shieldz blog

Accept crypto payments with one URL, no key or SDK

Deniz Yanbollu · July 12, 2026

You can now accept crypto payments with one URL. Not one SDK, not one API key, not one signup, just one URL. Point a plain GET request at Shieldz with a wallet address, and it returns a live payment link or tip jar plus a claim code, all non-custodial and free. It is the lowest-friction way to get paid in crypto that we know of, and it exists because a payment primitive should be something any tool can call, not a project you integrate.

This is part of the Shieldz cluster for machine-native payments. If you are wiring up an autonomous system, start with crypto payments for AI agents and keyless MCP payments for agents; this post is the even-simpler path underneath them.

Why one URL matters

Every other way to accept money online front-loads work before the first payment can happen. Cards want an account, business verification, API keys, an SDK, and a webhook handler. Custodial crypto processors still want an account and KYC. Self-hosting a gateway means running a server. All of that is setup you do before you have earned a cent.

Time to your first payment link (illustrative): BTCPay self-host about 46 minutes, Stripe about 23 minutes, a custodial crypto API about 14 minutes, and Shieldz about 1 second with one URL and no signup.
Signup and verification, then creating the link. Keyless means the whole left half of every other bar is zero. Illustrative.

With a keyless GET, there is nothing to sign up for and nothing to install. The time to your first payment link is the time it takes to build a URL.

Mint a tip jar with one URL

A tip jar is a reusable “pay what you want” page. Create one by fetching a URL:

GET https://shieldz.cash/api/v1/tip-jars?to=0xYOURWALLET&title=Buy+me+a+coffee&amounts=1,5,20

The response is JSON:

{
  "url": "https://shieldz.cash/tip/tip-94fbcc8ad8f42db7",
  "manage_token": "buA6t_6exAdaKuYCq8cuEiW2_p2yY4eR",
  "manage_url": "https://shieldz.cash/a/buA6t_6exAdaKuYCq8cuEiW2_p2yY4eR"
}

Share the url, and tips settle straight to 0xYOURWALLET in USDC or USDT. Tip jars are idempotent per wallet, so calling the URL again returns the same jar rather than spawning duplicates. Prefer a form? The same thing without any code is the crypto tip jar generator.

For a one-time charge, hit the links endpoint instead:

GET https://shieldz.cash/api/v1/links?to=0xYOURWALLET&amount=25&chain=BASE&asset=USDC

You get back a pay_url (the hosted checkout), an embeddable button, and the same manage_token claim code. to and amount are hand-writable aliases so the URL stays short enough to type. The no-code version is the payment link generator, walked through in the crypto invoice generator guide.

Shieldz hosted checkout page reached from a one-URL payment link: amount due, a payment address, and a QR code, with the coin and network the buyer chose.
What the payer sees. The URL you built becomes a hosted checkout that settles to your wallet.

The claim code

Every response carries a manage_token. That is your claim code. It resolves, with no login, to an agent-readable dashboard at https://shieldz.cash/a/<manage_token> (and a .json twin) where you can read paid versus pending and totals. When you want a full dashboard, the same token plus a wallet or email signature claims the account. Keep it: it is the only handle on a keyless link, and it is 192 bits of entropy, so no one can take over your links by knowing only your wallet address.

Made for AI agents (and anything with fetch)

Because it is a plain URL, any tool can mint a payment method: an AI agent with only a fetch, a browser, a shell with curl, a link pasted into a chat. There is no client library to install and no protocol to speak. An agent can literally emit a URL and have accepted crypto.

If your agent runs the Model Context Protocol, the same tools are exposed there too: connect the MCP server or read the agent HTTP reference. The GET form is just the no-client floor beneath it. For the wider design, see how to use crypto payments for AI agents and the crypto payment API overview.

Non-custodial, screened, rate-limited

The URL is simple; the guarantees are not thin. Funds settle directly to the address you pass, Shieldz only ever holds a public key, so it can never freeze or seize them, and you can verify that yourself. Every address is OFAC sanctions-screened and requests are rate-limited. Pricing is a $0 platform fee, you pay only network gas.

FAQ

Can I really accept crypto payments with just one URL? Yes. A single GET to /api/v1/tip-jars or /api/v1/links with a wallet address returns a live payment link or tip jar. No account, API key, SDK, or MCP client.

Do I need an API key or account? No. The endpoints are keyless. The response includes a manage_token claim code you can use later to read status or claim a full dashboard.

Where do the funds go? Straight to the wallet address in the URL. Shieldz is non-custodial and never takes custody.

Is a GET request safe for creating a payment method? Yes. Tip jars are idempotent per wallet, so repeat requests return the same jar, and everything is OFAC-screened and rate-limited. Funds only ever move to the address you specified.

Which coins and chains? USDC and USDT on Base, Arbitrum, Optimism, Polygon and Ethereum. See accept stablecoin payments for the full lineup.

Start with one URL

Swap in your wallet address and you have accepted crypto:

https://shieldz.cash/api/v1/tip-jars?to=0xYOURWALLET&title=Tips&amounts=1,5,20

No-code versions live at the tip jar generator and payment link generator. Building an agent? See the agents overview and the HTTP reference.