Which crypto business account does your company need, and how do you open one?
Published
20.10.2026
Updated
20.10.2026
Contents
A business can have a crypto account, but the name covers three different products, and each one does a different job. If you're asking because clients want to pay you in crypto, the account you need is with a payment service, plus somewhere to withdraw the money to; an exchange account for trading is not built for that.
Three things a crypto business account can mean
Providers use the same words for three products that solve different problems:
An exchange business account. A crypto exchange, a marketplace where crypto is bought and sold, opens an account in the company's name. The company can buy, sell and hold crypto there, the way a person would, after a stricter check of its documents.
A crypto-friendly business bank account. This is an ordinary account in dollars or euros at a bank or banking service that does not close it because the money comes from crypto or goes to it. It is where crypto finally turns into money for salaries, rent and taxes.
A payment service account. A crypto payment service, also called crypto processing, sends invoices and payment links to your clients, takes their payments and pays the money out to an address you name. It is built for getting paid, not for trading.
A fourth thing often gets lumped in with them, and that is a self-custody wallet. It is an app or device where only you hold the keys to the coins, the secret that controls them. Nobody opens it for you and nobody checks your documents, so it is a tool rather than an account, and it raises its own question of what kind of crypto wallet a business needs.
Which crypto business account is best for what you do
There is no single best crypto business account, only the right one for the job. Match it to your situation:
You want to hold or trade crypto with company money. Open an exchange business account. It is the one built for buying, selling and holding.
Your company works in crypto, and banks keep turning it away. Look for a crypto-friendly business bank account. It holds ordinary money; its value is that it accepts your industry.
Clients want to pay you in crypto. Open a payment service account and decide where you will withdraw to: your own wallet or an exchange account. If you need the money in dollars or euros, a bank account is the last link.
Take a small video studio whose client in the US asks to pay a 2,000-dollar monthly invoice in Bitcoin or in USDT, a coin that tracks the dollar. The studio has no wish to trade crypto.
It just wants the invoice paid and the money in a form it can use. That is a job for a payment service, with an exchange account and a bank account further down the route.
How to open a business account at a crypto exchange
The route is similar at every large exchange, and most of the work is gathering the company's papers before the account can trade.
The exchange then reviews those papers in a check called KYB, short for "know your business": the company version of the identity check every exchange runs on people. The reasons behind it are the same as for KYC, the identity check that comes with every exchange account.
The exact list depends on the exchange and on the country where the company is registered, but it is built from the same pieces:
ID for the people behind the company. A passport or ID card for the owners and for everyone who will use the account.
Formation documents. A certificate of incorporation, articles of organization or your country's equivalent, in the officially filed version.
An ownership record. A share register, plus a chart if another company owns yours, so the exchange can see the real people at the top.
Proof of the business address. Kraken wants a document issued within the last three months, and a P.O. box does not count.
A tax number and a description of the business. Coinbase asks for an EIN or equivalent, and for what the business does, how it makes money and who its customers are.
Sometimes a bank statement or a questionnaire. Coinbase asks for a business bank statement from the last 90 days; Kraken adds an anti-money-laundering questionnaire.
Here is how four exchanges that open accounts for companies handle it, as of October 2026:
Kraken: five business days, sole proprietors accepted. It takes corporations, LLCs, sole proprietorships, partnerships and trusts, and the standard review takes five business days, longer if it asks for more.
Coinbase Business: an account for startups and small businesses. Its application asks for ID, formation documents, a tax number, a description of the business and a bank statement from the last 90 days.
Gemini: an institutional account. Gemini directs companies there; the form takes about 20 minutes, not counting the approval.
Crypto.com: companies only. Its institutional accounts are open to companies alone, through a separate application with its own checks.
The steps themselves go in this order:
Check that the exchange takes companies from your country. Documents depend on where the company is registered, and a business account may not be available everywhere a personal one is.
Register the admin user. The person applying for the company passes the same identity check as for a personal account first.
Upload the company documents. Names and addresses must match across the papers and the application; Coinbase, for one, checks the entity name on the formation document and the address on the bank statement.
Describe the business. What it does, how it earns and who it sells to: this is where the exchange decides whether your activity fits its rules.
Wait for the review, then link the company bank account. Dollars or euros move in and out of the exchange through that bank account, so it should be in the company's name.
What a crypto business bank account actually is
A crypto business bank account is usually a normal account in dollars or euros whose bank is comfortable with money arriving from exchanges and from clients who pay in crypto. Some also let you buy crypto inside the account.
Two examples, with different answers to "will you hold crypto for me":
Mercury: fiat only, for US companies. It banks crypto and web3 startups, but its accounts hold only ordinary money, it does not take exchanges or money services businesses (companies that transfer or exchange money for others) as clients, and the company must be formed in the US.
Revolut Business: crypto inside the account, in some places. It lets a company buy, hold and sell crypto in its business account, depending on the country and the plan.
If you already have a business bank account, ask it one question before the first transfer from an exchange: will it accept incoming money from that exchange? Asking first is cheaper than explaining a held transfer afterwards.
Getting money into that account from crypto takes a step in between: someone has to sell the crypto for dollars or euros and send the proceeds to the bank. That step is the subject of how crypto payments become money a business can spend.
How to accept crypto payments from clients as a business
There are two ways to get paid in crypto:
Give the client a deposit address. Your exchange account or wallet has an address for each coin and network, and the client sends to it. You sign up for nothing new.
Send an invoice from a payment service. The service creates a separate invoice for each payment with the amount fixed, shows the client what to pay and on which network, and marks the invoice paid when the money arrives.
A deposit address works for an occasional payment from a client you know well. It gets harder as payments multiply, in three places:
The address doesn't say who paid. Payments from different clients land at the same address, and you match them to invoices by amount and time.
The amount moves. A Bitcoin payment worth 2,000 dollars when the client sends it can be worth less by the time you sell it.
The network is up to the client. USDT runs on several networks, and a transfer on a network your address does not support may not arrive, with no guarantee of getting it back.
CryptumPay is a crypto payment service: it takes payments from your clients and pays the money out to the address you name. Here is how it works:
A payment link. You create an invoice in the console and send its link to the client through any channel.
A button widget. The payment button sits on your own site.
An API. Your own system connects to CryptumPay directly.
No account for the client. The client opens the link and pays from their own crypto wallet.
A balance in USDT. CryptumPay converts each payment to USDT as soon as it arrives, so your balance never sits in a volatile coin.
History in the dashboard. Every operation is listed with its status, so you see which invoice is paid.
Withdrawal at any time. There is no minimum, and the money goes to the address you name: your wallet or your exchange account.
A fee per payment. CryptumPay charges 1% per successful payment, down to 0.5% at higher volumes, and you can pass the fee on to the customer.
Verification before withdrawal. Identity verification (KYC) is mandatory for every seller, and without it there are no withdrawals. CryptumPay may need only the identity check, without a set of company documents, and together with the project review this usually takes one business day.
Where the money goes after the client pays
Back to the studio. It creates an invoice for the month's work in CryptumPay and emails the link; the client pays from their own wallet, and the payment becomes about 2,000 USDT on arrival.
CryptumPay keeps 1%, about 20 USDT, and the studio's balance shows about 1,980 USDT. If the studio passes the fee on to the client, the client covers those 20 instead.
The studio then withdraws the USDT to its exchange business account, sells it for dollars and sends them to the company's bank account. Three accounts make up the route, and each does one job.
What to record from the first payment
In the US, as of October 2026, the IRS treats crypto a business receives for its work as ordinary income, valued in dollars on the day it arrives. Other countries have their own rules, and they change, so check yours on a current date.
Whatever the country, keep two figures for each payment:
The amount in crypto. How many USDT or Bitcoin actually arrived.
Its value in your currency on the day it arrived. Under the US rule above, that is the income figure, even if you sell the coins weeks later; elsewhere, check how your country values it.
You don't have to build this by hand. Exchanges let you download the history of deposits, trades and withdrawals as a file, and the CryptumPay dashboard lists each operation with its status.
Start from what the company will do with crypto, not from a provider's name. If the reason is clients who want to pay in crypto, begin with a payment service account and a place to withdraw to; the exchange business account and the bank come in when the money has to become dollars or euros.
Most of the paperwork sits at the exchange, so it is worth gathering the company's documents before you apply there.
Questions people ask next
Do crypto accounts have account numbers?
An exchange account has an account ID, and for each coin and network it gives you a deposit address: a long string of letters and numbers that works like an account number for incoming crypto. Some exchanges also give bank details for deposits in dollars or euros. With a payment service the client pays through a link to the invoice, so there is no number to hand out.
Can I get statements from a crypto business account?
Exchanges let you download the history of deposits, trades and withdrawals, and that file is what an accountant works from. A payment service keeps a list of payments with their statuses; in CryptumPay it is the operation history in the dashboard. A crypto-friendly bank sends ordinary bank statements, because it holds ordinary money.
Do I need an LLC to open a crypto business account?
Not always. Exchange business accounts are for registered businesses, but the types vary: Kraken lists sole proprietorships next to corporations and LLCs. A payment service may ask for less, and CryptumPay may need only the owner's identity check. Whether to form a company at all is a tax question for your country and worth settling with an accountant.
Is it legal for my business to accept crypto?
It depends on the country, and sometimes on what you sell and to whom. Getting paid in crypto is a separate legal question from holding it, and the rules are rewritten often enough that the answer needs a current date. A good place to start is whether a business can legally accept crypto payments.
This article is general information, not legal or tax advice.
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