# Crypto Field Test > Wallets and exchanges, tested with real money Crypto Field Test covers onramp, offramp, swap, corporate wallet, custody, acquiring, stablecoin payments, bitcoin payments, otc, licensing, cards, industries, exchange and nothing else. Every article is written by Chris Delaney. Tests wallets and exchanges with his own money. The intended reader is people at the point of choosing a specific product. No price predictions, no investment advice and no paid placements: articles explain how something works so the reader can decide for themselves. Where a number matters, the article states where it came from and when it was measured. 45 articles, published 2026-04-26 to 2026-10-19. Every article is also served as plain Markdown: replace the trailing slash with `.md` — https://cryptofieldtest.com/marketplace-payout-test.md ## Industries - [Paying 200 Recipients in 20 Countries: Rails Compared](https://cryptofieldtest.com/marketplace-payout-test/): We ran the same payout batch through conventional transfers and through crypto rails and measured cost, speed and failure rate. - [Converting Crypto for a Property Deposit: What the Solicitor Required](https://cryptofieldtest.com/property-settlement-test/): We ran a conversion through to a client account and documented every question asked along the way. - [What Institutional Onboarding Actually Required at Three Custodians](https://cryptofieldtest.com/institutional-custody-test/): Document sets, depositary coordination and the questions that revealed which had done fund business before. - [We Installed Crypto Payment Plugins on Three Shop Platforms](https://cryptofieldtest.com/ecommerce-plugin-test/): Installation time, configuration gaps, and what broke when we tested the failure cases through a plugin rather than an API. - [Evaluating Crypto Infrastructure Partners: What We Tested](https://cryptofieldtest.com/fintech-partner-evaluation/): Interface quality, sub-account models, reconciliation and what happens when a partner has an outage. - [Which Business Types Actually Benefit, Measured](https://cryptofieldtest.com/industry-fit-comparison/): We modelled the payment cost for six business types before and after adding crypto acceptance. ## Acquiring - [We Switched Payment Providers. Here Is What It Actually Took.](https://cryptofieldtest.com/acquiring-provider-switch-test/): Migration effort, what could not be moved, and the terms that made leaving harder than expected. - [We Refunded Payments at Four Gateways to See Who Handles It](https://cryptofieldtest.com/refund-process-test/): Some providers refund for you. Some leave you holding crypto to send. The difference is a treasury decision nobody plans for. - [Gateway Fees Compared on a Real Month of Payments](https://cryptofieldtest.com/gateway-fee-comparison/): Headline rates against what actually came out, including conversion margins and settlement costs nobody quotes. - [We Underpaid Every Gateway on Purpose](https://cryptofieldtest.com/underpayment-handling-test/): Short payments are the most common real-world failure. How each provider handled a payment five percent light. - [Settlement Tested: Which Gateways Actually Paid on Schedule](https://cryptofieldtest.com/gateway-settlement-comparison/): Thirty days of settlements at four providers, measured against their stated schedules, with the exposure each created. - [We Integrated Four Crypto Payment Gateways. Here Is What Took Longest.](https://cryptofieldtest.com/payment-gateway-integration-test/): Time to first successful payment, quality of the sandbox, and which failure cases each could actually simulate. ## Stablecoin payments - [We Held Stablecoin Balances Four Ways for a Quarter](https://cryptofieldtest.com/stablecoin-holding-test/): Self-managed multi-signature, a business wallet, an exchange account and a split. What each cost in effort and what each exposed. - [Four Stablecoin Payment Providers Compared on Real Volume](https://cryptofieldtest.com/stablecoin-provider-comparison/): Networks supported, conversion margins, settlement timing and how each handled the failure cases over a month. - [Stablecoin to Euro: The Conversion Margins Nobody Quotes](https://cryptofieldtest.com/stablecoin-conversion-spreads/): We converted the same amount at four providers and measured the margin against the market rate. - [We Sent Stablecoin on Every Network Four Gateways Claimed to Support](https://cryptofieldtest.com/stablecoin-network-test/): Claimed support and actual support differed. Two deposits arrived nowhere useful and one took eleven days to recover. ## Offramp - [Matching Settlement Currency: The Change That Saved the Most](https://cryptofieldtest.com/offramp-currency-matching/): We measured the same conversions with and without a currency mismatch. The difference dwarfed every other cost we had been optimising. - [We Sent Crypto Proceeds to Six Bank Accounts. Two Asked Questions.](https://cryptofieldtest.com/offramp-bank-acceptance-test/): How different institutions handled inbound payments from a licensed crypto provider, and what made the difference. - [The Real Cost of Converting Crypto to Cash, Measured](https://cryptofieldtest.com/offramp-fee-comparison/): Four providers, identical sales, with spread, withdrawal fee and currency margin separated and measured. - [We Timed Crypto to Bank Settlement at Four Providers](https://cryptofieldtest.com/offramp-settlement-test/): From sale to money in the account, measured. Where the time went and which step caused the variance. ## Custody - [What Custody Actually Costs: Four Providers Quoted](https://cryptofieldtest.com/custody-cost-comparison/): Basis points on assets, minimums, transaction fees and the charges that only appear in the agreement. - [We Asked Four Custodians the Same Nine Questions](https://cryptofieldtest.com/custody-diligence-responses/): Which answered specifically, which deflected, and what the pattern of responses predicted about the rest of the process. - [We Tested Withdrawals at Four Custodians](https://cryptofieldtest.com/custody-withdrawal-test/): Time to first withdrawal, approval requirements, weekend behaviour and what happened when we tried to rush one. ## Corporate wallet - [Adding and Removing Users at Four Wallet Providers](https://cryptofieldtest.com/wallet-multi-user-test/): Access changes are the most frequent administrative task. We timed them and looked for what each provider left behind. - [We Tested Recovery Procedures at Four Wallet Providers](https://cryptofieldtest.com/wallet-recovery-test/): Every provider documents recovery. We restored from backups to see whether the documentation worked. - [We Exported a Month of Transactions From Five Wallets](https://cryptofieldtest.com/wallet-reporting-test/): Which fields each provided, which required reconstruction, and how long reconciliation actually took. - [We Tried to Break Five Business Wallets' Approval Rules](https://cryptofieldtest.com/wallet-controls-test/): Self-approval, immediate use of new addresses, and exceeding limits. Three of five let something through. ## Swap - [Cross-Chain Swaps Tested Against Doing It Manually](https://cryptofieldtest.com/cross-chain-swap-test/): We moved the same value between networks both ways and compared cost, time and the number of things that could go wrong. - [We Deliberately Broke Five Swaps to See What Happens](https://cryptofieldtest.com/swap-failure-case-test/): Underpayment, late deposit, wrong network and expired quote, tested at each provider. The recovery processes differed enormously. - [We Requested the Same Swap From Five Providers Simultaneously](https://cryptofieldtest.com/swap-quote-comparison/): Identical quotes at the same second, converted to implied spreads. The spread between providers was larger than expected. ## Exchange - [We Opened Company Accounts at Five Exchanges and Ranked Them](https://cryptofieldtest.com/exchange-comparison-for-companies/): Onboarding, settlement in the company name, access controls and exportable records. Fees were the smallest difference. ## Cards - [We Ran Four Crypto Cards for a Quarter](https://cryptofieldtest.com/virtual-card-test/): Conversion margins, foreign currency costs, per-merchant card support and what the tax record looked like at the end. ## Licensing - [Regulated and Unregulated Platforms Compared on What Actually Differs](https://cryptofieldtest.com/regulated-vs-unregulated-comparison/): Fees, speed and features were similar. The differences were in onboarding, in withdrawal controls and in what happens on a bad day. - [We Read the Terms of Service at Eight Platforms](https://cryptofieldtest.com/terms-of-service-comparison/): Liability caps, insolvency provisions and whether client assets can be used. The clauses that differ, and what they mean. - [We Checked the Licence Claims of Twelve Platforms](https://cryptofieldtest.com/licence-verification-test/): Register lookups on every claim. Four did not resolve, three covered a different activity, and two named an entity that was not the contracting party. ## Otc - [We Measured How Much Actually Fills at Four Venues](https://cryptofieldtest.com/liquidity-depth-measurement/): Displayed depth against realised fills, at three sizes, in calm and volatile conditions. - [Onboarding at Four OTC Desks: What Each Required](https://cryptofieldtest.com/otc-desk-onboarding-test/): Document lists, timelines and the questions that revealed which desks had done institutional business before. - [We Settled Bilateral Trades Three Ways to Compare the Risk](https://cryptofieldtest.com/otc-settlement-test/): Intermediary, shared venue and tranching, tested on real trades. Cost, speed and what each actually protects against. - [We Asked Three Desks for the Same Quote at the Same Second](https://cryptofieldtest.com/otc-quote-test/): Simultaneous requests, converted to comparable spreads, repeated over a month. The variation was larger than we expected. ## Bitcoin payments - [Bitcoin or Stablecoin at Checkout: What Customers Actually Chose](https://cryptofieldtest.com/bitcoin-vs-stablecoin-checkout/): We offered both for a quarter and measured selection, completion rate and support load for each. - [We Measured Bitcoin Confirmation Times Across Fee Levels](https://cryptofieldtest.com/bitcoin-confirmation-test/): How long a payment actually takes at different fee rates, and what that means for a checkout experience. ## Onramp - [We Tried to Hit the Limits. Here Is Where Each Provider Stopped Us.](https://cryptofieldtest.com/onramp-limits-test/): Tier thresholds, what unlocked each level, and how long each review took in practice. - [We Opened Corporate Accounts at Five Providers. Three Took Weeks.](https://cryptofieldtest.com/onramp-corporate-onboarding-test/): Document lists, actual timelines and where each process stalled, for a simple single-jurisdiction company. - [How Long Each Payment Method Actually Took](https://cryptofieldtest.com/onramp-settlement-speed-test/): Card, instant bank payment, standard transfer and corporate transfer, timed end to end from initiation to crypto in the wallet. - [We Bought the Same Amount Through Four On-Ramps. Here Is What It Cost.](https://cryptofieldtest.com/onramp-cost-test/): Identical purchases at the same moment through four providers, with the full cost of each measured against the market rate. ## About this site - [About](https://cryptofieldtest.com/about/): what the site covers, who writes it and how articles are checked. - [Author](https://cryptofieldtest.com/author/): Chris Delaney. Tests wallets and exchanges with his own money. - [Contact](https://cryptofieldtest.com/contact/): corrections and questions. - [Privacy](https://cryptofieldtest.com/privacy/): what the site does and does not collect. ## Machine-readable - [https://cryptofieldtest.com/llms-full.txt](https://cryptofieldtest.com/llms-full.txt): full text of every article in one file. - [https://cryptofieldtest.com/sitemap-index.xml](https://cryptofieldtest.com/sitemap-index.xml): every indexable URL. - [https://cryptofieldtest.com/rss.xml](https://cryptofieldtest.com/rss.xml): feed of new articles.