# Troubleshooting "Couldn't Create Payment" Error

When you choose a cryptocurrency tender (e.g., Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDC) in **Sandbox**, the checkout performs two actions:

1. **Create the payment** in Bead’s sandbox gateway.
2. **Generate a QR code** that the consumer scans with their crypto wallet to run a *test transaction* on the correct test-net or partner sandbox.

If step 1 fails—usually because the downstream test-net or processor is temporarily unavailable—the UI shows the *Couldn’t Create Payment* dialog instead of the QR code.

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### Why it happens

| Cause                                                    | Where it originates       | Typical duration                  |
| -------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------- | --------------------------------- |
| Test-net instability (e.g., Bitcoin Testnet)             | External blockchain nodes | Minutes to a few hours            |
| Third-party sandbox outage (processor / wallet provider) | External service          | Varies by provider                |
| Config drift in our crypto sandbox gateway               | Bead Sandbox              | Rare; fixed quickly once detected |

Our Sandbox relies on external networks and partner sandboxes for QR-code payloads, so any hiccup downstream bubbles up here.

### Recommended workflow

1. **Switch to a known-good tender**
   * Use another payment tender to keep testing moving.
2. **Retry later**
   * Most blockchain test-nets recover on their own.
3. **Let us know**
   * Send a support ticket with merchantId and terminalId
   * We’ll confirm if we also see downstream issues and post status updates.

### Impact on production

Production uses main-net rails and HA processor clusters, so this error is limited to **Sandbox**.