How to Enable Web3 Payments for your App or Website

If you’re building an app, you’ll want to monetize it. But building your own crypto payment gateway is not always simple. Not only is it time-consuming for developers, building your own optimized flow that offers flexibility of onramping providers in every region is a challenge. And that’s even without offering an effective user experience, since many methods require manual swapping and bridging.

To stay competitive and meet the demands of a global audience, crypto payments solutions must be performant, reliable and easy to use, which is why many apps choose to use existing crypto payment gateways.

By integrating a crypto payment solution into your application, you can provide users with faster transactions, lower fees, enhanced security, and unlock seamless web3 payments for a wider range of users. And it’s much simpler than you might think.

But before we get into the implementation, let’s dive into what crypto payments solutions are and why they are important.

What Are Web3 Payments?

Web3 payments refer to financial transactions powered by decentralized technologies — primarily blockchain — without reliance on traditional financial institutions. Instead of sending payments through banks or payment processors, web3 payments are settled directly between digital wallets on blockchain networks.

These payments can involve cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, or tokenized assets and are designed to be transparent, fast, and accessible globally. Web3 payments enable new financial interactions such as NFT purchases, DAO contributions, on-chain subscriptions, and in-game item purchases — all without intermediaries.

What Are Web3 Payment Solutions?

Web3 payment solutions are infrastructure tools, SDKs, and services that simplify the process of integrating crypto-based payments into applications. These solutions handle the complexities of wallet connectivity, on-chain transaction execution, cross-chain compatibility, onramps (fiat-to-crypto), swaps, and more.

The best web3 payment solutions, like thirdweb’s Universal Bridge, abstract away these technical details to let users pay with any token or even fiat — while developers retain control over UX, fees, and integrations.

What is a crypto payment API?

A crypto payments API is a specific web3 payment solution for developers; essentially a set of protocols and tools that enable applications to process transactions using cryptocurrencies. These APIs facilitate seamless interactions between your app and various blockchain networks, allowing users to make payments, deposits, or purchases with digital assets directly within your app, game or platform. By integrating a crypto payments API, you can offer a modern payment alternative that caters to the growing number of cryptocurrency users worldwide.

Benefits of Integrating Web3 Payments

If you’re building a crypto enabled app, you’ll need to activate web3 payments in some shape or form; but even for traditional apps, there are a whole host of benefits to letting your users access blockchain transactions. For example:

Lower Transaction Fees

Cryptocurrency transactions often come with reduced fees compared to traditional banking systems, enabling cost savings for both businesses and users. Since transactions are processed peer-to-peer, there are less fees sent to middlemen such as processing partners or third-party financial institutions. Users simply pay a gas fee for using the network and pay their onramping providers directly.

Faster Transactions

Blockchain technology allows for much faster transactions than traditional banking methods which, in some cases, can take days to process.

Enhanced Security

Cryptographic principles underpinning blockchain ensure that transactions are secure and tamper-proof, reducing the risk of fraud.

Broader Customer Base

Accepting cryptocurrencies opens your business to a global audience, including unbanked populations and crypto enthusiasts.

Transparency

Using a blockchain's public ledger to process web3 payments provides transparency, allowing all parties to verify transactions independently through the chain’s transaction history.

Challenges of Cryptocurrency Payment Integration

Of course, like any type of payment solution, there are also some challenges you might face before integrating

Price Volatility

Cryptocurrency values can fluctuate significantly, posing potential risks in pricing and revenue. However, there are also plenty of stablecoins in the crypto ecosystem, which offer blockchain enabled tokens pegged to world currencies like the US dollar, Euro or Yuan. That’s why the best and most reliable web3 payment solutions also offer stablecoin support.

Regulatory Compliance

Navigating the evolving legal landscape surrounding digital currencies requires diligence to ensure adherence to local and international laws. In some regions, enabling crypto payments may incur specific taxes or require you to provide user information (such as KYC checks).

Security Considerations

While blockchain is secure, implementing proper security measures in your application is crucial to protect against potential vulnerabilities. That’s why using existing web3 payment solutions is preferable to building your own: simply, they have more time and experience in building appropriate security measures.

How to choose the best web3 payments solution?

So, you think you’re ready to start with web3 payments? Here’s how to choose which web3 payment solution might be the best for your app, platform or game.

Token & Crypto Compatibility

Identify which digital assets are most relevant to your target audience and ensure that the web3 payment solution you choose supports them.

Regional Coverage

Not every web3 payment solution is suitable for every region. If you’re building a global app, you’ll want to have a web3 payment solution that covers every region worldwide—which is no easy feat when you need to comply with local laws and regulations. This can become even more complicated when you want to offer onramping in countries with financial instability or banking complications.\

Fees

Every web3 payment solution attacks fees differently: some will require more fees than others and not all will offer developers a share of those fees. If you want to monetize your app with ease, you’ll want to choose a developer-friendly web3 payment solution that offers the creator something back for their hard work. And of course, you don’t want to overload your users with mounting fees if you’re counting on usage. As a result it’s important to consider how much the developer and the user will end up paying for each transaction and optimize it accordingly.

User Experience

Building the correct user experience for your audience is extremely important. For example, if your users aren’t crypto native, you’ll want to enable seamless transactions without manual swapping or bridging. You may even want to abstract away the complexities of crypto altogether by only enabling stablecoins and web2 payment methods such as debit cards or ApplePay.

Integration Process

To incorporate web3 payments in to your app will require backend development to handle transaction requests, frontend adjustments for user interfaces. Depending on the manpower your project has, and the skill level of your developers, you’ll want to consider how complicated your web3 payments integration is.

Universal Bridge: A comprehensive web3 payments solution for every web3 app

Universal Bridge is a comprehensive web3 payment solution to help you monetize any app or game. With Universal Bridge, your users can onramp, bridge & swap on any EVM chain—with any EVM token or fiat—thanks to its automatic cross-chain routing.

It’s easy to integrate web3 payments that fit your app: choose to enable your own in-game or in-app currencies and even unlock seamless cross-chain swapping and bridging—without the need to see the mechanism, never mind activate it manually. Not only that, but Universal Bridge supports over 500+ wallets, every EVM token and every EVM chain, making it truly accessible to everyone.

Plus, Universal bridge isn’t just handy for users, it’s also built for developers, offering a fee-sharing mechanism so you can earn from day one, and also easy implementation for any kind of app or game. Finally, Universal Bridge is also available worldwide, with locally enabled payment providers allowing your users to onramp in every region.

By choosing thirdweb, you benefit from a developer-friendly solution that streamlines the adoption of crypto payments.

Benefits of using Universal Bridge for Web3 Payments

thirdweb’s Universal Bridge enables users to fund transactions using any token on any chain. Unlike traditional gateways, it handles all the complexity behind the scenes — swaps, bridges, and onramps — so your users can pay seamlessly, regardless of what assets they hold.

Global Onramp Support – Available in 160+ countries with providers like Stripe, Transak, Kado, and Coinbase Pay.

Fiat & Crypto Payments – Accept fiat with over 40 currencies and any token from any chain.

Smart Routing – Automatically bridges and swaps to complete the transaction.

Component & Headless Modes – Use React components or build your own flows with APIs.

Multi-Wallet Support – Users can fund from any wallet, not just the connected one.

Secure Transaction Approvals – One-time transaction approval prevents exploits.

Revenue Opportunities – Earn a percentage of transaction fees via fee-sharing.

How to enable web3 payments in your app or game

1. Get Started with thirdweb

Firstly, sign into thirdweb dashboard, generate a Client ID (API Key) and install the SDK

bash
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npm

2. Choose your integration method

You have the choice between:

PayEmbed Component – Add a plug-and-play payment UI to your app.

tsx
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import { ThirdwebProvider, PayEmbed, createThirdwebClient } from "thirdweb/react";

const client = createThirdwebClient({ clientId: "YOUR_CLIENT_ID" });

export default function App() {
  return (
    <ThirdwebProvider>
      <PayEmbed client={client} />
    </ThirdwebProvider>
  );
}

ConnectButton – Integrated with Universal Bridge for logged-in users.

tsx
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import { ThirdwebProvider, ConnectButton } from "thirdweb/react";

export default function App() {
  return (
    <ThirdwebProvider clientId="YOUR_CLIENT_ID">
      <ConnectButton />
    </ThirdwebProvider>
  );
}

Direct Contract Transactions – Automatically trigger Universal Bridge when a user lacks necessary tokens.

Headless API Integration – Fully customize your own onramp and payment UX using low-level APIs.

Step 3: Customize the UI as needed

You can tailor the Universal Bridge’s user interface to create a unified, branded experience.

Themes and Styling – Match your brand design.

Callbacks and Hooks – Monitor status or run logic post-transaction.

Webhooks – Get backend notifications when a transaction completes.

SDK Functions – Customize quotes, token selection, and swap handling.

Step 4: Test & Deploy

Almost ready to launch? Now it’s time to test and deploy. Before going live:

• Test on testnets or in sandbox mode

• Review swap paths and slippage handling

• Validate KYC requirements and provider options for your target regions

Step 5: Launch!

Now you’ve integrated your web3 payments solution, you’re ready to launch your app and start generating revenue—for any app, any developer on any EVM chain.

Check out the full details on how to get started with Universal Bridge in the technical documentation.

Universal Bridge: Unlocking Seamless Web3 Payments

Integrating cryptocurrency payments into your app not only enhances user experience but also positions your business at the forefront of financial innovation. By embracing this technology, you can offer faster, more secure, and cost-effective payment options, catering to a diverse and expanding user base. Begin your integration journey today web3 payment solution Universal Bridge and unlock the full potential of digital currencies within your application.

Learn more about Universal Bridge ->

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