shieldCrypto Tip Jars for AI Agents (Keyless, No Account)
An AI agent that does useful work should be able to get paid for it, without you wiring up a payment account first. A crypto tip jar is the simplest version of that: a reusable pay-what-you-want page that an agent can spin up in a single call, where tips settle straight to a wallet you control. No signup, no API key, non-custodial, $0 platform fee.
This is a practical companion to our overview of crypto payments for AI agents and the step-by-step how-to. Here we focus on one primitive: the tip jar.
Why a tip jar (and why 0% matters)
Creator tip platforms take a cut of every tip, and for small amounts the fees bite hard. On a $5 tip, an 8% platform fee plus card processing can shave off most of a dollar. Shieldz has a 0% platform fee, so a $5 crypto tip arrives as $5 (minus only the coin’s network fee, which the tipper covers).
For an agent, the bigger win is that there is nothing to set up. It does not need a merchant account, a dashboard, or an API key. It passes a wallet address and gets back a working, shareable tip page.
The whole loop
Create a tip jar from an agent
Two ways, both keyless. Use whichever your stack prefers.
Over MCP (Claude, Goose, any MCP client)
Point your MCP client at the hosted Shieldz server (https://shieldz.cash/mcp) or run @shieldz/mcp locally, then the agent calls the create_tip_jar tool with a wallet address, a title, and a few suggested amounts. That is the entire setup, no key. See the agents overview for connecting a client.
Over plain REST
If you are not on MCP, it is one HTTP call. No Authorization header, keyless:
curl https://shieldz.cash/api/v1/tip-jars \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"settlement": { "chain": "BASE", "asset": "USDC", "address": "0xYourWallet" },
"title": "Buy me a coffee",
"suggested_amounts_usd_cents": [300, 500, 1000],
"email": "[email protected]"
}'You get back the hosted url (share it anywhere), a slug, and a manage_token the agent keeps to read totals later. The optional email lets a human owner claim a full dashboard by magic link afterwards, settlement keeps working either way. The exact tool schema for function-calling LLMs (OpenAI, Anthropic, LangChain) is on the agent API reference.
Supporters pay any coin
The tipper opens the page and pays with whatever they hold, Bitcoin, USDC, ETH, SOL, shielded Zcash, and Shieldz settles it to your chosen stable asset. Because it is pay-with-any-coin, you are not forcing supporters to already own a specific token. Funds go straight to your wallet; Shieldz never holds them.
Reading how much came in
The agent (or your code) reads status back with the manage token, no key required:
curl https://shieldz.cash/a/<manage_token>.jsonThat returns an agent-readable dashboard: the tip jar, totals, and the individual payments. Perfect for an agent that wants to report its own earnings.
FAQ
Does an agent need an account or API key? No. Tip jars are keyless, the agent passes a wallet address and gets a working page.
Is it custodial? No. Tips settle straight to the address you provide. Shieldz never holds funds, and there is no platform fee beyond network gas.
Can a human take it over later? Yes. Pass an email and the owner can claim a full dashboard by magic link; the tip jar keeps working throughout.
Which coins can supporters tip with? Bitcoin, USDC, USDT, ETH, SOL, shielded Zcash and more. They pay any coin; you settle to a stable asset like USDC.
Get started
Point your agent at https://shieldz.cash/mcp or POST to /api/v1/tip-jars, and it can start collecting tips in one call. Want a fixed-amount invoice instead of a tip jar? See how to use crypto payments for AI agents. New to the idea? Start with crypto payments for AI agents, or try the no-code payment link generator.