A crypto payment link lets you accept crypto without a website. You create a link for a product or service, send it to a customer or post it in your bio, and they pay in Bitcoin, USDT or another coin you accept, on a page hosted for you. This article explains how payment links work in Crypto Merchant, when a link is the right tool, and when an invoice or the API fits better.
It's written for people who sell through conversations: freelancers, consultants, small online shops run from a social profile, creators taking tips, and anyone who gets asked "can I pay in crypto?" in a chat.
What a crypto payment link is
A payment link is a web address that opens a payment page for one thing: a product, a service, a deposit or a donation. In Crypto Merchant, links live at /pay/l/<link_id> on our site. Each link has a title, an optional description, and either a fixed price or no price at all. The checkout docs cover the details.
The important word is reusable. One link can be paid many times by many customers. Each time someone pays, Crypto Merchant creates a separate invoice behind the scenes, with its own deposit address, so every payment is matched to the right sale even if several people pay the same link at once.
Your store also has a checkout page at /pay/<store>, where customers can type in an amount or choose one of your payment links. Think of the checkout page as your shop window and each link as a single price tag.
Fixed-price and pay-what-you-want links
When you create a link, you decide who sets the amount.
Fixed price
Set an amount and a currency such as US dollars. Every customer pays the same price, converted into the coin they choose at the moment they choose it. Fixed links suit products, set-price services, course seats, event tickets and standard deposits.
Pay what you want
Leave the amount empty and the customer types in what they want to pay. This suits donations and tips, a price you have already agreed in a chat, or paying off a balance in parts.
| Fixed price | Pay what you want | |
|---|---|---|
| Who sets the amount | You | The customer |
| Good for | Products, set-price services, tickets, deposits | Donations, tips, agreed quotes, part payments |
| Watch out for | Changing the price means creating a new link | The customer can type the wrong amount |
How to create a crypto payment link
Setting up takes a few minutes, and there is no setup fee and no ID check.
- 1
Create your account
Sign up with your email, your name and your business name. Anyone, in any country, can join.
- 2
Go live
Make the one-time go-live payment of $25 in any coin. The full amount is credited to your gas balance, which pays network fees when your coins are moved later.
- 3
Turn on the coins you accept
For example USDT on Tron, USDC on Base and Bitcoin. Customers only see the coins you turn on.
- 4
Create the link
In the portal, open Payment links. Give the link a title, add a description if it helps, and either set a price or leave it empty.
- 5
Copy and share it
Paste the link wherever your customers are. You can reuse it as often as you like.
Developers can create links with the API too. A POST /payment-links request with a title and, if you want a fixed price, an amount returns the link's id and its shareable url. See the API reference.
Where to share links when you have no website
Because the customer pays on a hosted page, a link works anywhere a web address does. Common places:
- Chat apps. When a customer asks how to pay, send the link in WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal or whatever messenger you use.
- Social bios and pinned posts. Put your checkout page or a specific link in your profile bio, or pin it in a channel or group.
- Invoices by email. Paste the link into an email, or into the invoice document you already send, next to a line such as "Pay in crypto".
- A website or online store, if you have one, behind a buy or donate button.
- Print. Turn the link into a QR code with any QR generator and print it on a flyer, a menu or a sign at your counter.
How the customer pays
Here is what your customer sees after opening a link:
- 1Your title, description and price. On a pay-what-you-want link, they enter the amount.
- 2A choice of coins and networks, limited to the ones you accept.
- 3A deposit address made for this payment, with a QR code, and the exact amount to send at an exchange rate locked at that moment. A countdown shows how long the invoice stays open.
- 4They send the payment from their wallet or exchange. Until a payment is detected, they can still switch to another coin.
- 5The status updates live on the page, from waiting to confirming to paid.
Checkout pages are available in 15 languages and follow the customer's light or dark preference. If you set an underpayment tolerance (we recommend at least $1), small shortfalls still count as paid. A customer who sends too little can top up or get a refund, and one who overpays by more than $5 can withdraw the extra. Underpaid and overpaid payments explains how that works.
Bitcoin and USDT payment links
A link isn't tied to one coin. The customer chooses from every coin you have turned on, so one link works as a Bitcoin payment link, a USDT payment link and an ETH payment link at the same time.
USDT payment links
USDT is popular for payments because it tracks the US dollar, and Crypto Merchant counts it as one dollar when it prices an invoice. At the time of writing you can accept USDT on Tron, Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, Polygon, Arbitrum One and Solana. The customer must send on the network shown on the invoice: USDT on Tron and USDT on Ethereum are different tokens, and coins sent on the wrong network may be lost. Our guide to accepting USDT payments goes deeper.
Bitcoin payment links
Bitcoin works the same way. A Bitcoin payment needs two confirmations before it counts, and Bitcoin adds a block roughly every ten minutes, so it usually takes longer to show as paid than a stablecoin on a faster network. Price swings don't change what you asked for: the amount is locked when the customer picks Bitcoin.
Payment links vs invoices vs the API
Crypto Merchant gives you several ways to ask for money. They all end in the same place: an invoice with its own deposit address, a locked rate, and the payment credited to your balance.
| Payment link | Checkout page | Invoice | API | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reusable | Yes | Yes | No, one payment | No, one invoice per request |
| Who sets the amount | You, or the customer | The customer, or one of your links | You | Your code |
| Needs a website or code | No | No | No | Yes |
| Best for | The same thing sold again and again | A single place to pay you | Billing one customer for one agreed amount | Stores and apps that create invoices automatically |
A simple rule: use a link when you sell the same thing again and again, an invoice when you bill one customer for one agreed amount, and the API when a website or app should create invoices for each order without you. The API also lets you attach your own order ID and metadata, and send the customer back to your site after paying. Read more in our crypto payment API guide.
Tracking link payments
Every payment through a link shows up in the portal as an invoice, with its status, coin and amount. It is credited to your balance, minus the 1% fee, as soon as it confirms.
- Reports. Daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly sales statements are in the portal and can be emailed to you.
- Team roles. Managers can create links and invoices, Staff can only view, and only Admins can pay out. See team roles.
- Webhooks. Because each link payment is an invoice, your server can receive the signed
invoice.paidevent and deliver automatically. - Payouts. Pay out whenever you like, with no minimum, each coin as it is or swapped into one holding coin.
Payment links are often the fastest way to start taking crypto: no website, no code, and something you can send a customer today. If you already sell through chats or social media, create one link for your most common sale and see how your customers use it.