To choose a crypto payment gateway, ask every candidate the same ten questions and ask for the documentation behind each answer: which assets on which networks, the full cost, how long a price is fixed, when a payment is final, what happens to wrong amounts, how you connect and test, how your system learns about payments, who holds the keys, which compliance checks apply and what your finance team gets.
This is a buyer's checklist, not a ranking. Each question says why it matters and what a good answer looks like, then how CryptoLike answers it and where we document it.
The checklist in one table
A good answer is specific and documented: a field name, a status, a published schedule, not "low fees". The sections below explain each line.
| Question | What a good answer looks like | Where CryptoLike documents it |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Which coins, on which networks? | A list of assets per network; the payer can choose | Supported coins, GET /v1/currencies |
| 2. What is the full cost, and who pays it? | Platform fee, network fee and spread named separately | Pricing, fees explained |
| 3. How long is the price fixed? | A locked rate for the whole time to pay | API overview |
| 4. When is a payment final? | A confirmation threshold per asset and a reorg event | Status model |
| 5. What about wrong amounts? | Separate states for underpaid, overpaid and late | Underpaid payments |
| 6. How do I connect and test? | Plugins, API, SDKs, a test environment | Integrations, testing |
| 7. How does my system learn about a payment? | Signed webhooks with retries and an event id | Webhooks |
| 8. Who holds the keys, and what protects payouts? | Published controls you can switch on | Security |
| 9. Which compliance checks apply? | When verification is needed and what a hold means | AML screening |
| 10. What does finance get, and who answers? | A statement that reconciles; a support contact | Accounting, about |
Coins, cost and price: questions 1–3
These three questions decide what your customer pays and what you receive. The answers should be public before you sign up.
1. Which coins and networks exactly, and who picks the coin?
"We accept USDT" is not an answer: USDT on TRON and USDT on Ethereum are different assets with different payer fees. Ask for a list of assets per network. CryptoLike accepts 7 assets on 4 networks: Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum and TRON, plus USDT on TRON and Ethereum and USDC on Ethereum. The live list is on the coins page, where a paused asset is marked "Paused".
You decide which assets are offered: in the cabinet, Coins has two switches per asset, Enabled and For invoices. For a payment priced in USD or EUR the payer sees "Choose what to pay with" and picks one of them; allowed_coin_ids narrows the choice for one payment.
2. What does a payment cost in total, and who pays each part?
Up to three parts make the cost: the platform fee, the network fee and, for a price in fiat, the conversion spread. A good answer names each one and its payer. At CryptoLike the standard platform fee is 0.8 % of a payment, with a minimum per asset, charged only when it is confirmed and credited; fee_paid_by decides whether you or the payer bears it. A fiat price is converted with no spread. The payer's wallet pays the network fee on an incoming payment; a payout costs its network fee with no mark-up (USDT on TRON adds 1 USDT), shown in the estimate before you confirm.
Rates are on the pricing page with an "as of" date, and individual rates are set per account. How each part is calculated: crypto payment fees explained.
3. How long is the amount fixed for a price in dollars?
Prices move while a customer pays, so ask when the rate is locked and for how long. At CryptoLike the rate is locked when the coin is known and holds for the payment's whole time to pay: from 60 seconds to 30 days per payment, or your account's default. The crypto amount is the price at the locked rate with no spread, rounded up, so the fiat price is always covered. If no fresh rate is available, the API refuses to create the payment (503 unavailable) instead of pricing it at an old rate.
Payment outcomes: questions 4–5
A gateway earns its keep on the payments that do not go to plan. Ask what your system receives in each case.
4. When is a payment final, and what if a block is reorganised?
A payment should be credited only after a published number of confirmations, and the gateway should tell you if the chain later removes a confirmed transfer. CryptoLike sets the threshold per asset and publishes it in GET /v1/currencies and on each coin page. The status goes from pending to paid; ship on paid. If a reorganisation reverts a confirmed transfer, the credit is reversed and you receive invoice.reverted or deposit.reverted. Why a detected payment is not yet paid: block reorganisations explained.
5. What happens when a customer pays too little, too much or too late?
Exchanges deduct their own fees, and customers pay late or round up. At CryptoLike a shortfall within a small tolerance (0.5 % by default) counts as paid; a larger one is underpaid, with remaining_amount, and the customer can top up to the same address until the deadline. An overpayment is paid with overpaid_amount. Funds that arrive late are credited with late_payment: true. A refund is a payout you send to an address the customer gives you. Details: underpaid, overpaid and late payments.
Integration and notifications: questions 6–7
The integration decides how much of the work lands on your team. Ask what exists today and how you test it.
6. How do you connect it, and can you test before going live?
CryptoLike connects through plugins for WooCommerce, OpenCart, PrestaShop and Magento 2, a Хорошоп connector, the REST API with SDKs for TypeScript, Python, Go and PHP (all four are pre-release), payment links from the cabinet or the Telegram bot, and a checkout widget for your own page. The full list is on the integrations page.
Testing should not touch real money. CryptoLike has a separate test environment on test networks: you get access and the test API URL from support, create a ck_test_ key there, and test coins have no value. Run every outcome — paid, underpaid, expired, late — as in testing crypto payments before going live.
7. How does your system learn about a payment?
A good answer is a signed webhook delivered at least once, plus a way to read the status on demand. CryptoLike signs each webhook with HMAC-SHA256 over the timestamp and the raw body, using the endpoint's own secret. A delivery without a 2xx answer within 10 seconds is retried 6 more times over about 31 hours, 7 attempts in total, always with the same event_id, so your handler can ignore repeats. The cabinet lists every delivery, and GET /v1/invoices/{id} returns the status at any time. The contract: webhooks documentation.
Custody, payouts and compliance: questions 8–9
These questions are about control: who can move the money and what checks it passes. Look for published controls, not promises.
8. Who holds the keys, and what protects payouts?
Ask whether the gateway holds the keys and how it limits who can sign. CryptoLike runs the wallets for you: private keys exist only inside a separate signing service that the API cannot reach into, and it checks every request against its own rules. When the hot wallet of an asset holds more than its limit, the system proposes a transfer to cold storage, and a person approves each one.
Payouts are under your control. Payouts from the cabinet or the Telegram bot need a fresh 2FA code; API payouts need a key with the withdraw permission, which you can limit to your server's IP addresses. You can enforce an address whitelist and a second approval. All controls and their defaults are on the security page.
9. Which compliance checks apply, and when?
Ask what needs verification, which funds are screened and what you see when money is held. At CryptoLike accepting payments needs no verification; payouts start after your account is verified — what is checked: KYB for crypto merchants. With the default settings, the sender of an incoming transfer is screened before the funds become available, when the sender can be identified; for a trusted account CryptoLike can narrow the screening of a coin (sanctions list only, from an amount, or off). Held funds wait for CryptoLike's compliance review, and your server gets deposit.on_hold. Payout addresses are screened too. How it works: AML screening of crypto payments.
Reporting and support: question 10
Your accountant needs data that matches the books, and your team needs someone to ask.
10. What does the finance team get, and how do you reach the team?
CryptoLike gives a statement per asset in which the opening balance plus the movements equals the closing balance, with a fiat value fixed when each movement happened. Payments, transactions and payouts export as CSV or XLSX, and digests arrive by e-mail or Telegram. More in crypto payments in your books. For questions, the about page lists the contacts; the team answers in English and Russian.
How to check CryptoLike against this list
Do not take any gateway's word for it, ours included. Open the documents linked in the table, run the test plan and compare the answers with what you need.
- Read the status model and API overview and the pricing page.
- Ask support for test environment access and run every payment outcome.
- Turn on 2FA, decide on the whitelist and the second approval, and start with a small real payment.
How the whole flow fits together, step by step: how a crypto payment gateway works.
FAQ
What is the most important question to ask a crypto payment gateway?
There is no single one; it depends on your business. A store cares most about wrong amounts and plugins, a service with payouts about payout controls and custody. If you check only one thing, ask for the documentation: a published status model, fee schedule and webhook contract let you verify every other answer yourself.
Should I compare gateways by the platform fee alone?
No. The platform fee is one of up to three parts of the cost, next to the network fee and the conversion spread on fiat prices. Also check who pays each part and when it is charged. At CryptoLike the standard platform fee is 0.8 % of a confirmed payment with a minimum per asset, payouts cost the network fee with no mark-up, and a fiat price is converted with no spread; the live schedule is on the pricing page.
Can I accept payments before my account is verified?
At CryptoLike, yes. Accepting payments needs no verification; payouts start after the account is verified (KYB). Businesses in regulated or higher-risk categories are reviewed individually during verification. Ask other providers the same question: the answer decides how soon you can move money out.
Does a crypto payment gateway hold my funds?
CryptoLike does: payments arrive on addresses the platform manages, and the keys stay in a separate signing service. You decide where money goes through payouts, with 2FA, an optional whitelist and an optional second approval. Ask any provider how it stores keys and which payout controls you can switch on.