch to Live and take the first real payment for a small amount.

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Common questions

Do I need my own crypto wallet to accept payments?

With a non-custodial gateway, yes — the payment lands on an address derived from a wallet only you control, which is the point. With a custodial processor the processor holds the wallet and pays you out, so you need an account with them instead.

Does the payment get converted to dollars in my bank account?

Not by Unheld. The crypto stays on your own address until you move it; converting it to money in a bank account is an exchange’s job. Some custodial processors offer conversion as part of holding your funds.

What does it cost to accept crypto payments?

The payer pays the network fee to the blockchain, not to you. Gateways then charge either a percentage of each payment or a flat subscription; Unheld takes no share of the payment and prices by plan, which the pricing page sets out.

Can a customer reverse a crypto payment?

No. Once the network has confirmed it, the transfer is final for both sides and there is no chargeback. Refunds are a payment you choose to send back, not a reversal.

Is accepting crypto legal for my business?

That depends on where you are and what you sell, and so does the tax treatment. This guide explains the mechanics; whether and how to accept crypto is a question for an adviser who knows your jurisdiction.

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