How U.S. Merchants Can Enable PayPal’s Pay with Crypto

PayPal is offering Pay with Crypto to verified U.S. merchants through its Expanded Checkout. Merchants can accept roughly 100 cryptocurrencies, including PYUSD, USDC and USDT, and receive settlement in U.S. dollars credited to their PayPal balance. PayPal converts the buyer’s crypto to USD on payment; merchants do not take custody of the crypto. The merchant acceptance fee is 0.99% through July 31, 2026, and increases to 1.5% after that date.

To enable the option, merchants must have a verified U.S. PayPal Business account, apply for Expanded Checkout, and enable Crypto under Account Settings → Payment Methods. Integration requires an Orders V2 implementation. When a buyer selects Pay with Crypto the merchant creates an order with a POST /v2/checkout/orders call using intent=CAPTURE, processing_instruction=ORDER_COMPLETE_ON_PAYMENT_APPROVAL and payment_source.crypto. The request must include country and buyer name fields, and return_url and cancel_url. Use a unique PayPal-Request-Id on create calls to avoid duplicate orders.

The create response contains a payer-action redirect link. Merchants must redirect buyers to that link and wait for a PAYMENT.CAPTURE.COMPLETED webhook before fulfilling orders. Authorization-and-capture flows, recurring billing, vaulting and multi-seller arrangements are not supported for Pay with Crypto.

Refunds are issued back to the buyer’s wallet in PYUSD or another supported stablecoin if the recipient wallet cannot accept PYUSD. PayPal describes crypto payments as irrevocable and not subject to disputes or card-style chargebacks. PayPal recommends merchants run a small live test — under $25 is suggested — using PYUSD or USDC to confirm captures result in USD credit to the PayPal balance and that refunds return to the buyer wallet as stablecoin.

There are operational limits. Merchants based in New York cannot use Pay with Crypto at present. Sellers of gambling and gaming products must complete PayPal’s due diligence before enablement. For fee context, a benchmark crypto checkout fee is 1.5% all-in; card payments continue to carry standard card-fee structures and a chargeback process that does not apply to crypto receipts.

Alternatives for settlement or custody needs include other crypto-checkout services that settle to platform balances, Bridge virtual accounts that route payer-local fiat into named USDC accounts, or self-custody USDC receive addresses and stablecoin invoicing for teams that want direct custody. PYUSD is available as a payer asset and as the refund rail; issuance and custody of PYUSD are handled by Paxos Trust Company, N.A., and the PayPal wallet fee for eligible users to buy, sell, hold and send PYUSD is separate from the merchant acceptance fee.

Merchants preparing to add Pay with Crypto should confirm eligibility (not located in New York), request Expanded Checkout plus Crypto, implement the Orders V2 CAPTURE create-and-redirect flow with a unique PayPal-Request-Id, and validate a sub-$25 capture and refund to verify settlement and the PYUSD refund path before offering the option for larger-ticket items.