First payment
Your first crypto payment starts with the invoice
Before opening an account or buying crypto, establish what the merchant actually accepts.
1Start with what the payment buys
A gift card purchase, merchant-account top-up and spending-card top-up put money in different places. Identify the product and payment destination first. For example, Proton uses Bitcoin to buy account credit; depositing into Proton Wallet does not pay a subscription. This article covers on-chain merchant invoices. A checkout using a bank card, spending card or app store follows that channel’s process; it is not a USDT transfer to a merchant address.
2Prepare for where your funds are now
No crypto yet? Check the product, payment options and full cost before buying. If you use Binance or OKX to prepare funds, complete account verification and check withdrawable funds in advance. Registration alone does not establish immediate withdrawal availability. Funds on an exchange? Check whether the invoice accepts that sending method. BitPay restricts most direct exchange payments; follow its supported-wallet options. Funds already in a wallet? Match the asset and network and allow for its network fee. Finish this preparation before starting a timed invoice.
3Separate the purchase price from transfer costs
Record the checkout total, the invoice’s token quantity and the sending fee separately. A $25 product need not cost 25 USDT, and a wallet’s dollar estimate does not replace the invoice amount. Arithmetic example: an invoice needs 25 USDT with a fixed 1 USDT sending fee. Enter 26 if the fee is deducted, or enter 25 and cover 26 in total if it is charged on top. Both previews should show 25 received. If the wallet instead charges ETH or TRX, budget that asset separately.
4Compare five details before sending
Compare the invoice with the final sending preview: 1. Asset: BTC, USDT or another token? 2. Network: does the complete network name match? 3. Address: is it from this invoice, and is a memo or tag required? 4. Receipt: will the merchant receive the exact quantity due? 5. Expiry: is the invoice still valid for this sending method? After scanning a QR code, review what the wallet extracted. Compare pasted recipient details with the original again. Resolve any mismatch before confirming.
5After sending, check the merchant order
Sending is one stage of the purchase. Save the order and transaction references, then return to the merchant to check payment and delivery: has the gift card appeared, account credit arrived or subscription activated? If the page is still waiting, investigate the original transaction. An unchanged page is not a reason to pay again. Do not reuse an expired invoice’s address for a new purchase. Contact the appropriate official support with your records if the amount, network or order status is wrong.
6Three common first-payment questions
Should I send a small test? A timed merchant invoice may not accept split payments. Do not send a test to that invoice unless it explicitly permits partial payments. Do I need another exchange account? First check whether your existing exchange and wallet can do the job. Another account is useful only if it solves a specific asset, network or cost problem. When is the purchase complete? Check the merchant’s order result rather than a universal time estimate. Keeping invoice, transaction and delivery records makes later troubleshooting easier.
Sources
Based on the merchant’s official instructions. We have not tested every payment ourselves; check your own invoice before paying.
BitPay · Paying an invoice ↗Proton · Bitcoin payments and account credit ↗BitPay · Underpaid and overpaid invoices ↗