A guide for StacoGate merchants using Payment Links to request stablecoin payments without a store integration.
What are Payment Links?
Payment Links let you request a stablecoin payment without needing a WooCommerce store or any code. You create a link from your StacoGate merchant dashboard, share it by email, chat, invoice or social media, and your customer pays through a secure StacoGate checkout page.
Useful for:
- Invoices and one-off client payments
- Freelance or service work
- Custom orders
- Any manual sale outside a normal storefront
Before you start: what you need
- A verified email on your StacoGate account
- Approved identity verification (KYC) — you can browse the Payment Links page beforehand, but creating a live link requires KYC approval first
- At least one active shop or payment profile set up in your account — this controls which stablecoins, network and receiving wallet get used
If your identity verification isn't approved yet, the dashboard will show a banner and send you to the Verification page when you try to create a link.
Step 1: Open Payment Links
In your merchant dashboard, go to Payment Links in the sidebar.
If you haven't created any yet, you'll see an empty state with a Create your first payment link button.
Step 2: Create a payment link
Click Create payment link and fill in the available fields.
Payment settings
- Receive payment through — choose which shop or payment profile should receive the funds. This determines which stablecoins and networks are offered and where the money settles.
- Currency — the fiat currency the amount is priced in, such as USD or EUR. The customer pays in stablecoin; StacoGate handles the conversion.
Payment request
- Title — shown to the customer, for example Website development
- Amount — must be at least 0.01 in your chosen currency
- Description (optional) — extra context shown under the title on the payment page
Invoice or attachment
You can optionally attach a PDF, JPG or PNG file up to 5 MB.
This can be useful for attaching an invoice created in Canva, Word, Excel or another tool. Customers see a View attachment link on the payment page.
Link behaviour
Choose a link type:
- One-time — automatically marks itself completed and stops accepting payments after the first successful payment
- Reusable — keeps accepting payments indefinitely, or until it expires or is disabled. This can be useful for recurring donations or repeat-order links.
You can also set an optional Expiry date. Leave it blank for a link that does not expire automatically.
Click Create. You'll be taken back to the Payment Links list, where your new link appears immediately.
Step 3: Share the link
Each payment link card shows:
- Status — Active, Completed, Disabled or Expired
- Amount and currency
- Which shop or profile it is tied to
- Reference code, for example
PL-A1B2C3D4 - Successful payments count
- The full public URL, with Copy and Open buttons
Copy the URL and send it to your customer however you prefer — email, WhatsApp, an invoice or another channel.
What your customer sees
When a customer opens the link, they see a branded StacoGate payment page with:
- Your business name, or shop name if you haven't set one
- The title, amount and description you entered
- The payment reference and link type
- Your attachment, if you added one
- A Pay with stablecoin button
Tapping Pay with stablecoin takes them to the standard StacoGate hosted checkout, where they pick a supported stablecoin and network to complete payment.
They never see your merchant dashboard or private account details — only the payment page and checkout.
How fees work with Payment Links
Payment Links use the settlement settings of the shop or payment profile selected when the link is created.
StacoGate charges a 1.25% processing fee on successful payments.
- StacoGate balance — StacoGate covers the blockchain forwarding fee when the payment is $10 equivalent or more. For smaller payments, the forwarding fee is deducted from the merchant settlement.
- Direct to wallet — the blockchain forwarding fee is deducted from the merchant settlement at all payment amounts.
The completed payment record in your merchant dashboard shows the processing fee, estimated blockchain forwarding fee, who covered it, and your final credited or forwarded amount.
When a link becomes unavailable
The Pay button is disabled and a message is shown instead when:
| Situation | Message shown to customer |
|---|---|
| One-time link already paid | “This one-time payment link has already been paid.” |
| Link manually disabled | “This payment link is currently disabled.” |
| Past its expiry date | “This payment link has expired.” |
| The linked shop isn't active | “This payment link is not currently accepting payments.” |
| Your KYC isn't approved | “This merchant is not currently able to accept live payments.” |
Keep this in mind if you deactivate a shop or your verification status changes — any payment links tied to it stop working automatically until the issue is resolved.
Tracking payments
- The successful payments counter on each link updates automatically after a payment completes.
- One-time links change to Completed after their first successful payment and stop accepting further payments.
- Reusable links keep accepting payments and continue counting successful payments.
- The last paid timestamp updates with each successful payment.
Current limitations
Payment Links are still early-stage. As currently implemented:
- There is no in-dashboard way to edit a link after creation, such as changing its title or amount. You need to create a new link instead.
- There is no self-service disable toggle yet in the merchant UI. Disabling currently happens on the backend.
- Only currencies listed as supported store and invoice pricing currencies are available when creating a link.
See the current supported pricing currencies.
FAQ
Can I reuse a payment link for multiple customers?
Yes, if you set the link type to Reusable. A One-time link stops working after its first successful payment.
What happens to the attachment file — is it public?
The attachment is only served through the payment link's public page or URL — it isn't listed anywhere else.
Anyone with the link URL can view it, so don't put sensitive information in the attachment beyond what you would normally include on an invoice intended for that customer.
Can I set an expiry after creating the link?
Not currently. Expiry is set at creation time only.
Does the customer need a StacoGate account?
No. They only need a supported stablecoin wallet to complete payment at checkout.
Why can't I create a live link yet?
Your identity verification (KYC) probably hasn't been approved. Check Identity verification in your merchant dashboard for the current status.
This guide covers the Payment Links feature as currently implemented. Editing and disabling controls are expected in a future update, so check for changes if your dashboard looks different from what is described here.