Pay for LLM APIs with USDT or USDC.
Stablecoin top-ups. No bank card required.
Router One accepts USDT and USDC stablecoin top-ups on six networks. Top up, get a wallet balance in USD, and call any of 30+ models through an OpenAI-compatible endpoint — built for developers whose local card flow is unreliable but whose stablecoin wallet already works.
Last updated:
Supported networks
USDT and USDC on six chains. Pick the network that matches your wallet — Router One credits your balance in USD regardless of which chain you used.
| Network | Tokens | Typical confirmation | Gas economics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tron (TRC-20) | USDT, USDC | ~30s | Cheapest — pick for small top-ups |
| BSC (BEP-20) | USDT, USDC | ~5s | Very cheap |
| Polygon | USDT, USDC | ~5s | Very cheap |
| Base | USDC | ~3s | Cheap |
| Arbitrum | USDT, USDC | ~1s | Cheap |
| Ethereum (ERC-20) | USDT, USDC | ~30s–3min | Most expensive — use only for top-ups over $500 |
Billing scope and compliance
- Account records
- For standard self-serve accounts: email (for receipts and password reset) and the payment-chain address you send from (publicly visible by nature of any on-chain transaction).
- Treasury workflow
- Stablecoin top-ups are built for teams that prefer USDT/USDC treasury workflows or non-card billing. Enterprise contracts, abuse reviews, or legal requirements may require additional information.
- Compliance boundary
- A stablecoin top-up is not permission to bypass laws, sanctions, export controls, or upstream model-provider terms. You are responsible for using the service lawfully in your jurisdiction.
How the wallet works
- Top up
- From your dashboard, pick a network. Scan the QR or paste the deposit address. Send USDT or USDC from your wallet. Tron and BSC are cheapest on gas; Ethereum mainnet is slowest and most expensive.
- Settle
- Tron, BSC, Polygon, Base, Arbitrum settle in seconds. Ethereum mainnet can take a few minutes. Once the network confirms, your balance updates.
- Wallet currency
- Accepted stablecoin deposits are credited into a USD wallet balance at receipt time according to the checkout terms shown before payment. After credit, your balance is plain USD.
- Spend
- Every API call deducts the per-model rate from your USD wallet at posted rates on /models. The same rate applies regardless of whether you topped up in RMB, USD, or stablecoin.
Who it suits
- Cards that fail on USD API credits
- For example, a developer whose local bank card keeps getting declined for USD API credits could top up with USDT on BSC and call GPT-5.5 and Claude Opus 5 through one endpoint.
- Budgets in a volatile currency
- A freelancer who budgets in a volatile local currency could pay as they go in USDC from a Polygon wallet and run data-analysis jobs on Claude Sonnet 5.
- Card approvals that come and go
- A small team whose cross-border card approvals are inconsistent could buy USDT on Tron through a local OTC desk and run a customer-support bot on Gemini 3.8 Flash.
Minimums and fees
- Minimum top-up
- Stablecoin top-ups and the hosted checkout that takes a card or Alipay usually start at $5 USD equivalent. The checkout page is the source of truth for the current minimum.
- Network fee
- Network gas is paid by you to the chain. Any Router One or channel-side fees, if applicable, are shown before checkout. Pick Tron or BSC for small top-ups to keep gas low.
- Router One markup
- API calls deduct from your USD wallet at the posted model rates. Pricing methodology and the revenue model are documented on /pricing-methodology.
Why Router One specifically
- vs OpenAI / Anthropic direct
- Direct provider billing may require a supported card or USD billing setup. Stablecoin top-ups are not part of their standard self-serve API billing flows.
- vs OpenRouter
- Per OpenRouter's FAQ and pricing page (checked 2026-10-01), it takes cards, Alipay and USDC, with invoicing on its Enterprise plan. Router One's differences are China-friendly routing and USDT as well as USDC on six chains; it also takes a card or Alipay through one hosted checkout.
- vs informal API resellers
- Reconcile model usage against Router One’s posted rates and the settled cost in Customer Logs. Logs show model, request ID, tokens, recorded latency, status, and sanitized errors; upstream providers and service routes remain internal. See /routing-methodology and /security.
FAQ
Do I need a US credit card to use Router One?
No. Top up with USDT or USDC on any of six chains (Tron, BSC, Ethereum, Polygon, Base, Arbitrum). The resulting USD wallet works against every model on /models.
Who is stablecoin billing for?
Stablecoin billing is for global teams and developers that prefer USDT/USDC treasury workflows or non-card billing. Enterprise contracts, abuse reviews, or legal requirements may require additional information.
Which chain is cheapest for a $50 top-up?
Tron (TRC-20) and BSC (BEP-20) have the cheapest gas — typically well under $1 per transaction. Ethereum mainnet only makes sense for top-ups over $500 where the gas is amortized.
What happens if I send the wrong token or wrong chain?
Funds sent on a chain Router One does not list, or in a token not supported on that chain, may be unrecoverable. Always match the token and network shown on the deposit page exactly. This is a universal property of any on-chain deposit, not a Router One restriction.
Can I withdraw my wallet balance back to stablecoins?
Purchased credits are non-refundable once added to your balance, except for billing errors on our side or where required by law, as described in the Refund Policy. Bonus credits and payment-channel fees are not refundable either. Wallet balance cannot be withdrawn back to stablecoins and never expires.
Is my deposit address shared with anyone?
Your deposit address is unique to your account. The transaction itself is on-chain and publicly visible by nature of how blockchains work; Router One does not share or sell wallet associations.