If you want to know the best bitcoin payment gateways for your business, we’ve got you. As the popularity of cryptocurrency grows, it is becoming more beneficial for online merchants to accept it as a form of payment, but how do you start accepting crypto for your store? We’ve compiled a list of the best bitcoin payment gateways for specific business needs, along with all the pros and cons you need to know.
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Our Favorite Crypto Payments Option Overall: NowPayments.io
NowPayments accepts far more cryptocurrencies than just Bitcoin, but of the most used Bitcoin payment gateways, it is the only one with fee discounts for volume. Fees start at just 0.5% per transaction, but having 50 BTC equivalent in transaction volume in a month reduces that to 0.45%, with further reduction to 0.4% when you reach 100 BTC equivalent.
NowPayments accepts hundreds of other altcoins as well, giving users many options when paying through a participating merchant. This helps push the transaction volume up and reduces fees. Some of the other cryptocurrencies that are supported by NowPayments are Cardano, Solana, VeChain, Avalanche, Shiba Inu, and many more.
- NOWPayments is a completely non-custodial payment option for online merchants
- More than 50 different cryptocurrencies available for use with NOWPayments
- Makes it exceptionally easy to swap between different crypto assets
- Very simple way to accept cryptocurrency payments online
Best Bitcoin Payment Gateway for Beginners: BitPay
One of the oldest bitcoin payment gateways, BitPay was founded back in 2011. Though it started as purely a Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash payment gateway, they have expanded, now supporting multiple coins and tokens, including BTC, DOGE, ETH, XRP, SHIB, USDC, and more. They charge a flat 1% fee with no hidden costs for merchants to use their blockchain payment gateway.
BitPay is ideal for beginner merchants due to their longevity, ready-to-use tools, and merchant support. While other payment gateways on this list have slightly lower fees and accept more crypto assets, BitPay has a proven track record. It offers helpful information to assist merchants in setting up crypto payments for their site without too much fuss. In addition, BitPay supports a huge selection of fiat currencies for payouts.
Out Favorite Payments for Altcoins: Crypto.com Pay
Crypto.com’s Pay service is our favorite payment gateway for altcoins. They even have ads starring Matt Damon and LeBron James, along with sports partnership deals across the industry, which makes them particularly well-known. That said, they don’t accept the most altcoins, as they only support a little over 30 (NowPayments supports a few hundred). However, we love that there are no transaction fees or setup costs as long as you use the Crypto.com app.
This allows merchants to accept various altcoin payments without having to worry about transaction fees. In addition, customers with a CRO stake earn 10% cashback when shopping and paying with Crypto.com Pay, meaning they’ll likely prefer to pay using this platform due to the reward benefits. Because of this, merchants can attract altcoin shoppers by having Crypto.com as their payment gateway.
Our Favorite Payments for Americans: Coinbase Pay
Based in San Francisco and complying with US regulatory laws, Coinbase Pay is our favorite payment gateway for American merchants. With a flat 1% fee and integration with Shopify, Coinbase Pay allows merchants to accept 7 different cryptocurrencies for payments on their sites. Payouts are in cash or USDC.
Coinbase Pay also makes it easy by providing turnkey APIs for merchants to use, allowing them to set up and start using this gateway within minutes. The assets the platform supports are: BTC, LTC, ETH, BCH, DOGE, USDC, and DAI. However, if you use the Coinbase Managed option (they hold your keys), you can only accept BTC, ETH, and USDC.
Our Favorite Payments for Europeans: Binance Pay
While unavailable in the UK, US, or Singapore, Binance Pay is our favorite choice for European customers. Binance Pay for merchants has “the lowest transaction fees,” but Binance does not indicate anywhere what those fees actually are. Regardless, the platform allows merchants to easily implement APIs checkout pages, and provides other services such as an SDK to allow you to develop your own checkout experience.
Binance Pay also lets you accept over 50 cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, with no fees on the user end. Merchants can choose which cryptocurrency they want to be paid in. When withdrawing payments from Binance, however, be aware that there will be network fees to pay.
Best Bitcoin Payment Gateway for Low Fees: CoinPayments
CoinPayments is one of our favorites for several reasons. They boast an impressive number of supported coins, have low fees for Bitcoin, and are available to merchants in almost all major countries, including the US. CoinPayments also has a flat 0.5% fee for all transactions and charges nothing else but network fees. The first $15,000 in payments per month has no fees at all, then the 0.5% starts. Withdrawing your payments is solely a network fee, and that is quite low.
CoinPayments allows you to accept hundreds of crypto coins and tokens. Merchants have access to APIs, checkout pages, point-of-sale tools, and much more. They also offer a mobile app that lets you track your sales on the go.
Why Accept Crypto Payments?
At the end of the day, crypto payments are simply another way for people to pay you, which is generally not a bad a thing.
Here are just a few reasons why you may want to consider accepting cryptocurrency payments for your business:
- Cheap (Many cryptocurrency transactions only cost pennies)
- Fast (Cryptocurrencies are getting faster and faster, with many settling in a matter of seconds.)
- Better store of value (Fiat currencies are experiencing record-breaking inflation)
Of course there are also some disadvantages. Some older cryptocurrencies (such as Bitcoin and Ethereum) have relatively high transaction fees and can be slow. Fortunately, layer-2s or sidechains have been assisting with those issues, and platforms like the Lightning Network make BTC transactions relatively painless.
The other major disadvantage of cryptocurrency is that it’s extremely volatile, and a payment of $100 in BTC might only be worth $75 by the end of the day. Of course it might also be worth $125, so if you’re willing to take the chance, it might just work out in your favor. Because of these possible risks, it’s important to really weigh the pros and cons before you decide if accepting crypto payments is a good fit for your business.
