CoinPayments is the number one payment processing platform for online businesses or anyone wishing to adopt cryptocurrencies for their ease of access and worldwide flexibility.
Although getting started with CoinPayments is easy, many users aren’t quite sure how they can quickly start receiving Bitcoin and altcoin payments. Below, you’ll find a detailed breakdown of how to receive Bitcoin and altcoin payments by connecting your eCommerce site to the CoinPayments platform.
The first step is to create a CoinPayments account, which any business owner can do by visiting the CoinPayments website. The account creation process is fairly straightforward.
First, click the “Sign Up” button, which is located in the top right-hand corner of the CoinPayments website.
Then fill out all the necessary details on the resulting account creation form. New account holders will need a few pieces of information, including a username, email address, and password. Users will also be required to provide their time zones and agree to the terms of service.
After verifying the account, new account holders will be able to tweak their settings and decide which types of cryptocurrencies they want to accept for their business.
Account settings will allow business owners to establish important information about their enterprises, which is important for integrating the CoinPayments payment processor with their businesses.
To do this, click on:
Next, business owners can finally choose to receive Bitcoin and altcoins.
Before moving on to the next step, merchants should click on “Account”, then “API Keys”. The API keys connect business stores to CoinPayments’s digital system.
Each new account comes with an API Key already generated. However, users can click on “Generate New Key” and create a new API key if necessary.
Regardless, all users should store their public and private API Keys in a secure location so they can use them later.
At this point, all merchants should have their Merchant ID, public and private API Keys, and IPN Secret. Users can now link their eCommerce or online stores to their CoinPayments accounts.
Luckily, CoinPayments provides several different integration methods depending on personal preferences or what your eCommerce platform has available.
Many commercially available or public plugins can integrate the CoinPayments platform with standard eCommerce stores. CoinPayments’s list of merchant tools and plugins includes a list of all the prebuilt plugins that major eCommerce platforms can utilize; you can see it in our Integration Guide. If you find a plugin that works for your business, simply download it, then install the plugin and edit the settings accordingly. You’ll need to enter both your IPN Secret and Merchant ID for the integration to go through.
Although every prebuilt plugin has slightly different integration steps, this method is straightforward and easy to use if you don’t want to spend a lot of time fiddling with APIs.
However, your business might have a custom eCommerce platform. In that case, CoinPayments offers a well-documented collection of APIs you can use to facilitate a stable integration.
CoinPayments’s APIs provide more functionality compared to the prebuilt plugins described above. These are ideal integration tools if your eCommerce platform has unique features or functions, such as membership tiers or online gaming portals.
To use our APIs, you’ll need both your API Public and Private Keys. You can check out our documentation regarding API use and IPN Secret integration using several documents we have compiled for yourself or your IT team.
If API integration is too technical or unnecessary, you can also use CoinPayments’ simple payment buttons. These payment buttons allow you to quickly incorporate crypto payments on your website. Because they are so simple, payment buttons are great if you only offer one or two products or if your business is accepting coins for other purposes, such as donations.
You can get started with a simple payment button by clicking this link.
Or you can use an advanced payment button. These allow users to modify the quantities of their transactions.
If your organization is a charity, we offer a specialized donation button. This comes with preset and adjustable amounts.
No matter which payment button you choose, you’ll need your Merchant ID. If you are already logged into CoinPayments, the ID will already be filled in. Afterward, fill in any other appropriate information and choose an image to use for your button.
Then click “Generate Button.” CoinPayments will automatically send you to an HTML code page so you can copy the code and insert it into your website’s code lines.
As you can see, there are multiple ways to integrate your CoinPayments account with your eCommerce site. But it’s a good idea to test the integration to ensure that you can accept Bitcoin and altcoin payments from your customers or donors.
To do this:
Be sure to disable Litecoin Testnet payments after you are done. Go to “Coin Settings” as before, then uncheck the Litecoin Testnet box and click “Update Coin Preferences”.
Additionally, you may wish to navigate through your account and tweak any other settings that are important for your business operations or accounting. CoinPayments offers a variety of settings that can be changed. These include:
Ultimately, CoinPayments is one of the easiest ways to ensure your business can accept and spend decentralized and international currencies like Bitcoin and different altcoins. CoinPayments also allows your business to accept hundreds of cryptocurrencies as it expands.
Sources
Altcoin Definition | Investopedia
What are the benefits of cryptocurrency? | Fox Business
Fiat Money Definition: How Is Currency Valued? | Investopedia
