How freelancers can get paid in cryptocurrency by clients
How to agree on crypto payment for a job or milestone, email a payment link to your client and reconcile receipt before delivering the work.
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A freelancer can receive payment for a specific job through a Cryptanio payment link: agree on the amount with the client, email the link and verify receipt in their own wallet. The key is to connect the transfer to the order or milestone. The email itself, opening the page and the client's screenshot do not confirm payment.
We will use payment for the “Mockups approved” milestone in a design project as an example. The same process works for a consultation, a translation or development work. The link helps you receive money; agreements, work records and delivery of the result remain your responsibility.
What to prepare
You need a Cryptanio account with management permissions, a project with the payment links service available and active addresses belonging to your wallet for the selected payment method. Check the available page allowance and whether a free address is available. Connecting a public address does not require a private key or recovery phrase.
Agree on what the client is paying for now: the whole order, a deposit or a separate milestone. Assign your own reference number and keep the agreement outside the payment page.
Step 1. Agree on the price and transfer terms
Record the scope of work, the milestone's deliverables, the amount, the asset and the network in your email. If the payment is in USDT, the token name alone is not enough: the client must select the same network you offer on the page.
For a manual link, the fixed amount means a quantity of the selected cryptocurrency. It does not by itself set a dollar price. If you discussed a price in dollars, separately agree on the crypto amount and when it will be determined. Do not promise that the link will automatically exchange the received funds for dollars.
Discuss in advance who accounts for the network fee, and ask the client to check the final amount to be received before sending. Clarify what you will verify before starting the next milestone or handing over the completed work.
Step 2. Prepare a link for this milestone
Open “Payment links” in the selected project and create a new link. Enter a clear title, purpose, fixed amount and an available network and asset pair. For example, the purpose can include the order number and milestone name without confidential project details.
For the first payment of this kind, it is easier to offer a single payment option. The same number for different assets does not mean the same value: a fixed amount does not turn several coins into equivalents of a dollar price.
Enable the option to leave a message and ask the client to enter the order or milestone number in the optional “Comment” field on the payment form. Agree on the client's contact email separately in your correspondence and save it in your own records; the payment form does not request it. The message helps with reconciliation but does not confirm the sender's identity. Do not put the client's contact details, correspondence or access credentials for work materials in the public description.
A separate link named after the milestone is useful for manual records. However, a permanent link can be used repeatedly and does not become a unique payment number. To automatically match each purchase to an order, use an invoice.
Step 3. Email the client
Copy the link from the menu of the page you created. Open it in a separate window and check the title, purpose, amount and payment options. Clicking “Get payment details” reserves an address in the manual pool for a specific attempt: do not occupy the only free address by testing it ahead of the client.
Paste the link into an email yourself. State which order and milestone it covers, the amount you agreed on and what you will do after verifying receipt. Ask the client to use the payment details the page displays at payment time and to let you know when the transfer has been sent.
Do not send an address from your own test attempt instead of the permanent link. Payment details have an expiry time. If the client returns later, the browser may restore the previous attempt: check its deadline and status, and do not treat reopening the link as the issuance of new payment details. Do not send funds using expired details; agree with the client on how to proceed with payment. When transferring, they must preserve the network, asset, exact amount and any additional payment details shown.
Step 4. Reconcile the receipt
Open “Received” in the same project. Match the entry to the milestone number, the client's message, the amount, asset, network and time. Check the status and receipt in your own wallet. If anything is unclear, ask for the TXID — transaction identifier, rather than just a screenshot.
An entry does not yet mean full payment. A partial amount, a late receipt or a payment requiring a decision needs separate reconciliation. If something differs, first establish why; do not ask the client to repeat the whole transfer or treat any similar amount as payment for this order. The unpaid order troubleshooting guide can help you investigate.
Step 5. Close the milestone in your records
Record the order number, milestone, link, actual crypto amount received, network, time and transaction identifier. If the price was discussed in dollars, keep that agreement separate from the quantity of tokens received. This working log helps with later reconciliation; it does not replace documents you need under your working arrangements.
After checking, confirm receipt to the client and do what you agreed: start the next milestone or deliver the result. Record a new agreement for the next milestone. Reusing the old link requires fresh reconciliation, rather than automatically closing another order. When you no longer need new visits to the page, you can archive it; its history will remain in your account.