# How to pay for a gift card with USDC on Ethereum (ERC-20)

> Pay a gift card in USDC on Ethereum only: 12 confirmations (~2.4 min), gas about US$0.02 on 21 Oct 2026, exchange fees 0.6–0.86 USDC. No KYC to US$1,000.

- URL: https://giftswithcrypto.com/pay/usdc/
- Last updated: 2026-10-21
- Publisher: Gifts With Crypto (https://giftswithcrypto.com)

**Quick answer**

Pay for a gift card with USDC: send the exact USDC amount on Ethereum (ERC-20) within the 30-minute invoice; **12 confirmations** (about 2.4 minutes); typical gas **about 0.0000088 ETH, roughly US$0.02** (checked 21 Oct 2026); code delivered within 24 hours of confirmation; no KYC up to US$1,000. Only Ethereum-mainnet USDC is accepted, not USDC on Base, Solana or other chains.

## USDC payment facts

| Attribute | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Network | Ethereum mainnet only; Circle's USDC contract 0xA0b86991c6218b36c1d19D4a2e9Eb0cE3606eB48 |
| Confirmations we require | 12, about 2.4 minutes |
| Typical gas | 65,000 gas × 0.135 gwei ≈ 0.0000088 ETH ≈ US$0.022 (21 Oct 2026) |
| Gas paid in | ETH |
| Exchange withdrawal fee | Binance 0.6 USDC, Kraken 0.7495 USDC, OKX 0.86 USDC |
| Minimum withdrawal | Kraken 0.8994 USDC, OKX 2 USDC, Binance 5 USDC |
| USDC price | US$0.9997 on CoinGecko at 18:29 UTC |

## Which USDC networks does Gifts With Crypto accept?

**Only USDC on Ethereum mainnet (ERC-20).** Circle issues USDC on many chains, and exchanges list them all side by side. On 21 Oct 2026 Binance offered USDC on 23 networks, Kraken on 23 and OKX on 14.

Base, Arbitrum One, Optimism, Polygon, Monad and zkSync Era all use 0x addresses like Ethereum. A wallet will happily paste our address on any of them, but the USDC lands on the wrong chain. Bridged USDC.e on Polygon, Arbitrum or Optimism is a different token again.

## How much does a USDC ERC-20 payment cost?

**About US$0.02 in ETH gas from your own wallet on 21 Oct 2026.** Etherscan's Standard gas price was 0.135 gwei, and an ERC-20 transfer is priced at 65,000 gas: 0.000008775 ETH.

Exchange withdrawals cost far more than the gas. Binance charged 0.6 USDC, Kraken 0.7495 USDC and OKX 0.86 USDC. At OKX, Ethereum was its dearest USDC network; Solana cost 0.3 USDC and Base 0.024 USDC, but neither can pay an Ethereum invoice.

## How do I check that I am sending real USDC?

**Match the token contract with Circle's published address, 0xA0b86991c6218b36c1d19D4a2e9Eb0cE3606eB48.** Fake tokens can copy the USDC name and logo, but never that contract. On Etherscan the genuine token shows as Circle: USDC Token; on 21 Oct 2026 it ranked second in gas used over 24 hours, behind USDT.

USDT and USDC are separate assets on the same 0x addresses. A USDT transfer cannot settle a USDC invoice. For USDT, choose [USDT ERC-20](https://giftswithcrypto.com/pay/usdt-erc20/) at checkout instead.

## USDC or USDT ERC-20: which costs less to send?

**On-chain gas is about the same, roughly US$0.02 each.** At exchanges, USDT ERC-20 was cheaper at OKX (0.46 USDT against 0.86 USDC) and slightly cheaper at Kraken (0.7404 against 0.7495). Binance charged 0.6 for both. Both need 12 Ethereum confirmations.

## Pay with USDC in 5 steps

1. **Choose a card** — Pick brand, country and value in the catalogue; a US$100 card needs about 100 USDC.
2. **Select USDC · Ethereum (ERC-20)** — The invoice shows the exact USDC amount, a 0x address and a 30-minute timer.
3. **Pick the Ethereum network** — On an exchange, select Ethereum (ERC20), not Base, Arbitrum or Solana. In a wallet, keep about 0.00002 ETH for gas.
4. **Send the exact USDC** — Confirm the token contract ends in …eB48 and send before the timer ends.
5. **Wait for 12 blocks** — After about 2.4 minutes the order is paid; your code arrives within 24 hours.

## USDC payment questions

### Can I pay for a gift card with USDC on Base or Solana?

No. Gifts With Crypto accepts USDC on Ethereum mainnet (ERC-20) only. USDC on Base, Arbitrum, Optimism, Polygon or Solana sits on another chain and cannot match the invoice. Withdraw on the Ethereum (ERC20) network instead.

### How much gas does a USDC payment need?

About 65,000 gas. At 0.135 gwei on 21 Oct 2026 that was 0.0000088 ETH, about US$0.022. Gas is paid in ETH, so keep a small ETH balance in the sending wallet.

### Which exchange is least expensive for withdrawing USDC on Ethereum?

Binance, at 0.6 USDC on 21 Oct 2026. Kraken charged 0.7495 USDC and OKX 0.86 USDC. Exchanges deduct the fee from the amount you type, so add it on top of the invoice amount.

### How many confirmations does Gifts With Crypto need for USDC?

Twelve Ethereum confirmations, about 2.4 minutes with 12-second slots. The code is then delivered within 24 hours.

### Is bridged USDC.e accepted?

No. USDC.e is a bridged token on networks such as Polygon, Arbitrum and Optimism, not Circle's Ethereum USDC. Only the contract 0xA0b86991c6218b36c1d19D4a2e9Eb0cE3606eB48 on Ethereum mainnet is accepted.

## Sources (checked 21 Oct 2026)

1. [USDC contract addresses](https://developers.circle.com/stablecoins/usdc-contract-addresses) — Circle (2026-10-21)
2. [Ethereum Gas Tracker (Standard 0.135 gwei; ERC20: Transfer 65,000 gas; top gas users)](https://etherscan.io/gastracker) — Etherscan (2026-10-21)
3. [Ethereum gas and fees: technical overview](https://ethereum.org/developers/docs/gas/) — ethereum.org (2026-10-21)
4. [Proof-of-stake (PoS)](https://ethereum.org/developers/docs/consensus-mechanisms/pos/) — ethereum.org (2026-10-21)
5. [Crypto Deposit & Withdrawal Fees](https://www.binance.com/en/fee/cryptoFee) — Binance (2026-10-21)
6. [Cryptocurrency withdrawal fees and minimums](https://support.kraken.com/articles/360000767986-cryptocurrency-withdrawal-fees-and-minimums) — Kraken (2026-10-21)
7. [Crypto Withdrawal Fees & Supported Tokens (United States)](https://www.okx.com/en-us/fees/withdrawal-info) — OKX (2026-10-21)
8. [CoinGecko API: simple/price (USDC at US$0.999659, ETH at US$2,516.28, 18:29 UTC)](https://api.coingecko.com/api/v3/simple/price?ids=bitcoin,ethereum,solana,litecoin,tron,tether,usd-coin&vs_currencies=usd&include_last_updated_at=true) — CoinGecko (2026-10-21)

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Gifts With Crypto: Gifts With Crypto (giftswithcrypto.com) is operated by cardcrrr LLC (Delaware, USA) and sells digital gift cards at face value for BTC, USDT, USDC, ETH, SOL or LTC, with no KYC up to US$1,000 per order and the code delivered in your account within 24 hours of payment confirmation.