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Your guide to crypto onramps
Users have many ways to onboard into the crypto ecosystem — from in-person swaps to on-site widgets. In this article, we discuss these.
14 years ago, a nine-page document was published on The Cryptography Mailing List.
Penned by a mysterious entity we know only as Satoshi Nakamoto, it outlined the blueprint for a digital currency that required no banks, no middlemen, nor any centralized entity.
This digital currency — Bitcoin — launched a month later. And in that moment, the spark that would ignite a financial revolution was created.
Now, few people haven’t heard of cryptocurrency. Depending on who you ask, Bitcoin's a speculative asset. A handy way to pay online. A store of value. Or even the foundation for a parallel economic system.
Of course, the industry is much bigger than Bitcoin today. Ethereum, XRP, Solana, and a whole slew of other protocols make up an industry which, at the time of this writing, boasts a market capitalization of over one trillion US dollars.
But entering this exciting new paradigm isn’t exactly easy. The mainstream still faces a glaring issue: accessibility. A lack of user-friendly bridges into the ecosystem leaves many on the sidelines, eagerly awaiting an easier path to the wonderful world of cryptocurrency.
Enter the fiat-to-crypto onramp.
What is a crypto onramp?
Your customers want to buy crypto. But all they’ve got is a bank balance denominated in USD, EUR, GBP or one of those other boring, old-school currencies.
💡 Fiat is Latin for “it shall be.” This refers to the fact that the currencies we use hold value because the issuing government says so.
Swapping fiat currency for another fiat currency is easily done — most banks will do it for you. To go fiat-to-crypto, though, you’ll need a third-party service that takes your money and exchanges it for your cryptocurrency of choice. This is what we call a crypto onramp, and they come in many forms:
Bitcoin ATMs
You’d be forgiven for mistaking these for regular cash machines. You can typically find them in public spots, and the premise is simple: you feed them cash (either physically or by card), and they send BTC to an address of your choosing.
Centralized exchanges
By far the most popular onramps. Here, you create an account, submit KYC information (identity documents, facial verification and proof of address) before getting access to the crypto markets.
Depending on the venue, you can fund your account with fiat currency via bank transfers, card payments, and more. Kraken, Binance and Coinbase are all examples of centralized exchanges.
Peer-to-peer (P2P) exchanges
A peer-to-peer (P2P) exchange is an online venue, too, but it doesn’t work like its centralized counterpart. Rather, it connects buyers and sellers directly. One party posts a listing (“I’d like to buy/sell BTC at a price of [price] per coin for [payment method]”), and the other can choose to accept it.
P2P exchanges generally have a wider variety of payment methods — after all, it’s up to the user what they want to accept, be it cash, gift vouchers, PayPal or bank transfers.
LocalBitcoins is a popular player in this category.
Integrated fiat onramps
It doesn’t roll off the tongue like some of the others, but don’t let that throw you off: these are particularly valuable for crypto businesses that want to reduce the hurdles for first-time users.
Consider, for example, a decentralized application (dApp). Since they run on crypto, their users need to come prepared. To a new user, that can be a bit daunting. Do you really want to tell them to:
- Sign up for a centralized exchange
- Wait for KYC approval
- Deposit fiat
- Figure out how to buy the right crypto
- Set up MetaMask
- Withdraw their crypto
- And, only after all that, finally start using your app?
A third-party solution can strip out most of the headache with an integrated widget. Once they land on your site/wallet/exchange, users can just choose their input currency (fiat), their output currency (crypto), and click a button to check out as they would on an e-commerce store.
The third-party may require some additional information from them, but they’ll get it directly via the widget — ensuring that customers don’t get sidetracked on some laborious quest to purchase crypto.
For examples of this, look to services like MoonPay, Transak or Coinify.
What’s the best onramp solution?
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. It depends on the user’s goal (are they buying once? Buying regularly? Trading dozens of pairs?), their country, and their tolerance for fees.
Cards on the table: we have a slight bias towards the integrated solution — particularly for businesses. It’s true of any wallet, app or platform: once you’ve captured a user’s interest, your number-one priority is to onboard them as seamlessly as possible.
In sending prospects away, even for a brief period, you risk losing them altogether. The right onramp, neatly available on your own website, can really make a difference if you implement it right.
But why choose just one?
Onramper aggregates nine different crypto onramp providers to match your users with the one that will best work for them.
For your users, it means higher transaction success rates (wherever they are) and a streamlined portal into the crypto world.
For you? It’s a headache-free, plug-and-play add-on that instantly delivers greater value to your customers.
Let us do the heavy lifting, so you can focus on what you do best.
Book a call with our experts to find out how Onramper can turbocharge your success rates.
Other articles
Leap Wallet integrates Onramper for exclusive fiat-to-crypto onramping
Leap Wallet has entered into an agreement with Onramper to power fiat on- and off-ramping across its mobile applications and browser extension.
Leap Wallet has entered into an agreement with Onramper to power fiat on- and off-ramping across its mobile applications and browser extension. The integration brings Onramper’s global infrastructure directly into Leap Wallet, enabling streamlined access to crypto for users around the world.
Since 2025, Leap Wallet has expanded beyond its initial focus on the Cosmos ecosystem to become a multi-chain wallet. Today, it natively supports Bitcoin, Ethereum, and over 200 additional blockchain networks, allowing users to manage assets across a wide range of ecosystems without switching platforms.
“As Leap Wallet has grown into a multi-chain platform, demand for a seamless onramping experience has surged,” says Sanjeev Rao, CEO of Leap Wallet. “Our mission is to streamline the flow of value across ecosystems—and by partnering with Onramper, we’re eliminating key barriers for users.”
Enhanced onramping coverage
With this significant expansion, Leap Wallet recognized the necessity of robust and accessible onramping solutions to serve its growing user base. To address this, Leap Wallet is now integrating Onramper exclusively. This partnership allows users to:
- Access onramping for thousands of tokens
- Benefit from coverage across 200+ blockchain networks
- Enjoy frictionless fiat-to-crypto transactions, catering to both new and experienced users
By leveraging Onramper’s capabilities, Leap Wallet ensures its users experience reliable, broad, and convenient access to a wide range of cryptocurrencies, further reinforcing its position as a top-choice multi-chain wallet for global digital asset management.
“Crypto users need fast, secure, and reliable access to liquidity,” says Thijs Maas, CEO of Onramper. “Through this partnership with Leap Wallet, we’re bringing our global onramping infrastructure directly into one of the most advanced multi-chain platforms, enabling seamless value movement at scale.”
To learn more, visit onramper.com and leapwallet.io.
Helio Partners with Onramper to Power Unique Card to Stablecoin Payments for Global Merchants
Onramper’s industry-leading aggregator will localize payment methods for merchants looking to accept instant stabelcoin payments.
May 20, 2025 – Onramper, the world’s leading fiat-to-crypto on-ramp aggregator, today announced a partnership with Helio to supercharge stablecoin payments for global merchants. Helio, a leading crypto checkout app used by over 6,000 merchants and millions of users, has advanced the adoption of crypto payments by offering a faster, more affordable alternative to traditional methods.
To date, Helio has processed over $1.5 billion in transactions and integrates with leading digital platforms, including Shopify, where it powers the popular Solana Pay plugin. Now, the company is launching a revamped payment flow that enhances the onboarding experience for new users that don’t already have a crypto wallet when completing purchases with stablecoins such as USDC.
Now when Helio users select “Pay with Card”, they’re guided through a localized payment method selection screen tailored to their region powered by Onramper’s industry leading on-ramp aggregator and smart routing engine. Users can quickly fund a virtual crypto wallet tied to their email by purchasing USDC and easily complete their payment to the merchant. This seamless fiat-to-crypto flow unlocks valuable new commerce use cases for merchants, including instant settlement from credit card purchases (instead of next day settlement), zero chargeback risk, seamless iGaming deposits via cards, global support for high risk payments and more.
Stablecoin usage continues to rise – recent reports show retail usage increased by 35% in 2024 as consumers increasingly turn to stablecoins for e-commerce to avoid banking delays.
“Collaborating with Helio to enable stablecoin payments is a major step toward bringing crypto commerce to Web2-native users,” said Thijs Maas, CEO of Onramper. “Our aggregation engine delivers localized on-ramps and payment methods, making it easier for users to check out.”
Onramper accepts 130+ payment methods and enables users to purchase crypto across 190+ countries. This extensive geographic coverage is complemented by sophisticated routing engines that recommend the best conversion for users in real-time – maximizing users’ odds of a successful transaction and ensuring they receive the most crypto for their fiat.
"Helio is known as the market leader in native crypto payments, offering low fees and instant settlement. With the integration of Onramper, we’ve expanded backwards compatibility with the traditional financial system. This allows Helio merchants like Liquid Brokers and Bizcuits to accept instant card payments in over 130 countries through seamless fiat to stablecoin onramps. This results in increased sales for our merchants and a faster, smoother checkout experience for customers at Helio-powered stores. It’s a big step toward making crypto payments as seamless as traditional ones, especially for those new to crypto or looking to top up quickly." said Stijn Paumen, CEO of Helio.
“At Bizcuits, we support trading brokers and prop firms with operational solutions, including payments infrastructure. We integrated Helio for card-to-crypto payments because of its seamless experience, transparent pricing, and global reach. It enables our partners to offer reliable fiat-to-crypto onramps without added complexity, making Helio a natural fit for our ecosystem.” Debbie Colerio, Payments and Compliance Manager, Bizcuits
To learn more, please visit onramper.com and hel.io.
About Helio
Helio provides a suite of payment tools for merchants, creators and platforms, making it easy for anyone to accept USDC and other digital currencies. Designed for ease of use, especially those new to crypto payments, Helio is a faster and more cost effective alternative to traditional payment methods. Empowering over 6,000 sellers and over one million users, Helio supports major blockchains including Solana, Bitcoin, Ethereum and L2s.
About Onramper
Onramper is the leading fiat-to-crypto payments aggregator, providing a turnkey API-based solution for dynamically routing fiat-to-crypto onramp flows based on algorithms optimizing for conversion, fees and payment methods. Onramper’s platform allows users of clients to buy 2000+ digital assets, in over 190 countries with over 130 payment methods in 120 currencies, with advanced routing options and unified analytics. The company is based in the Netherlands. To learn more about Onramper, visit www.onramper.com.
Onramper Partners with Opera’s MiniPay to Expand Global Access to Stablecoins
MiniPay will tap into Onramper’s industry-leading on- and off-ramp aggregation infrastructure to broaden stablecoin accessibility.
May 13, 2025 – Onramper, the world’s leading fiat-to-crypto on-ramp aggregator, today announced a partnership with MiniPay – Opera’s stablecoin wallet – to expand the accessibility and utility of stablecoins for users worldwide. Stablecoins are rapidly gaining momentum as a medium of exchange, facilitating remittances and streamlining cross-border payments while promoting financial stability and inclusion. In 2024 alone, annual stablecoin transfer volume reached $27.6 trillion – surpassing the volumes of Visa and Mastercard combined.
Opera, the global web innovator with nearly 300 million users, first unveiled MiniPay in September of 2023 as an embedded feature within Opera Mini – the browser of choice for users across Africa. A dollar stablecoin wallet built on Celo, MiniPay offers seamless global peer-to-peer transfers at sub-cent fees using simply mobile phone numbers. It features easy onboarding with key backup through Google and now iCloud.
Since its launch, MiniPay has grown to over 7 million activations across 50+ countries, enabling fast, secure, and intuitive stablecoin transactions with an emphasis on accessibility and utility.
Today, MiniPay will tap into Onramper’s industry-leading on- and off-ramp aggregation infrastructure to broaden stablecoin accessibility.Onramper supports 25+ onramps and 130+ local payment methods, while its off-ramp product covers seven off-ramps, supporting 46 fiat currencies and 500+ cryptocurrencies.
“Stablecoins have emerged as one of the most impactful use cases for digital assets, with regions like Latin America embracing them for low-cost remittances and as a hedge against monetary instability,” said Thijs Maas, CEO of Onramper. “Collaborating with MiniPay allows us to onboard more users in SEA, LatAm, and beyond into the stablecoin ecosystem, using a gateway as simple as a mobile phone number to get them started.”
As of May 13, 2025, MiniPay officially launches as a standalone app for iOS, meaning it is now present both within Opera Mini and the Google Play and App Stores, making it a truly global stablecoin wallet. Key features of MiniPay include:
- Send and receive stablecoins in seconds using just a phone number
- Buy and sell USDT, USDC, and cUSD stablecoins with zero fees
- Access real-world use cases like paying for utilities, buying gift cards, redeeming vouchers, and more
- Localized cash-in and cash-out across a variety of local currencies
“MiniPay isn’t just another Web3 wallet, it’s a product designed for people who live globally, work remotely, and need fast, affordable access to digital dollars. Onramper gives us the rails to make that experience seamless for users around the globe,” said Jørgen Arnesen, EVP of Mobile at Opera.
MiniPay is now live across iOS and Android in countries including the US, Canada, Brazil, Germany, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, and more. You
To learn more, please visit onramper.com and minipay.xyz.
