How a stablecoin payment works
At a checkout, the provider creates a payment request: an amount, a token, a network and a deposit address, often shown as a QR code, with a time limit. The customer sends the tokens from a wallet, and the provider watches the network for the transfer.
After enough confirmations, the provider screens the sending address, marks the order as paid and notifies the merchant. The merchant keeps the stablecoin, or has it converted and paid out to a bank account.
Business payments follow the same pattern without the checkout: an invoice names the token, the network and the address, and the payer's transfer is matched to it.
What differs from a card payment
- No chargeback: a refund is a new transfer sent by the merchant
- Costs: a network fee and the provider's fee, with no interchange
- The payer pushes the payment, so no card details are stored
- Underpayments, overpayments and wrong-network transfers need handling
- Each sending address is screened, and the Travel Rule applies between providers
How EU rules apply to stablecoin payments
A provider that receives, holds, converts or transfers the tokens for a merchant provides crypto-asset services under MiCA, such as custody, exchange for funds and transfer services, and needs authorisation as a CASP. A stablecoin tied to one official currency is an e-money token, which MiCA deems to be electronic money, so payment services law can apply as well.
Stablecoin payment, crypto payment or settlement?
- Payment in bitcoin or ether
- The asset's value moves between quote and confirmation, so the provider fixes a rate for a short window. A stablecoin removes most of that price risk.
- Stablecoin settlement
- The customer may still pay by card or bank transfer. Stablecoins move only between the firms behind the payment.
- Crypto card payment
- The card converts the holder's crypto-assets, and the merchant receives an ordinary card payment.
Where Stablecoin payments shows up in a platform
Modules that do the work
- CheckoutA hosted checkout for cards, wallets, bank payments and crypto, routed to the best provider.
- Custody & walletsWallets on every major chain, with MPC custody from leading providers or your own keys.
- FXCurrency conversion with live rates, your margins and the liquidity provider you choose.
- PayoutsMoney out to bank accounts, cards and wallets, on the rail that fits each payment.
Platforms that need it
Guides that go deeper
- Stablecoin payments for EU merchants: MiCA, USDC and the Travel RuleWhat a stablecoin checkout for EU merchants needs: MiCA and payment licences, why USDC and not USDT, Travel Rule checks on self-hosted wallets, euro settlement and refunds.
- Stablecoin B2B payments: how paying suppliers abroad worksHow a stablecoin payment to a supplier abroad moves, from euros in to local currency out, what changes against correspondent banking, and the rules in the EU, the UK and the UAE.
Where it is written
The laws and standards this page's facts come from.
General information, not legal advice: what applies to you depends on your services and your market.