Paying for AI models with crypto: how it actually works

Neither Anthropic nor OpenAI accepts cryptocurrency: both take cards only. So the question "how do I pay for Claude with crypto" is really about something else — an intermediary that accepts crypto and resells access to the models.

How it works

The intermediary holds a contract with the provider and buys at wholesale terms. You fund a balance with them, and they settle with the provider using their own funds. From your side it looks like an ordinary API key: the address changes, everything else — request format, model names, SDK — stays the same.

Crypto here is simply one way to put money on a balance, alongside cards and bank transfers. It plays no special role in how the models work.

What is usually accepted

The standard set is USDT (most often on TRC-20, because of low fees), USDC, BTC, ETH and TON. At Zukko↗ a top-up opens a payment page where you choose the coin and network yourself, and the amount is fixed at the rate current when the invoice was created.

One thing to remember about networks: the network fee is yours to pay and has nothing to do with your balance. Sending USDT on Ethereum can cost more than the payment itself on small amounts. TRC-20 is more practical in that respect.

What to watch for

Invoices expire. The rate is fixed at creation, usually for an hour. Send a transfer after expiry and you will be chasing the money through support. Do not create an invoice "in advance, just in case".

Send to exactly the address and network shown. The address is issued for that specific invoice. A transfer on a different network to the same address almost always means losing the funds — that is a property of blockchains, not a quirk of any one service.

Do not top up in instalments. Underpayment is handled separately and usually needs manual resolution.

Crediting is not instant. Network confirmation takes anywhere from seconds on TON and Solana to tens of minutes on Bitcoin.

Anonymity is not the reason to do this

Crypto is often chosen in the hope of privacy. It is worth seeing the real picture: the intermediary still has your account, your request history and your payment record. Transactions on public networks are transparent and routinely analysed. And services promising full anonymity are usually solving their problem, not yours.

The sound reason to pay with crypto is that it works when a card does not. That is enough, and it is where the argument should stop.

What it looks like in practice

Open your dashboard, choose a top-up, pick the crypto method, enter an amount in dollars. Next comes the provider's page with an address, an amount and a QR code. Once the network confirms, the balance updates automatically.

If a payment sits in "pending", do not create a second invoice: the status is also reconciled manually when you reopen the dashboard. Money sent to the correct address is not lost.

What comes next

After a top-up, the work is identical to paying by card: create an API key and put it into Claude Code, Cursor, Codex or your own code. One address changes:

ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=https://api.zukko.pro
ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN=fetch_your_key

There is no starting balance; top-ups start at $1. Subscribing to the @zukkopro↗ channel credits $0.50 once (link Telegram in the dashboard) — enough for a first try.