5 Critical Checks Before Adding Crypto Checkout to Your Merchant App

What to check before adding crypto checkout to a merchant app

Ethan Carter, who works with MakePay, provides a practical checklist for developers adding crypto checkout. The hard part is not showing a QR code but deciding what happens before, during, and after settlement.

Why This Matters

Crypto checkout sounds simple until the merchant workflow is mapped end to end. Technical reality often clashes with ideal models when reconciliation gets messy due to undefined settlement assets or unhandled payment exceptions like underpayments or wrong networks.

Key Insights

• • Define accepted customer assets and merchant settlement asset explicitly (2026 advice from Ethan Carter).
• Keep custody assumptions visible: self-custody requires wallet backup plans; custodial needs payout timing rules.
• Treat the payment record as part of the product: store order ID, expected/received amounts, transaction hash, and refund state.
• Design for exceptions like expired sessions, overpayments, delayed confirmations before launch.
• Start with a low-risk integration path like hosted payment links before moving to custom API flows.

Practical Applications

• • Use case: Merchants using MakePay’s hosted payment links can validate support and reconciliation before deeper API integration (provider example).
• Pitfall: Starting with the most custom flow without operational maturity leads to unhandled payment exceptions and support chaos.
• Use case: Self-custody merchants need clear wallet ownership and backup processes for security (2026 operational guidance).
• Pitfall: Hiding custody assumptions from the merchant causes confusion over payout timing or fund access.

References:

• https://www.makepay.io/en
• https://www.makecrypto.io/documentation#makepay-embed