Can I sell cryptocurrency businesses on Stripe, Shopify Payments or PayPal?
Stripe restricts exchanges and wallets, with limited availability. What merchants ask about most is taking crypto as payment for an ordinary product, and these clauses don't cover that. Running the exchange is what's regulated.
Also searched as: crypto, exchange, wallet, web3, token.
Stripe
RestrictedNamed, and allowed only on stated conditions or in certain countries.
“Cryptocurrency (for example, Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum, Dogecoin, Cardano, etc.) exchanges and wallets”
Named, restricted, limited availability. This covers running an exchange or a custodial wallet. An ordinary store that takes crypto at checkout isn't an exchange, and this clause isn't about it.
Source: Stripe: Prohibited and restricted businesses. The policy says it was last updated 22 September 2026. We last read it on 4 October 2026. Check it yourself before you act on this. These lists change, and this is only our reading of theirs.
PayPal
Needs pre-approvalNamed, and allowed only if you're approved in advance. Sell first and ask later, and the account gets terminated.
“Providing payment services which would fall under the definition of a money service business or an electronic money institution”
PayPal handles this with pre-approval instead of a ban. The line is the money-service-business definition, so custody and exchange need approval in advance and ordinary commerce doesn't.
Source: PayPal: Acceptable Use Policy. The policy says it was last updated 29 October 2022. We last read it on 4 October 2026. Check it yourself before you act on this. These lists change, and this is only our reading of theirs.
Shopify Payments
ProhibitedNamed on the list and refused. Applying anyway is how merchants end up on MATCH.
“Financial products and services: Products or services related to money transfers, virtual currencies and cryptocurrencies, check cashing, or credit repair services.”
Shopify's own list names virtual currencies and cryptocurrencies, so Stripe's limited availability for exchanges and wallets doesn't carry through to Shopify Payments. This is about crypto businesses. Taking crypto as one payment option for ordinary products is the separate question covered above.
Source: Shopify Help Center: Shopify Payments eligibility, prohibited businesses and products. The page doesn't give a last-updated date. We last read it on 4 October 2026. Check it yourself before you act on this. These lists change, and this is only our reading of theirs.
What usually happens
Businesses that move into custody or exchange without saying so get closed once it's discovered. The money-transmission licensing question usually shows up at the same time, and that's a far more expensive problem than losing a merchant account. Ordinary merchants who take crypto alongside cards generally have no issue at all.
What works instead
Be honest with yourself about which business you're in. If you're the exchange, you have a licensing project to finish before payments even come into it. If you sell products and take crypto as one option, you're not in this category, and you shouldn't be shopping for high-risk processing because of it.
Want an answer for your own store?
This page covers cryptocurrency businesses as a category. Approval depends on your catalogue, your claims and your paperwork. We'll tell you where you stand, even if it doesn't lead to work for us.
Both are free, and neither is a sales call. The check only asks for your web address. The call takes thirty minutes, and you leave with an answer even if we never work together. Ready to start now? Tell us what you sell.