01The short answer
Anyone can receive crypto by pasting a wallet address on a page. A payment gateway is what makes that work as a business process: it knows which payment belongs to which order, how much was due, whether the amount is right, whether it has been confirmed, and when to tell your store to ship.
It is the crypto counterpart of a card gateway such as the one behind an online checkout. The difference is that the "network" it talks to is a blockchain, and the money moves from the customer's wallet rather than through banks.
02What it does, in order
Your server01
Create invoice
Ask the gateway for a payment of 49.99 USD in USDT.
Gateway02
One-time address
It locks the rate and returns a deposit address for this order only.
Customer03
Pays from a wallet
They send the exact amount to that address on the chosen network.
Blockchain04
Confirms it
The network includes the transfer in a block and adds confirmations.
Gateway05
Detects and signs
It sees the payment, waits for enough confirmations and sends a signed webhook.
Your server06
Release the order
Your backend verifies the webhook and marks the order paid.
Each step is unpacked in how a crypto payment gateway works; the point here is that the gateway handles the parts a merchant would otherwise have to build and run.
03How it differs from a wallet or an exchange
| What it is for | What you still have to build | |
|---|---|---|
| Wallet address | Receiving funds | Matching payments to orders, confirmations, notifications, reconciliation |
| Exchange account | Buying, selling and holding assets | Per-order addresses, webhooks and an API fit for checkout |
| Payment gateway | Taking payments for orders | Little — you integrate an API and a webhook endpoint |
The difference between a gateway and a bare address is explored further in crypto payment gateway vs wallet address.
04What to look for
- A unique deposit address per invoice, so payments match orders without memos.
- Chains and assets you actually need — for most merchants, USDT and USDC on the networks their customers use.
- Clear confirmation and status handling, including underpaid and late payments.
- Signed, retried webhooks, so your backend isn't polling or trusting spoofed calls.
- A clear answer on who holds the funds — and how you can verify balances.
- Withdrawals to any address you choose, with approval controls.
The longer checklist, including how to test providers, is in how to choose a crypto payment gateway.
05How Payaries does it
Payaries is a multi-chain gateway that holds funds for you. You create an invoice through a REST API, show the customer the one-time deposit address, and receive HMAC-signed webhooks as the invoice moves from pending to confirmed to settled. Each merchant has a dedicated wallet on every chain, never pooled with other merchants, and its on-chain balance can be checked on a public block explorer.
| Network | Assets | Deposits | Withdrawals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, Polygon, Arbitrum | Native coin plus USDT, USDC, DAI and more | Yes | Yes |
| Tron | TRX, USDT (TRC-20) | Yes | Yes |
| Bitcoin | BTC | Yes | Not yet |
The authoritative, live list is the public chains endpoint described on the crypto payment API page. Payaries runs on real mainnet networks only, so testing an integration means a small real payment.
06Getting started
- 01Create an account and generate an API key.
- 02Create an invoice from your server for the amount, asset and network you want.
- 03Display the deposit address and QR code at checkout.
- 04Add a webhook endpoint that verifies the signature and marks the order paid on
confirmed. - 05Withdraw to your own wallet when you are ready.
Questions
- What does a crypto payment gateway do?
- It creates payment requests with per-order deposit addresses, watches the blockchain for the customer's transfer, decides when it is confirmed, notifies the merchant's backend and moves the funds to the merchant.
- Do I need a crypto payment gateway to accept crypto?
- Not strictly — you can publish a wallet address. But at any volume you would then match payments to orders by hand and handle partial, late and duplicate payments yourself, which is what a gateway automates.
- Does a crypto payment gateway hold your funds?
- Some are and some are not. A managed gateway such as Payaries holds the funds in a wallet dedicated to you until you withdraw; a self-held one sends payments straight to a wallet you control.
- Which cryptocurrencies can a gateway accept?
- That depends on the provider. Payaries supports major networks including Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, Polygon, Arbitrum, Tron and Bitcoin, with stablecoins such as USDT and USDC; the live list is on its public chains endpoint.
Keep reading
- How a crypto payment gateway works, from invoice to settlementHow a crypto payment gateway works, step by step: invoices, one-time deposit addresses, confirmations, settlement and withdrawals.
- What is cryptocurrency? A plain-English guideWhat cryptocurrency is, how it differs from bank money, how wallets and keys work, the main types (Bitcoin, Ethereum, stablecoins) and how businesses accept it.
- A crypto payment API that behaves like the rest of your stackA REST crypto payment API: create an invoice, get a one-time deposit address, receive signed webhooks and withdraw on demand. HMAC-signed and idempotent.
- How to choose a crypto payment gateway: nine criteria that matterA buyer's checklist for crypto payment gateways: wallet control, supported networks, settlement, webhooks, failure handling, withdrawals, fees and integration effort — with the three main models compared.
- The new Tesla Roadster: what Tesla claimed, what is verified, and how a $50,000 reservation is paidWhat Tesla claimed at the 15 Oct 2026 Roadster reveal, what changed since 2017, how the $50,000 reservation works, and whether you can pay in crypto.
- What is crypto? Explained simplyWhat crypto is in plain English: the coins, wallets, exchanges and apps built on blockchains, what people use it for, the risks, and how to get started safely.
- What is blockchain? A simple explanationWhat a blockchain is: a shared ledger of linked blocks. Why it is tamper-evident, how public and private chains differ, and what blockchain is used for.