10 Payments Apps You Can Use for Cryptocurrency

Payment apps, such as Venmo and PayPal, are designed to help you quickly send and receive money between friends, family members, and acquaintances. If you need to pay your share of lunch or something similar, you can easily send a payment to someone on the fly.

As technology has progressed, many payment apps now let you add cryptocurrency to your payment options. In some cases, this gives you another easy way to buy Bitcoin and other digital currencies. Here is a list of popular payment apps that support cryptocurrency.

Venmo

Venmo is one of the most popular payment apps available because it’s easy to make an account and get started almost immediately. The popularity of Venmo has reached such heights that it’s not uncommon to simply say, “I’ll Venmo you.”

Quickly sending and receiving money between friends and family is what Venmo is typically used for, though you can also use Venmo to pay for certain purchases. Venmo also offers a credit card and debit card.

If you want to know how to buy cryptocurrency quickly, Venmo makes it easy to purchase Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). You can make your first purchase for as little as $1 and then buy, sell, or hold onto your coins as you please. Venmo charges a minimum fee of 49 cents to buy or sell cryptocurrency, though this amount varies depending on the total purchase or sale volume.

PayPal

With over 400 million users, PayPal is one of the most well-known payment apps in the world. Similar to Venmo, it allows you to send and receive money as long as you have a PayPal account, which is free. However, PayPal is typically seen as more robust than Venmo because it has so many extra features.

First of all, you can check out with PayPal at thousands of online retailers, including Best Buy, Walmart, and Target. PayPal also offers a buy now, pay later option to split certain purchases into four interest-free installments. Other benefits include linking cards to the PayPal digital wallet, credit card rewards on purchases, and exclusive offers and deals.

PayPal’s cryptocurrency features are nearly identical to what you can find on Venmo. You can buy, sell, and hold Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash. The fees for buying and selling crypto include a minimum 49-cent fee for small transactions plus a small percentage fee for transactions of $25 or more.

Cash App

Cash App was once a simple payment app that would let you send and receive money instantly. It still has these features, including being able to pay anyone if you have their email, phone number, or $cashtag, a unique identifier for Cash App accounts. However, now you can bank and invest with Cash App as well.¹

Cash App banking features include receiving paychecks (direct deposits) up to two days early. It also offers a Cash Card, which is a Visa debit card tied to your Cash App balance.² It can be used to make both online and in-store purchases.

You can also buy and sell stocks with Cash App through its Cash App Investing features and buy and sell bitcoin as well. Any fees for these transactions will be listed in a trade confirmation before completing the transaction. Other Cash App fees may apply.

Read more in our Cash App review.

Zelle

Many of the best banks now offer the option to use the free payment app Zelle to send and receive money with almost anyone who has a U.S. checking or savings account.

Although Zelle doesn’t include any features for buying or selling cryptocurrencies, you can still use it to buy certain coins, such as bitcoin, on different peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto trading sites. Be sure to do thorough research on these types of platforms to understand any types of risk or fees that may be involved.

For more information, check out our Zelle review

Google Pay

Google Pay is a payments app and digital wallet platform provided by Google. It can be used on both iOS and Android devices for sending money to friends and family, splitting expenses, and tracking past purchases.

If you have a device that functions with tap-to-pay and similar technology, you can store and use many different cards and passes in your Google Pay app. This includes credit cards and debit cards, as well as certain membership cards and transit passes.

Similar to Zelle, Google Pay doesn’t currently offer any crypto-related features or services in its app. However, you can use Google Pay to buy cryptocurrencies on some P2P sites. Google Pay also partners with a few crypto companies, such as BitPay and Bakkt, to offer ways to use cryptocurrency through the app.

BitPay

BitPay is a payments app that focuses on cryptocurrency transactions. It offers multiple services, including a crypto debit card, crypto wallets, and a web browser extension. One of the main reasons to use BitPay is that it lets you use your existing cryptocurrency to pay for purchases.

For example, you can use the BitPay Chrome extension to spend crypto at brands like Amazon. If one of your favorite stores doesn’t accept cryptocurrency, you can use the BitPay app to purchase store credit with your crypto and then use that credit at dozens of major retailers.

BitPay doesn’t offer direct options to buy or sell cryptocurrency, so you’d have to use a third-party service for these types of transactions. However, the BitPay app integrates with the crypto brokerage platform and payment gateway Simplex, allowing you to buy coins that way. Supported currency includes Bitcoin, Ether, Bitcoin Cash, Dogecoin, Litecoin, XRP, Dai, Binance USD, USD Coin, Wrapped Bitcoin, Pax Dollar, and Gemini Dollar. BitPay services typically include fees.

Robinhood

Robinhood is primarily an app used for investing money in stocks and cryptocurrencies. However, it can also be used to get paychecks, pay bills, and send checks. Robinhood offers a debit card that can be used anywhere Mastercard products are accepted. You also get access to over 75,000 free ATMs in the Allpoint and MoneyPass networks.

Robinhood is known for offering commission-free investing, which can be helpful if you’re just getting started. The majority of investing opportunities on Robinhood involve stocks and funds, but you do have some options for trading cryptocurrencies. Currently, seven cryptocurrencies are available on Robinhood, including Dogecoin, Bitcoin SV, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum Classic, and Ethereum.

Learn more in our Robinhood review.

Webull

If you want another option for investing your money, check out the Webull app. Like Robinhood, the platform provides zero-commission services and lets you invest in stocks, options, groups of stocks, and cryptocurrencies. Webull also offers IRA account options in addition to brokerage accounts.

Crypto trading is available on Webull seven days a week and only goes down for one hour in the evenings for routine maintenance. The cryptocurrencies available to trade on Webull include Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ether, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Ethereum Classic, Shiba Inu, and much more.

For more information, check out our Webull review.

Coinbase

Coinbase is what’s known as an online exchange platform for cryptocurrency. With the Coinbase app, you can buy, sell, and transfer crypto, as well as store it in a digital wallet. Since this is basically a one-stop shop for everything crypto, it’s become a popular option for many cryptocurrency enthusiasts.

Coinbase supports the trading of loads of different cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, ether, Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, and more. However, you might notice that some crypto on the app doesn’t have a “Trade” option. These digital currencies might not be available to trade on Coinbase, but you can at least still see their performance with Coinbase’s charts.

You’re also likely to have fees for different types of transactions on Coinbase, which are calculated when you’re ready to place an order.

Read more in our Coinbase review.

Kraken

Kraken is an online cryptocurrency exchange similar to Coinbase. The Kraken app is available on both iOS and Android devices and can help you buy and sell dozens of different cryptocurrency assets. This includes Bitcoin, Ether, Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, Litecoin, and more.

You can get started with investing on Kraken with as little as $10. However, other traditional currencies, such as the euro (EUR), Canadian dollar (CAD), and British pound (GBP), are also accepted. You can also fund your account with digital currencies, including bitcoin, Zcash, and Cardano.

Fees for transactions can go as low as 0% on Kraken, though you should expect to pay fees for most Kraken app crypto transactions.

For more information, check out our Kraken review.

Bottom line

If you’re interested in managing some of your finances through an app or using an app for cryptocurrency trading, you have plenty of options to choose from. However, many payment apps that combine these different services (like Venmo and Cash App) don’t offer much variety for crypto trading.

If you want the full cryptocurrency experience, you’re better off using Coinbase or Kraken. These apps offer increased access to more types of digital currencies, though they lack some of the features offered by other apps.

To find the best app for you, consider what features you want and what cryptocurrencies you want to trade. In some cases, you might have to use multiple apps to help achieve your financial goals.