You can accept crypto on a Shopify store without a plugin by adding a manual payment method and sending the customer a Crypto Merchant invoice for each order. The order stays pending in Shopify until the invoice is paid, and then you mark it as paid yourself. It needs no code, but it is not an automatic checkout: the customer pays in a second step, and someone has to handle each order. Crypto Merchant charges 1% of each paid invoice, with no monthly fee.
Last checked: 6 November 2026. This setup suits a store with a modest number of crypto orders. If you want crypto inside an automatic checkout, you need a gateway with a Shopify integration; see the alternatives we compare.
Is there a Crypto Merchant plugin for Shopify?
No. Crypto Merchant has no Shopify app, and nothing in this guide changes that. It uses two things that already exist: Shopify's manual payment methods, and Crypto Merchant invoices and payment links.
How does the manual method work?
| Step | Where | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shopify | The customer chooses your manual method and places the order |
| 2 | Shopify | The customer sees your payment instructions on the order confirmation page. The order is pending |
| 3 | Crypto Merchant | You create an invoice for the order total and send the customer its link |
| 4 | Crypto Merchant | The customer picks a coin and network and pays the exact amount shown |
| 5 | Crypto Merchant | The invoice becomes paid once the payment is confirmed, and the amount is credited to your balance minus the fee |
| 6 | Shopify | You mark the order as paid and fulfil it |
How do I set it up in Shopify?
Shopify lets you add a custom manual payment method with its own name and instructions, under your store's payment settings. The instructions appear on the order confirmation page after the customer completes the order.
- 1Add a custom payment method and name it clearly, for example Crypto (USDT, USDC, BTC and more).
- 2In the instructions, say what happens next. For example: "We'll email you a secure payment link within one business day. Your order ships after the payment is confirmed. Don't send crypto to any address that isn't on that link."
- 3In Crypto Merchant, choose the coins you accept, and set your underpayment tolerance. We recommend at least $1.
- 4Set your invoice time limit. Invoices stay open for 30 minutes by default, and you can set 15 minutes to 24 hours. A customer reading an email may not pay straight away, so a longer limit suits this setup.
What do I do for each order?
- 1In the portal, create a new payment for the order total. Put the Shopify order number in the order ID field, and add the customer's email. The order number is how you match the two later.
- 2Copy the invoice link and send it to the customer.
- 3Wait for the invoice to show
paid. You get an email for each payment, and the portal shows its status. - 4In Shopify, mark the order as paid, as Shopify requires for every manual payment, then fulfil it.
Should I use an invoice or a payment link?
| Invoice per order | Fixed-price payment link | |
|---|---|---|
| Amount | The exact order total, including shipping and tax | One set price |
| Reusable | No, one payment | Yes |
| Matching to an order | Order ID on the invoice | You match by amount and time, or ask the customer |
| Best for | Most Shopify orders | One product with one all-in price |
Use an invoice unless every order costs the same. Avoid pay-what-you-want links here, because the customer could type the wrong amount.
What if the customer pays late or sends the wrong amount?
- Short by no more than your tolerance: the invoice counts as paid. Mark the order as paid.
- Short by more: the invoice becomes
underpaid. The customer can send the rest to the same address or get a refund of what they sent. Keep the order pending. - Too much: the invoice counts as paid, and the extra is held for the customer, who withdraws it from the invoice page.
- Too late: an expired invoice's address is still watched for at least 24 hours, and a late payment can still count towards it. If nothing has been sent, create a new invoice rather than reopening the conversation about the old one.
If you need to give money back after a paid order, an Admin can create a refund link in the portal. Record it in Shopify yourself too, because the two systems don't talk to each other.
What are the limits of this setup?
- Two steps. The customer places the order first and pays afterwards, so some orders will never be paid. Cancel those in Shopify after a period you state in your instructions.
- Manual work. Someone has to create an invoice and mark the order as paid. That is fine for a few orders a day and tiresome for hundreds.
- Stock. Decide what happens to stock while an order waits for payment, and how long you hold it.
Shopify's help page also lists conditions that may apply to your store:
- If your US sales tax is managed by Shopify, you can't accept manual payments until that is set to self-directed.
- Taking manual payments in several currencies needs Shopify Payments and Shopify's international sales tools.
- Shopify's manual payments page and its Acceptable Use Policy don't mention cryptocurrency either way, so we can't tell you that Shopify approves of this use. Ask Shopify support if you need certainty.
What does it cost?
Crypto Merchant charges 1% of each paid invoice, with no setup or monthly fee. Expired and cancelled invoices cost nothing. Shopify's help page says you aren't charged third-party transaction fees for manual payments; your Shopify plan still costs what it costs.
The customer also pays a gas fee for moving their payment, shown next to the price and never more than $5. On most networks it is a few cents; USDT on Tron costs more. Tell customers about it in your instructions, because the amount they send can be a little more than the Shopify order total.
Moving coins later (sweeps and payouts) carries a gas fee too, from your gas balance or from the coins being moved. See pricing for the full list.
Can I automate it?
Partly, with a developer. Your server can create each invoice through the Crypto Merchant API, with the Shopify order number as order_id, and listen for the signed invoice.paid webhook. Shopify's Admin API has an orderMarkAsPaid mutation that records the payment on the order. We haven't published or tested a ready-made connector, so treat this as a small project and read the webhook retries and reconciliation guide first. The customer still pays in a second step, because nothing here changes Shopify's checkout.
More detail: online stores with Crypto Merchant and how checkout works. Crypto Merchant is custodial; see custodial vs non-custodial.