Contents
You can pay for SolCard Inference’s API with USDC and no credit card. Send USDC (or SOL, ETH, BTC and more) to the deposit address on the dashboard’s Top up page, and it becomes a prepaid USD balance that every API key, every model and the chat app spend from. There’s no card on file, and the balance never expires.
What you’re funding
One balance, in US dollars. Your crypto is credited as USD, and requests draw it down at the per-token rates: $1.25 per million input tokens on solcard-inference-fast, for example. Each request holds enough for its worst case, is charged what it actually used, and gives back the rest.
- No card on file. Nothing to decline, nothing to charge after the fact.
- Top up any amount above the network’s minimum.
- The balance never expires. Leave $5 in it for a year and it’s still $5.
- Plans can renew from it. Starter is $20 a month, Pro $100, Max $200. If the balance is short at renewal, you’re back on pay as you go.
Coins and networks
The Top up page lists every coin and network we accept, with its own deposit address and minimum. The list comes live from our system, so it’s the place to check, not this post. Today it covers SOL, USDC, ETH, BTC and more, on 9+ networks. Networks it knows include:
- Solana
- Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum and Optimism
- Polygon and BNB Chain
- Tron
- Bitcoin
Not every coin is on every network. Check the pair on the Top up page before you send.
You can also skip crypto: pay straight from a SolCard card balance on the same page.
Step by step
- Sign in at app.solcardinference.ai with your email or a Solana wallet.
- Open Top up and choose the coin, then the network.
- Copy the deposit address shown for that pair, and note the minimum.
- Send from your wallet or exchange on that same network. If you’re withdrawing from an exchange, pick the matching network in its withdrawal form, not just the coin.
- Wait for the deposit to be credited. Your balance on the dashboard shows it when it lands.
The network fee goes to the chain, not to us. It’s whatever your wallet or exchange charges to send. We don’t add a fee to the top-up.
Then create an API key and send a request.
Wrong network or wrong coin
Blockchain transfers can’t be reversed. If you sent on a network or a coin that the Top up page didn’t list for that address, email support@solcardinference.ai before you send anything else. Include the transaction hash, the coin, the network and the amount. We can’t promise every mistaken send can be recovered, so the safest habit is a small test send the first time you use a new network.
Pseudonymous, not anonymous
Paying in crypto keeps a card out of it. It doesn’t make you invisible. On-chain transfers are public: anyone can see that an address sent USDC to another address, and an exchange you withdraw from knows who you are. We see the deposit, and we keep your account’s email or wallet address and a billing line per request (time, key, model, tokens, cost).
What we don’t keep is what you write. Prompts and answers are processed in memory and not stored. Keeps nothing traces one message through.
How other APIs handle crypto
From their own pages, fetched November 1, 2026:
- MixRoute takes USDC on four networks and says “USDC is not available on Tron or TON.” It says “a top-up has a 0% platform fee” and that its “credits are valid forever” (MixRoute).
- Router One “accepts USDT and USDC stablecoin top-ups on six networks”; top-ups “usually start at $5 USD equivalent,” and “Network gas is paid by you to the chain” (Router One).
- Venice “accepts credit cards and crypto: BTC and USDC,” and says it plainly: “Crypto payment is not the same as anonymous use” (Venice). Our Venice comparison goes further.
- OpenRouter takes USDC, and its terms let it expire unused credits after 365 days. See SolCard Inference vs OpenRouter.
Where we differ: coins beyond stablecoins, 9+ networks, paying from a SolCard card balance, and models that keep nothing you send.
Paying OpenAI or Anthropic instead
If you want OpenAI’s or Anthropic’s own API, you need a card at their checkout. SolCard’s Virtual for AI & Ad Spend card is loaded with crypto and made for that; buying Claude API credits with USDC walks through it.
FAQ
Can I pay for an AI API without a credit card? Yes. Send crypto to your deposit address on the Top up page, or pay from a SolCard card balance. Nothing is kept on file.
Do SolCard Inference credits expire? No. Your balance never expires. Plan usage is different: it resets each month and doesn’t roll over.
What’s the minimum top-up? It depends on the coin and network, and the Top up page shows it next to each deposit address.
What if I sent USDC on the wrong network? Email support@solcardinference.ai with the transaction hash before sending again. Recovery isn’t guaranteed.