Most WooCommerce store owners stumble onto the same problem eventually. A customer wants to pay in crypto. Or they’re trying to sell internationally and the payment options they have are expensive, slow, or unavailable in the customer’s country. Or they’re watching their margins get eaten by processing fees and wondering if there’s a better way.
Crypto payments are a practical answer to all three. This post walks you through exactly how to add them to your WooCommerce store — and why the flexibility on offer is broader than most merchants expect.
What you can actually accept
The common assumption is that accepting crypto means accepting Bitcoin, maybe Ethereum, and little else. In practice, the range is much wider.
With Tender, you can accept over 300 crypto assets across 20+ blockchains — including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, USDT, and most of the major assets your customers are likely to hold. If a customer has crypto, there’s a good chance you can accept it.
This matters because crypto ownership isn’t monolithic. A customer in Southeast Asia might hold a different asset than a customer in Nigeria or Latin America. Limiting your store to one or two options means turning away customers who hold others. Accepting 300+ means the friction is effectively gone.
USDT specifically — and why stablecoins are the merchant-friendly option
Among those 300+ assets, USDT tends to be the most practical starting point for merchants new to crypto. It’s a stablecoin — pegged 1:1 to the US dollar. 1 USDT is always worth $1.
The volatility concern that makes most business owners nervous about crypto doesn’t apply to stablecoins. You’re accepting digital dollars, just via a different payment rail — one that’s faster and cheaper than most traditional options, particularly for international transactions.
What happens to the money after a customer pays
This is where Tender’s setup is worth understanding clearly, because you have two options most payment gateways don’t give you.
Option 1: Withdraw to your local currency. Tender settles in 16+ local currencies, with USD available for any not yet on the list. The crypto your customer paid with converts, and the equivalent lands in your bank account in a currency you can use directly. You never touch crypto at any point.
Option 2: Keep it in crypto. If you’d prefer to hold the asset — whether that’s USDT, Bitcoin, or another token — you can. Some merchants prefer this for treasury reasons, or because they have suppliers or expenses they pay in crypto. The choice is yours per transaction or as a default setting.
Most merchants start with local currency withdrawal and adjust from there once they’re comfortable with the system.
What you need before you start
- A WooCommerce store (WordPress with WooCommerce installed)
- A Tender account
- About 10 minutes for setup, plus up to 24 hours for KYC verification
KYC — Know Your Customer — is a standard identity verification process. You submit your business documents when you sign up, Tender’s team reviews them, and you’re typically verified within 24 hours. Once that’s done, you’re live.
Step-by-step: Adding crypto payments to your WooCommerce store
Step 1: Create your Tender account
Go to tender.cash and sign up. Complete your business details and submit your KYC documents. Verification takes up to 24 hours.
Step 2: Create an Online Outlet
Once verified, log in and create an Online Outlet — Tender’s term for the payment method configured for e-commerce. You’ll receive an API key tied to this outlet.
Step 3: Install the Tender plugin on WooCommerce:
Download the plugin here.
Go to your WordPress admin dashboard, navigate to Plugins, add new, and upload plugin. Install and activate it. Go to WooCommerce → Settings → Payments and Enable Tender SDK Payment.
Step 4: Configure your Tender credentials
Inside:
WooCommerce → Settings → Payments → Tender SDK Payment
Add:
- Access ID
- Access Secret
- Agent ID
Make sure your credentials are correct.
Step 5: Test a transaction Run a test transaction before going live. Confirm the payment flow works end to end — customer pays in crypto, settlement hits your account in your preferred currency or stays in crypto, depending on your settings.
Once live, crypto appears as a payment option at your checkout alongside whatever methods you already have.
Who this makes the most practical difference for
- You sell internationally and lose money on conversion fees or wire charges
- You have customers in high crypto-adoption markets — parts of Africa, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Latin America
- You serve diaspora communities who regularly transact in crypto
- You’re paying 3–5% in processing fees and want a lower-cost alternative
- Customers have asked to pay in crypto and you’ve had no way to accommodate them
If none of those apply, crypto payments are still a low-effort addition with no downside. If any of them apply, it’s a meaningful operational improvement.
The one thing to know about timing
The 24-hour window is for KYC verification, not for the technical setup. The plugin installation takes minutes. Submit your documents when you sign up, and by the next business day you’re ready to go live.