What is a crypto payment gateway
A crypto payment gateway is the equivalent of a traditional payment service provider for the on-chain world. It exposes deposit-address provisioning, on-chain confirmation tracking, withdrawal signing, fee management, and reconciliation reports as API endpoints. The operator’s platform calls the gateway for every crypto-related payment action, and the gateway abstracts away chain-specific complexity, hot-wallet operations, and KYT integration.
Leading specialist providers include CoinsPaid, BitPay, Wert, NOWPayments, and Triple-A. Most cover Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Tron, and the major Layer 2 networks. Some operators run their own gateway in-house rather than using a third party, particularly at the largest crypto-native scale.
How a crypto payment gateway integrates
Integration runs through a REST or WebSocket API plus webhook callbacks. The operator’s platform calls the gateway to request a deposit address; the gateway returns a unique address per customer per chain. On confirmation, the gateway posts a webhook to the operator with the deposit details, and the platform credits the customer balance. Withdrawals run in reverse: the operator submits a signed withdrawal request, the gateway broadcasts the transaction, and a webhook confirms settlement.
Reconciliation reports run on a daily or sub-daily cadence and cover deposits, withdrawals, fees, and reserve balances per chain. KYT screening is bundled into the gateway in most modern offerings, using Chainalysis or Elliptic under the hood.
Why crypto payment gateways matter in B2B
For operators, a crypto payment gateway is the practical alternative to building a multi-chain payment stack in-house. The build-vs-buy decision depends on volume: at small scale, the gateway is cheaper and faster; at large scale, in-house infrastructure can be more flexible and lower-fee. For platform vendors, supporting one or more leading gateways is standard procurement scope. For compliance, the gateway’s KYT integration is usually the operator’s first line of crypto sanctions and source-of-funds screening. Gamblers Connect tracks payment gateway coverage across operators in the iHub directory.
Frequently asked questions about What Is a Crypto Payment Gateway in iGaming?
CoinsPaid is the dominant specialist for iGaming volumes. BitPay, NOWPayments, Triple-A, and Wert are widely integrated. Some operators use general-purpose providers (Fireblocks, BitGo) for custody and run lighter payment logic in-house.
Yes, in most modern offerings. The gateway integrates Chainalysis, Elliptic, or TRM Labs under the hood and exposes risk scores per deposit and withdrawal. Operators can block or hold transactions above defined risk thresholds.
Typical pricing is 0.5 to 1.5 percent on deposit volume plus per-withdrawal fees that pass through the on-chain gas cost with a small margin. Larger operators negotiate lower rates against volume commitments.
Yes, but it requires careful reconciliation. The old gateway hands off the customer-address mapping and the on-chain reserves; the new gateway takes over deposit and withdrawal flow. Most large operators run two gateways in parallel for redundancy.