The short answer

You need three things:

  1. A Monero wallet that you control.
  2. A subaddress used only for donations.
  3. A way for people who do not hold Monero to pay you.

The first two take five minutes. The third is where most Monero donation pages lose money: most people who want to support you hold Bitcoin, Ether or USDT, and they leave when they see an XMR address.

Step 1: get a Monero wallet you control

Use a wallet where you hold the seed, not an account on an exchange. Donations sent to an exchange account can be delayed by that exchange, and you cannot give out a new address for each purpose.

Good choices are the official Monero GUI wallet on a computer, Feather Wallet on a computer, or Cake Wallet or Monerujo on a phone. Write the seed words on paper and keep them offline. Anyone with the seed controls the coins.

Read our Monero wallet guide for the details.

Step 2: make a subaddress just for donations

A Monero wallet can create many subaddresses. They all belong to the same wallet and seed, but they cannot be linked to each other from the outside. Subaddresses start with an 8.

Create one called “Donations” and use it only there. You then see every donation in one place in your wallet, and your main address stays private. If you run several projects, make one subaddress for each.

Do not publish your primary address (the one starting with a 4). Anyone who has seen it once can recognise it again.

Step 3: let people pay with the coin they hold

A plain XMR address works only for people who already hold Monero. Everyone else has to find an exchange, swap, wait and come back. Few do.

A HiddenPay link fixes this. You paste your Monero subaddress, and you get a link and a button. A supporter opens it, picks the coin they hold, such as BTC, USDT or LTC, and sends it. The swap runs and Monero is sent straight to your subaddress.

  • No account. You get an owner key instead. It lets you see payments and change the link.
  • We never hold your money. Each payment is its own swap, paid out to your address.
  • Works without JavaScript and in Tor Browser, for you and for your supporters.
  • Payments in Monero go straight to you. A supporter who holds XMR can send it directly, with no swap and no fee.

The swap fee is inside the rate the supporter sees, the same as on any HiddenSwap swap. You pay nothing to create or keep a link.

Step 4: put it where people look

  • Website or blog: use the image button. It is a plain image and link, with no script on your page.
  • GitHub, Codeberg or GitLab README: use the badge. See how to add a crypto donate button to a README.
  • Forums: use the BBCode snippet.
  • Streams, events and print: use the QR code.
  • Chats, Nostr and social profiles: use the plain link.

Keep your privacy as the receiver

  • Use a new subaddress for donations, as above.
  • Do not reuse the donation subaddress for your own swaps or salary.
  • Monero hides the sender, the receiver and the amount on its chain. Your supporters’ coin, such as Bitcoin, is still public on its own chain up to the swap.
  • The name and note on your link are public. Leave them out if you prefer.
  • Notification emails are optional. If you add one, we store it encrypted and never show it to payers.

Common mistakes

  • Pasting an exchange deposit address. Some exchanges need a memo or change addresses. Use your own wallet.
  • Using a Zcash transparent address and calling it private. If you receive Zcash instead, use a shielded address.
  • Losing the owner key. Without it you cannot see payments or change the link. The coins still reach your wallet, because the address is fixed.

Questions

Do I need to register or verify anything? No. There is no account and no ID. You paste an address and get a link.

Can I receive a coin other than Monero? Yes. You can pick the coin you receive, such as BTC or USDT on Tron. Monero is the default because it keeps amounts and addresses private.

Can I ask for an exact amount? Yes. Choose a payment link instead of a donation link, and enter the amount you want to receive. The payer is shown how much of their coin to send.

What happens if a swap fails? The payer is refunded to the address they gave, under the HiddenSwap terms. Nothing is taken from you.

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