A merchant account for crypto education, on the right side of the custody line.
Courses, signal groups, alert channels and software built around crypto are served on the Grey Hat plan: $2,499 setup, then 9% of deposit volume. Exchanges, custody and on-ramps are not. This page covers where the line sits, what acquirers ask for and how the IBO package answers it.
Why crypto-adjacent businesses are underwritten as high-risk
Nothing in a crypto course or a signals group moves a coin. Acquirers still price the proximity.
The first factor is proximity to a regulated activity. Exchanging, holding or transmitting customer funds is money-services-business territory, with registration and anti-money-laundering duties a card-acceptance file does not cover. The underwriter has to establish that the merchant sells education, signals or software and never touches the funds. Until that is proven, the file is reviewed as if it might.
The second factor is the buyer. Crypto customers pay for a course or a signals membership with a return in mind, and the market decides whether they get it. When it turns, a share of them dispute the charge, and there is no shipment to prove delivery: only login records and group logs. Card networks watch the chargeback ratio of every MID, so acquirers price this pattern with reserves and volume caps.
The third factor is billing. Signals, alert channels, research desks and most crypto software renew monthly, which brings forgotten renewals and cancellations that arrive after the charge. Add outcome-driven marketing and spending that follows the market cycle, and the vertical is high-risk however well it is run. The general mechanics are on the high-risk merchant account page; the industries hub maps every vertical to its plan.
What acquirers ask a crypto-adjacent merchant for
The standard high-risk file, plus proof that the business stays on the education and software side.
- A US entity with a resident principal
- A company, its EIN and a US-resident principal with a government ID, a proof of address and a credit file. An operator outside the United States fails this field before the product is discussed.
- A written description of the funds flow
- What the customer pays for, and confirmation that the company never receives, holds, converts or transmits crypto for the customer. This line decides whether the underwriter treats the file as card acceptance or as a money-services question.
- Website, policies and disclaimers
- A live checkout showing the full price and renewal terms, a refund policy, terms of service, a privacy policy, a contact address and a visible statement that the content is educational, not financial advice.
- Proof of fulfilment
- How access is delivered: course platform, private group, alert channel or software licence. Underwriters commonly ask for a test login and for the logs recording who received what and when: your evidence in a later dispute.
- Marketing and claims review
- Ad creatives, landing pages and the group's own posts are read for return promises, fabricated track records and profit testimonials. Verifiable past performance shown with a disclaimer can be reviewed; a promised outcome is read as a deceptive claim.
How the Grey Hat IBO package answers the file
The package is the entity-and-person layer. The product, the site and the marketing remain yours.
Optional add-ons: document template pack ($499, one-time, with refund policy and terms templates), bank pages ($2,499, one-time), merchant account consulting ($899 per month).
What you keep clean on your side
The package carries the person and the entity. These five items decide whether the MID survives a market turn.
- Descriptor. The brand the member joined, with a support contact. A member who sees an unfamiliar name during a drawdown disputes first and reads later.
- Refund policy. Written, visible before checkout, applied the same way to every member, with renewal dates shown before the first charge and a cancellation that stops the next charge.
- Claims. No guaranteed returns, no fabricated track record, no testimonials that read as profit promises, and a "not financial advice" disclaimer wherever performance is shown.
- Fulfilment. Access granted immediately after payment, every login and group join logged, alerts archived. Those records answer a "not received" dispute.
- Funds flow. Your company sells access, content and software. It never receives customer crypto, never converts it and never pays out profits. Keep that boundary visible in the terms; blurring it turns the file into a money-services question.
What is refused inside the crypto-adjacent vertical
The businesses around crypto are served, the flows of crypto itself are not. Some are refused by IBOCore at classification, the others by acquirers at underwriting.
- Exchange activity: matching buyers and sellers, running an order book, or taking card payments converted into coins for the customer. Exchanges are on the refused list and need a money-services-business stack the package does not provide.
- Custody in any form: holding customer keys, pooling deposits, running a wallet the customer does not control, or "managed" accounts where your company trades customer funds.
- On-ramps and off-ramps: selling crypto for fiat, buying it back, or standing between a card and a wallet. This is the direct on-ramp named on the refused list.
- Guaranteed returns and invented performance: signals, bots or courses whose core promise is a fixed monthly profit or a "risk-free" outcome, or a track record that cannot be verified. An underwriter reads both as deceptive claims and declines the file.
- Education used as a front, or stolen content: a course whose real purpose is to move buyers into a fund, a token presale or an exchange account you operate, or a course assembled from someone else's material.
The plan for crypto-adjacent businesses: Grey Hat
Revenue share, because the volume follows the market.
Crypto-adjacent businesses sit on the Grey Hat plan: a $2,499 setup fee, then 9% of deposit volume, with the revenue share starting 30 days after the package is delivered. Signals, alert channels and most crypto software bill monthly, and a flat fee would mis-price a volume curve that follows the market.
The line to the other plan is structural, not moral. A trading curriculum with no crypto angle, sold once and without live signals, is an info-product on White Hat ($1,999 setup, then $4,499 per month), covered on info-products and courses. Education built around crypto, live calls, an alert channel or a monthly membership is classified here and priced on Grey Hat, even when it is packaged as a course.
Two neighbouring Grey Hat verticals share the file logic: a paid crypto newsletter or research desk is described on paid media and publishing, a membership with no crypto angle on subscription and continuity. If the offer mixes them, say so on Telegram before purchasing. A monthly signals group declared as a one-shot course is a misclassification, which suspends the package.
How to get the package for a crypto-adjacent business
Four steps, no KYC on you, no notary, no travel. Delivery is the same day; acquirer onboarding then typically takes 3 to 10 business days.
- 1
Contact a representative on Telegram
Describe the offer (course, signals, newsletter, software), how it is billed, where you process today and your volume. State that the company never holds or moves customer funds; the plan is confirmed before anything is paid.
- 2
Choose the package and the Grey Hat plan
Pick an available entity in the inventory and select Grey Hat. Add the document template pack if the refund policy and terms of service still need writing.
- 3
Pay the setup fee
$2,499 in USDT or USDC on ERC20 or TRC20. Merchants are reviewed on business proofs (sales pages, group screenshots, processing history) before dashboard access. The 9% share starts 30 days after delivery.
- 4
Receive the package and open the MID
Documents, director details, bank access, email and proxy arrive on Telegram the same day. Apply through your own ISO or directly, with the funds-flow description attached; the director answers the acquirer's calls.
Packages are permanently in stock and ship the same day the payment confirms; Grey Hat is selected at acquisition. Company names are masked until you sign in.
Merchant accounts for crypto-adjacent businesses, frequently asked
The follow-up questions signal providers, course sellers and crypto software vendors send on Telegram.
Is a paid crypto signals group crypto-adjacent or an exchange?
Crypto-adjacent, as long as the group sells alerts and analysis and members trade on their own accounts. Your company never receives their funds, never trades for them and never pays out profits. If any of those happens, even for a few members, it is custody or exchange activity and is refused.
Can I sell crypto tax or portfolio software on this package?
Yes. Software around crypto is named on the industries hub, with tax software as the example. The same boundary applies as for signals: your tool may read the customer's data, it never holds or moves the customer's funds. Software that holds keys able to move money, pools deposits or trades on customer money is custody, which is refused. Confirm a borderline product on Telegram before buying.
Why is a crypto course priced on Grey Hat when a marketing course is on White Hat?
Subject and structure together. The industries hub files education built around crypto as crypto-adjacent, and a crypto course usually carries a live component: alerts, a community, monthly renewals, and disputes that rise when the market falls. That profile fits the revenue share better than a flat fee. A one-time curriculum with no crypto angle and no live calls is a plain info-product on White Hat.
Do I pay the package in crypto, and are my settlements paid in crypto?
The setup fee and the revenue share are paid to IBOCore in USDT or USDC on ERC20 or TRC20. Your customers pay by card, and the acquirer settles those sales in USD to the business bank account in the company's name. The merchant account side runs entirely in fiat, which keeps the file a card-acceptance file.
What statement descriptor should a signals membership use?
The brand name members joined, plus a support URL or phone number, within the processor's character limit. Avoid the legal entity name if it differs from the brand, and avoid "trading" or "crypto" on their own. The checklist above explains why an unfamiliar descriptor is disputed before it is read.
Related reading
Industries we serve
Every vertical mapped to its plan, and the verticals IBOCore refuses.
Read moreInfo-products and courses
The White Hat side of education: one-time curricula with no live signals.
Read morePaid media and publishing
Trading newsletters and research desks, the neighbouring Grey Hat vertical.
Read moreSubscription and continuity
Memberships and recurring billing with no crypto angle, priced on deposit volume.
Read moreHigh-risk merchant account
The general mechanics: MIDs, reserves, ratios and why a US principal is required.
Read moreChargebacks for high-risk merchants
Thresholds, reason codes and the response playbook for card-not-present sellers.
Read more
Open a merchant account for your crypto-adjacent business.
Pick a Grey Hat package in the inventory, receive it the same day, and bring your own ISO or apply directly.
No KYC on you, no notary, no travel.