Stablecoin Payments for Business: Accept USDT and USDC

Why businesses accept stablecoin payments

Stablecoin payments give a business most of what is useful about crypto, without the price swings. A stablecoin is a token designed to track a regular currency, almost always the US dollar, backed by reserves its issuer holds. When a customer pays a $120 invoice in USDC, you receive 120 USDC, and it is designed to still be worth $120 next week. That is why many businesses that accept crypto start with stablecoins, and why many customers prefer paying with them too.

• Prices that hold still. You price in dollars and get paid in dollar tokens. There's no repricing and no watching charts between the sale and the payout.
• Customers anywhere. Anyone with a crypto wallet or exchange account can pay, from any country, without a card network or a currency conversion on your side. The checkout pages are available in 15 languages.
• No chargebacks. Once a payment is confirmed, the sender can't pull it back the way a card payment can be disputed. Refunds are your decision as the seller.
• Low fees on many networks. On networks such as BNB Smart Chain, Polygon, Base, Arbitrum One or Solana, sending a stablecoin usually costs the customer little.

Two honest caveats. Stable doesn't mean risk-free, which the section on issuer risk below covers. And the rules for crypto and stablecoins differ from country to country, including how sales are taxed and reported, so check your local rules before you start.

USDT vs USDC: what's the difference

USDT and USDC are the two stablecoins most customers hold. They do the same job: each aims to be redeemable one-for-one for US dollars, and each issuer publishes regular reports on the reserves behind it. USDT is issued by Tether, and USDC by Circle. For a business, the differences that matter are practical ones.

So which should you accept? For most businesses, both. They cost you the same to accept, and customers pay with whichever they already hold. A customer with USDT on Tron can't pay in USDC on Tron, and one with USDC on Base can't pay in USDT on Base, so offering both covers more people.

Where the choice does matter is what you hold afterwards. If you plan to convert your balance into local currency, check which stablecoin your exchange supports where you live. Rules for stablecoins vary by region, and some exchanges list one but not the other in some countries.

Stablecoin networks you can accept

Between them, USDT and USDC are accepted on seven networks. Each network has its own gas coin, which pays the fee for moving tokens, and its own number of confirmations before a payment counts.

The same stablecoin on two networks is not interchangeable. USDC on Base and USDC on Ethereum are separate tokens, and a payment must arrive on the network shown on the invoice, or it may be lost. The customer picks the coin and network on the invoice page, so turn on the ones your customers use. For the trade-offs between networks on fees and familiarity, see how to accept USDT payments. The same reasoning applies to USDC.

How a stablecoin payment works

Invoices are priced in a currency such as US dollars. When the customer picks USDT or USDC, Crypto Merchant counts each token as exactly one US dollar, so a $75 invoice asks for 75 USDC. Unlike a payment in Bitcoin or Ether, there is no exchange rate to worry about.

• The invoice gets its own deposit address, so the payment is matched to it without memos or tags.
• The customer sends the exact amount shown, from any wallet or exchange, on the network they picked.
• Once the network confirms the payment, the invoice is paid and the amount, minus the 1% fee, is credited to your balance. A signed webhook can tell your server at the same moment.
• If the payment arrives a little short, your underpayment tolerance decides whether it still counts as paid, and larger shortfalls can be topped up or refunded by the customer. Our guide to underpaid and overpaid crypto payments explains the rules.

You can collect stablecoin payments in three ways: your store's hosted checkout page, payment links with a fixed price or a pay-what-you-want amount, or invoices created from your own site with the API. You don't need a website for the first two.

Holding your balance in one stablecoin

Customers will pay in different coins on different networks. One sends USDT on Tron, the next USDC on Solana, a third pays in Bitcoin. You decide how all of that is held.

Keep each coin as it was paid

Each coin stays as it is and is paid out to a wallet address you save for that coin. Nothing is swapped, so there is no swap cost. This suits you if you already have wallets on the networks you accept.

Hold everything in one stablecoin

Choose a holding coin, for example USDT on Tron or USDC on Base, and everything else you receive is swapped into it. Swaps run automatically every 24 hours, or when you request a payout. You end up with one balance, in one coin, on one network, which is simpler to pay out and to keep track of.

Swapping has a cost, and it is worth knowing before you choose. Swap rates are based on live market prices and include a service margin, and the network fees for swaps are paid from your gas balance. You get the rate at the moment the swap runs, not the rate when the payment arrived. Between two stablecoins that rarely makes much difference, but the price of Bitcoin or Ether can move in between.

Either way, you can pay out at any time, with no minimum. Only Admins on your team can make payouts or change payout addresses. Payouts & swaps in the docs has the details.

Issuer risk, in proportion

A stablecoin is a promise: the issuer says it holds enough reserves to redeem every token for a dollar. That is worth understanding before you hold stablecoins as a business, without losing sleep over it. Here is what stands behind the token, and what can go wrong.

• Reserves. The token's value depends on the issuer holding enough assets and honoring redemptions. Tether and Circle both publish regular reports on their reserves on their websites.
• The peg can wobble. Both USDT and USDC have briefly traded below one dollar during market stress and then recovered. Crypto Merchant counts every stablecoin as one dollar on invoices, so your balance is recorded at face value. What it is actually worth depends on the peg holding.
• Freezes. Issuers can freeze tokens held at specific addresses, for example at the request of authorities.
• Pegged versions. On some networks, the token isn't minted by the original issuer. On BNB Smart Chain, USDT and USDC are Binance-Peg tokens: Binance issues them there, backed by the original tokens it holds. That adds one more party to trust.
• Custody. Crypto Merchant is a custodial service that holds your balance for you, with every wallet derived from a master recovery phrase kept offline on paper. It isn't a bank, so balances earn no interest and aren't covered by deposit insurance. Read custodial vs non-custodial crypto payments for the trade-offs.

Sensible habits follow from this. Pay out regularly to a wallet you control, and since there is no minimum, even small balances can go. Some businesses split larger balances between USDT and USDC rather than keeping everything in one. And keep an eye on news from the issuers of the coins you hold. None of this is financial advice, so decide what fits your business.

How to accept USDC and USDT payments

Setting up takes a handful of choices and one payment, and you can stop and come back at any point.

1. 1

   Create your account

   Sign up with your email, your name and your business name. Setup is free and there are no ID checks, though you still have to follow the law and the Terms.

2. 2

   Turn on USDT and USDC

   Choose the networks you want for each. Customers only see the coins and networks you turn on, and you can change them later.

3. 3

   Choose how to hold your balance

   Keep each coin as it was paid, or pick one holding coin and let everything else be swapped into it.

4. 4

   Choose your sweeps

   Payments move from their deposit addresses into your pool wallet automatically, or when you start a sweep. There is no sweep fee, only the network fee.

5. 5

   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 the network fees for moving your coins.

6. 6

   Share and get paid

   Share your checkout page or payment links, or create invoices with the API, passing a coin ID such as USDC.BASE or USDT.TRON to pre-select the coin.

For bookkeeping, the portal has daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly sales statements, which can also be sent to you by email. If an accountant or bookkeeper helps you, invite them with the Staff role: they can see payments, balances and statements, but can't change settings or move money.