Cash Out Your USDC

Cash Out Your USDC

When fans collect your music on Crate, you earn USDC — a digital dollar that's designed to hold a value of $1. Your earnings sit safely onchain until you claim them, and once claimed they live in your SoundMint wallet, which only you control.

This guide walks the whole road from "fans collected my song" to "dollars in my bank account":

1. Claim your revenue
2. Find it in your SoundMint wallet
3. Send it to an exchange that supports USDC on Base
4. Sell it for USD and withdraw to your bank

Step 1: Claim your revenue

Your earnings accumulate in each song's onchain vault until you claim them.

1. In the Studio, go to Onchain → Revenue (or open studio/onchain/revenue directly).
2. The Claimable panel lists every song with money waiting. Press Claim on a song — or Claim all to sweep everything at once.
3. Approve the claim with your wallet. The USDC moves from the song's vault into your SoundMint wallet.

The dashboard reads your balances live from the blockchain, so what you see is what's actually there.

Step 2: Open your SoundMint wallet

Click your profile picture and choose Wallet. You'll see:

• Your USDC balance — this is where claimed revenue lands.
• A small ETH balance — used for network fees in some situations.
• Your wallet address — a long code starting with 0x. This is your wallet's "account number" on the Base network.

Your SoundMint wallet is self-custodial: SoundMint never holds your funds or your keys. That also means you're the one who moves the money — here's how.

Step 3: Send your USDC to an exchange

To turn USDC into dollars in your bank, you send it to a crypto exchange that supports USDC on the Base network, then sell it there. Coinbase and Kraken are two well-known US exchanges that support USDC on Base.

The network matters — read this twice. USDC exists on several blockchains. Your SoundMint wallet holds USDC on Base. When you get a deposit address from an exchange, it must be for USDC on the Base network specifically. Sending to an address set up for a different network can permanently lose your funds. If the exchange doesn't offer Base as a deposit network for USDC, don't send — pick an exchange that does.

Get your deposit address

On Coinbase:

1. Create or sign in to your Coinbase account (they'll verify your identity — this is standard for any exchange).
2. Tap Receive (on mobile) or go to your USDC balance and choose Receive / Deposit crypto.
3. Select USDC as the asset.
4. Select Base as the network. Coinbase supports USDC deposits on multiple networks — make sure Base is the one showing.
5. Copy the deposit address (it starts with 0x).

On Kraken:

1. Create or sign in to your Kraken account and complete verification.
2. Go to Funding → Deposit and search for USDC.
3. Choose Base as the deposit network. If you don't see Base in the list, stop — don't use a different network.
4. Generate and copy the deposit address.

Send from your SoundMint wallet

1. Open your Wallet in SoundMint and choose Send USDC.
2. Paste the deposit address you copied from the exchange. Paste it — don't type it by hand.
3. Enter the amount (or press Max to send everything).
4. Review the details carefully. Transfers on Base are irreversible — double-check the address.
5. Confirm the send. You'll get a link to view the transaction on BaseScan, the public record of the Base network.

For your first cash-out, consider sending a small test amount first. Once it appears in your exchange account (usually within a few minutes), send the rest with confidence.

About fees: SoundMint covers the network fee for sends from your SoundMint wallet where fee sponsorship applies. If your wallet isn't eligible, the send uses a small amount of the Base ETH in your wallet instead — the app tells you which applies before you confirm.

Step 4: Sell for USD and withdraw

Once the USDC arrives in your exchange account:

1. Sell (or "convert") your USDC for USD on the exchange.
2. Withdraw the USD to your linked bank account.

Each exchange sets its own trading fees, withdrawal options, and timelines — a standard bank transfer typically takes a few business days, and some exchanges offer faster options for an extra fee. Check your exchange's current fee schedule before you sell.

Good to know

• Keep records. Your Revenue dashboard shows your per-song earnings, and every claim and send is permanently recorded onchain (viewable on BaseScan). Exchanges also provide transaction histories.
• Taxes. Selling USDC and earning music revenue can have tax implications that depend on your situation. SoundMint can't give tax advice — consult your tax professional.
• Your money, your keys. Advanced users can also export their wallet's private key (Wallet → Export wallet) to use it in another wallet app. Treat a private key like the master key to your money: anyone who has it controls your funds, and you should never share it with anyone.

Questions along the way? Reach out through the Help Center — we're happy to walk you through your first cash-out.