Non-custodial payment gateway
A payment gateway that never touches your money.
Most crypto gateways take the payment first and pay you later, so for a while it’s their money to hold, and to freeze. A non-custodial gateway only watches. It builds each invoice from your wallet’s public key, and the customer pays your wallet directly. That’s how BTCPay Server works, and Myntli runs it for you: $29 a month, no percentage, and no key that can spend.
Bitcoin only. If you need stablecoins or a payout in dollars, a custodial gateway is the right tool, and this page says which.
The difference
Custodial and non-custodial, side by side
| Custodial gateway | Non-custodial: your own BTCPay node | |
|---|---|---|
| Who receives the payment | The gateway | Your wallet |
| Who can hold or freeze it | The gateway | Nobody |
| What it needs from you | Business verification and bank details | A public key |
| How it charges | A percentage of each sale, usually 1% or more | Nothing per sale: you pay for the server, or $29 a month to us |
| How you get paid | Dollars or euros to your bank, or crypto later | Bitcoin, already in your wallet |
| Chargebacks | None: crypto payments are final | None |
How it works
What happens when a customer pays
- You make a wallet and keep its seed phrase offline. The seed never goes near the server.
- The node gets the public key only. From it, BTCPay can make a fresh address for every order, and it can’t spend a thing.
- Each order gets an invoice with its own address, a locked exchange rate and, by default, 15 minutes to pay.
- The customer pays by scanning the QR code in their wallet. The coins go straight to your address.
- The node watches the blockchain, marks the order paid and tells your shop. The money was never anywhere but your wallet.
The honest part
Where you still have to trust someone
Yourself, with the keys
Non-custodial means nobody can recover your wallet for you. Lose the seed phrase and the coins are gone, so back it up before the first sale.
Us, with the machine
On our hosted plan we run the server, so we can see your invoices, amounts and addresses, never a key that can spend. If you’d rather nobody could, we install the node on your own server for $449.
The address on each invoice
BTCPay’s own docs warn that a dishonest host could swap your public key for theirs. So before we hand over, we make a real test payment and you watch it land in your own wallet.
Anyone asking for your seed
A host that asks for your private key, or makes one for you, isn’t non-custodial. BTCPay’s docs call that a scam, and so do we.
Questions people ask
What is a non-custodial crypto payment gateway?
One that never receives your money. It creates each invoice from your wallet’s public key and watches for the payment, which goes straight from the customer to you.
Is BTCPay Server non-custodial?
Yes. BTCPay says it does not hold funds as a payment intermediary, and set up from a watch-only wallet, the server never has a key that can spend.
Which crypto payment gateways are non-custodial?
BTCPay Server, whether you run it or someone runs it for you, and Blockonomics, which charges 1% after your first 10 payments. BitPay, OpenNode, CoinGate and Coinbase Business hold funds before paying you.
Do non-custodial gateways need KYC?
BTCPay Server and Blockonomics don’t ask for any, because they never hold your money. Custodial gateways verify your business before they pay you out.
Can a non-custodial gateway freeze my payments?
No. The coins go straight to your wallet, so there’s nothing in between to freeze. The flip side is that nobody can reverse a mistake for you either.
Your coins, your keys, your node.
$29 a month and we run the node, or $449 once and we install it on your own server. Either way, nothing sits between your customer and your wallet.
Also compared: BitPay · Coinbase Commerce · all guides