The short answer
Accepting crypto is less like adding a card terminal and more like agreeing to be paid in a foreign currency that settles instantly and cannot be reversed. The hard parts are operational, not technical.
Most of the difficulty lands in four places: what you do with the payment once it arrives, how refunds work without a chargeback mechanism, who reconciles it, and who holds the keys.
Two ways to accept, and they are not alike
The first decision is whether a processor sits between you and the payment, or whether the payment lands directly in a wallet your business controls. This shapes everything downstream.
| Question | Through a processor | Direct to your own wallet |
|---|---|---|
| Who holds the asset | The processor, usually briefly | Your business, immediately |
| Converting to dollars | Usually automatic, by arrangement | Somebody has to do it, deliberately |
| Key management | Mostly their problem | Entirely yours |
| Record keeping | They provide statements | You build the records yourself |
| What you depend on | Their solvency, uptime and terms | Your own process and discipline |
| Cost | Their fees | Network fees plus your time |
Scroll the table sideways to see every column.
We name no processors and make no recommendation between these. The honest summary is that a processor trades fees and counterparty dependence for a great deal less operational work, and direct receipt trades convenience for control and responsibility.
What actually happens at the point of sale
A crypto payment has a rhythm that card payments do not, and it is worth knowing before a customer is standing in front of you.
- A price is quoted in crypto. Your dollar price is converted at a rate that is only good for a short window, because the rate moves.
- The customer sends the payment. From their wallet, to an address you or your processor supplied.
- The network confirms it. This is not instant. It is usually quick, and it is not the same as a card authorization, which either approves or declines in a moment.
- You decide it is settled. How many confirmations you wait for is a policy choice, and it trades speed against certainty.
- The payment is final. From that point there is no reversal, by you, the customer or anyone else.
The quote window is a real operational detail
If the quoted rate expires before the customer sends, the amount they send no longer matches the invoice. You now have an underpayment or an overpayment to resolve, and neither has an automatic fix.
Decide in advance what your tolerance is and who is allowed to make that call, so it is not improvised at a counter with a customer waiting.
Refunds, which is where this gets hard
Card payments have chargebacks. Crypto payments have nothing of the sort. A refund is a new payment you choose to send, not a reversal of the original one, and that has a consequence most businesses do not anticipate.
The price will have moved between the sale and the refund. So the question "refund how much?" has more than one defensible answer, and your policy has to pick one before it comes up.
Two further details worth writing into the policy: how long the refund window is, and that refunds go back to an address the customer supplies, which is a transfer you cannot undo if they give you the wrong one.
Reconciliation, and the records somebody keeps
This is the unglamorous part that decides whether accepting crypto is sustainable. Somebody has to connect payments to invoices and keep a record of what arrived.
- What was received, and when. The quantity, the asset, the date and time, and the transaction reference.
- What it was worth at that moment. Needed for your books regardless of whether you converted.
- Which invoice or order it settles. Crypto payments do not carry a customer name, so the link has to be made deliberately.
- What happened next. Converted, held, or moved, and when.
- Refunds, with the same detail, including which basis you used.
Decide who owns this before the first payment. It is a recurring task, not a setup task, and businesses usually discover that too late.
Custody, and the person who leaves
If payments land directly in a business wallet, everything in our wallets guide applies, plus a problem individuals do not have.
A business outlives the people who work in it. If one person set up the wallet and holds the recovery phrase, the business has a single point of failure with legs. People leave, fall out, get sick, and forget things.
- The business owns the keys, not an employee. Document that clearly, and store the backup where the business can reach it without one individual's cooperation.
- More than one person should know the arrangement exists, even if not everybody can access it.
- Have a handover step in your process for when whoever manages this moves on.
- Separate the everyday wallet from any holdings, for the same reason individuals do.
Fraud aimed specifically at businesses
Accepting crypto puts you on a list. These patterns target merchants rather than consumers, and they rely on an employee wanting to be helpful.
- The deliberate overpayment. A customer sends too much, then asks you to refund the difference. Treat any refund to a different destination, or before the original has settled, as the warning it is.
- Supplier impersonation. An invoice arrives from a supplier you know, with new payment instructions in crypto. Verify through a number you already had, never one on the invoice.
- Pressure on whoever can authorize. An urgent request appearing to come from an owner or executive, usually timed when they are travelling or unreachable.
- Fake purchase confirmations. A screenshot or email is not a payment. Confirm receipt on the blockchain, not from something the customer showed you.
One rule that covers most of it
Any change to payment instructions gets verified through a channel you already had. Not a number in the email, not a link in the message, and not a person who called you.
Our red flags guide covers the tactics in detail. They work on businesses for the same reason they work on people.
Questions for your accountant
We are not a tax or accounting firm, so this page does not answer these. What it can do is make sure you walk into the conversation knowing what to ask.
Take this list to a qualified professional
Before you start accepting, not at year end. These are the questions that determine how much work this creates.
- How should receipts be recorded, and at what value?
- What happens for our books when we convert, and when we hold?
- How do refunds get treated, under the basis we have chosen?
- What applies if we pay a contractor or employee this way?
- What records do you need from us, and in what format?
- Does this change anything about our sales tax position?
- Is there anything about our entity or state that affects this?
Before you switch it on
A short list, because most of the pain comes from skipping it.
- Confirm a customer actually wants it.
- Write the conversion policy down. Convert immediately, on a schedule, or hold, and who decides.
- Write the refund policy down, including which basis and what window.
- Name who reconciles, and how often.
- Settle custody, with the business holding the keys and more than one person aware.
- Brief whoever handles payments on the overpayment and impersonation patterns.
- Have the accountant conversation.