Some buyers would rather pay in cryptocurrency than by card, especially across borders. An auction or marketplace site can accept crypto without holding any itself, by using a crypto payment gateway that quotes the price, takes the payment and tells your site when it's confirmed. This guide covers the crypto gateway add-ons for BidKing and PrizeX, how each one confirms a payment, and the practical points: volatility, underpayments, refunds, and the legal side.
The crypto gateways and how each confirms a payment
Crypto payments come from gateway add-ons, available from Add-ons in your admin panel. Three are covered here, and none of them trusts the browser alone.
CoinGate
- How it confirms: when CoinGate reports a payment, your site fetches the order back from CoinGate's API. It credits the payment only if CoinGate marks it paid and the amount and currency match the request.
- Setup: one field, your CoinGate API key.
- Settlement currency: CoinGate is asked to settle in your store's currency. If CoinGate can't settle in that currency, checkout shows an error, so check your currency is supported before you rely on it.
NOWPayments
- How it confirms: the customer pays on a NOWPayments invoice page. NOWPayments then sends a signed notification (IPN). Your site checks the signature with your IPN secret, fetches the payment from NOWPayments' API, and credits it only when it's finished and matches the order, amount and currency.
- Partial payments are never credited.
- Setup: enter your API key and IPN secret. Set the coin you want to receive as NOWPayments names it. For tokens on several networks that's the network-specific code, for example USDT on Tron rather than plain USDT.
Binance Pay
- How it confirms: the customer pays from the Binance app. When Binance notifies your site, nothing in the notification is trusted. The site queries the order from Binance with your own signed request, and credits it only if Binance reports it paid for the right amount.
- Setup: enter your API key and secret key.
- If a payment stays pending, use Check with gateway on Payment requests in the admin to ask Binance again.
When confirmation arrives late
Crypto confirmations can take minutes. With all three gateways, the provider tells your site when the payment confirms, so a customer who pays and closes the window is still credited.
Volatility and pricing
- Keep your prices in your normal currency. Lots, Buy Now prices and coin top-ups stay in your store currency (set under Settings › Regional). The gateway converts the price to crypto at checkout.
- Exchange-rate risk is the gateway's and your payout settings' concern, not your listings'. Check whether your gateway settles to you in fiat or in crypto, and price accordingly.
- Underpayments aren't credited. If a customer sends less than the quoted amount, for example because of network fees or a slow transfer after the quote expired, the order isn't credited automatically. Have a plan for those: resolve them in the gateway's dashboard and with the customer.
Refunds and chargebacks
On-chain payments can't be reversed by the buyer, so there are no chargebacks. That cuts fraud, but it also means refunds are entirely up to you. A refund is a new payment you send, at the current rate, to an address the customer gives you. Write your refund rules for crypto payments into your terms before you launch.
Tax and legal
- Laws on accepting crypto differ. Some countries restrict or ban accepting crypto payments, and many have tax rules for it. The operator is responsible for compliance, so check with a local lawyer and an accountant before you switch it on.
- Gambling restrictions still apply. Paying in crypto doesn't change whether a paid-bid format, raffle or paid game needs a licence where your players are.
- Check each gateway's terms for what you're allowed to sell through it.
- Age. BidKing limits sign-up to 18 and over.
Common questions
Can BidKing accept cryptocurrency?
Yes, through crypto gateway add-ons from Add-ons in your admin panel, such as CoinGate, NOWPayments and Binance Pay. Prices stay in your store currency, and the gateway converts them at checkout.
How does the site know a crypto payment really happened?
It never relies on the browser alone. Each of these gateways confirms through the provider's own API or a signed notification, and the payment is credited only when the provider reports it paid for the right amount and currency.
What if a customer underpays?
An underpaid order isn't credited automatically. Resolve it in the gateway's dashboard and with the customer, and say in your terms how you handle underpayments.
Can crypto payments be refunded?
Not automatically. There are no chargebacks on-chain, so any refund is a new payment you send. Set out your refund rules for crypto payments before launch.