Crypto payment infrastructure explained: rails, PSPs, and latest developments

The Paypers editors Paula Albu and Mirela Ciobanu investigate the fundamental infrastructure behind cryptocurrency payments. Their exploration aims to clarify the often-complex ecosystem of crypto payment rails and the various service providers facilitating these transactions.

This article moves beyond theory to provide real-world examples and reveal the key trends shaping the space.

With innovations like Decentralized Finance (DeFi), the crypto market is a fast-growing segment of the fintech industry, offering new services and challenging traditional finance. Banks, fintech firms, and PSPs are rapidly expanding their offerings with crypto services, unlocking faster, more affordable options for secure storage, spending, and investing for a new generation of customers. Navigating the complex landscape of potential solutions and providers can be challenging for any institution looking to integrate crypto services. 

Therefore, the infographic presented in The Paypers Web Payment Acceptance Report 2025 aims to educate readers about the ecosystem’s key players. Additionally, business leaders can stay informed and build partnerships with relevant crypto, stablecoins, or Web 3 providers. Given the numerous categories and diverse players within this field, we have developed a series of articles dedicated to each segment. Each article will feature an explanation of the main category and relevant subcategories, examples and short descriptions of key players in the space with recent news and concluding insights into current trends.

Today, we start with Crypto Payment Infrastructure (Rails & PSPs).

The B2B and B2C crypto payment rails explained

Crypto Payments Rails are networks that facilitate the transfer of digital assets between users, businesses, and financial institutions. They enable faster and more cost-efficient transactions compared to traditional banking systems. Unlike traditional payment systems, which rely on centralised authorities like banks, crypto payment rails utilise blockchain technology to facilitate peer-to-peer transactions without intermediaries.

Crypto rails serve both businesses (B2B) and consumers (B2C). For B2B clients, crypto providers offer a comprehensive suite of services designed to optimise the use of digital assets for financial institutions, merchants, and other regulated entities. These services include payments, settlements, custody, fraud prevention, and risk management, allowing businesses to accept, manage, and settle digital asset transactions across multiple blockchains and geographical regions.

In the B2C context, the functionality centres on providing a seamless, cost-effective, and secure payment method for individual consumers. These rails enable everyday users to make fast, peer-to-peer payments for goods and services, bypass traditional banking intermediaries, and utilise features like loyalty rewards and automated, programmable payments at checkout. B2C Crypto Payment Rails are crypto providers that offer consumers instant access to crypto via an easy-to-use platform or a user-friendly app/wallet. Through APIs, B2C providers can integrate local IBANs, fiat rails (like SEPA or Faster Payments), and real-time FX.

How do crypto payment rails work?

The process typically involves:

Setting up a digital wallet - to begin, users must establish a digital wallet, which is a software tool for managing cryptographic keys. A wallet contains a public key, which serves as an address for receiving funds, and a private key, which is essential for authorising any outgoing transactions.

Sending a transaction - when a user wishes to make a payment, they input the recipient's public address and the desired amount into their wallet. The transaction is then digitally signed using the sender's private key, confirming its legitimacy.

Network validation - the signed transaction is then sent out to the cryptocurrency network. Computers on the network, known as nodes, verify the transaction by checking that the sender's account has enough funds and that the transaction follows all network rules.

Blockchain confirmation* - after validation, the transaction is bundled with others into a new data unit called a block. ‘Miners’ or ‘validators’ then compete to solve a complex puzzle to add this new block to the permanent blockchain ledger. Once successfully added, the transaction is finalised.

Decentralised nature - a key feature of cryptocurrencies is their decentralised settlement. The blockchain’s distributed design enables peer-to-peer transactions without the need for a central bank or intermediary, resulting in a transparent and secure record of all exchanges.

*For those that want to learn more about blockchain technology, you can check out this article. 

Key players driving the crypto infrastructure and payment ecosystem

We can identify several key players that help create and orchestrate these crypto transactions. These include infrastructure providers like Fireblocks, Bridge, and Paxos; orchestrators such as BVNK, Circle, Ripple, and Fipto; and on/off-ramp crypto providers including Mesh, Flexa, MoonPay, and Mercuryo.

Fireblocks is an enterprise-grade platform that provides secure digital asset infrastructure for financial institutions and other organisations. Yellow Card joined their network in September 2025, bringing expertise in emerging markets and African infrastructure to the global ecosystem. Additionally, Fireblocks partnered with Circle to accelerate stablecoin adoption among financial institutions.

BVNK delivers infrastructure for enterprises to send and receive payments in stablecoins. Recently, they partnered with Bitso Business to support financial institutions in scaling to new markets, especially in Europe and Latin America.

Mesh, another key infrastructure provider, recently received new investment from several firms, including PayPal Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, and ByBit. Additionally, in March 2025, Mesh also secured USD 82 million in a Series B funding round to accelerate the development of a global crypto payments network.

Other leading infrastructure players that help provide consumers with immediate access to digital assets through intuitive platforms, apps, or wallets include the networks MultiversX, Solana, and Voltage. MultiversX is a distributed blockchain network that offers its own wallet, fiat on-ramp capabilities, and customer payment flows. Solana's high-speed, optimal global blockchain serves as a rail that allows merchants and applications to accept stablecoins with minimal fees. Voltage offers global payments using Bitcoin and stablecoin via the Lightning Network, with instant settlement and low transaction fees. The latest moves, such as BitGo adding Lightning support via Voltage, R3 expanding tokenised assets on Solana, and major funds seeking USD 1 billion in Solana, point in the same direction: crypto rails are evolving into institutional-grade infrastructure, aiming to gain users’ trust.

Driving widespread crypto payment adoption requires seamless integration for both end-users and merchants. Consumers need easy-to-use interfaces, while businesses require simple integration into existing payment stacks. Consequently, many traditional Payment Service Providers (PSPs), such as ACI Worldwide, Nuvei, PayPal, and Stripe, are now adding crypto support alongside traditional card and fiat payments. The primary benefits for merchants include instant global reach, faster settlement times, and significantly lower costs compared to traditional cross-border payments.

Beyond direct wallet payments, crypto cards are a key method facilitating easy transacting. Crypto Card Issuers like Binance, Crypto.com, and Wirex offer debit or credit cards linked directly to digital asset wallets. These solutions enable users to spend their cryptocurrencies frictionlessly in the real world wherever traditional card payments are accepted.

Over the last 12 months, we have observed two significant, defining dynamics in the digital payments landscape that are reshaping the financial sector: the strategic entry of traditional finance (TradFi) into the crypto space through acquisitions and investments, and the simultaneous consolidation of crypto-native firms aiming to scale their operations and diversify their platforms. These trends highlight a maturing industry where digital assets are transitioning from niche innovation to essential financial infrastructure.

Traditional finance (TradFi) invests in crypto infrastructure

Traditional payment players are increasingly making strategic moves into the crypto space by acquiring or investing in specialised infrastructure providers. This approach allows established companies to efficiently expand their services, leveraging blockchain technology to optimise existing payment networks, increase efficiency, and offer new digital asset options to their customer base. Rather than building from scratch, these firms gain immediate access to necessary technology and market expertise. This integration helps them attract digitally native customers and respond to the growing demand for digital asset services, especially by utilising stablecoins for more efficient international payments.

Crypto-native firms consolidate to scale and diversify offerings

Established crypto players, such as Coinbase, are acquiring smaller firms to extend their reach beyond core trading functions and build comprehensive, end-to-end platforms. This strategic consolidation broadens their service offerings, spanning payments, custody, DeFi, and institutional services to provide a more integrated customer experience. Furthermore, these moves help the firms achieve economies of scale, reduce competition, improve margins, and position themselves strategically for the next wave of financial innovation. This strategy also facilitates global expansion, often by acquiring regional exchanges and payment networks to solidify their market position.

The future of the payments landscape

Despite not yet matching the volume of traditional fiat transactions, cryptocurrency payments, including stablecoins, are on a clear upward trend and have moved beyond the ‘buzzword’ era. The trends we mentioned earlier are reshaping the financial landscape in several keyways. First, growing competition between traditional finance and crypto forces all players to innovate, improve their offerings, and provide more optimal and efficient services. This naturally leads to increased interoperability as TradFi integrates with crypto infrastructure and crypto-native companies expand, it creates a more interoperable and connected financial space, especially in areas like cross-border payments. The result is increased institutional adoption - the entry of traditional financial institutions and the consolidation of crypto businesses - indicating that digital assets are no longer a niche but are becoming an important part of mainstream financial infrastructure. This shift highlights the emerging dominance of stablecoins that are seen as the backbone for future global payments and settlement due to their speed, low cost, and stability.

Therefore, the latest developments across B2B and B2C crypto rails, PSPs, and card issuers confirm that digital assets are transitioning from innovation to essential infrastructure. Stablecoins now sit in the centre of this transformation, acting like a bridge between TradFi and crypto.

With partnerships, acquisitions, and institutional adoption accelerating, the lines between traditional payments and digital assets are blurring, paving the way for a more interoperable, efficient, and resilient global payments ecosystem.

About Mirela Ciobanu

Mirela Ciobanu is Lead Editor at The Paypers, bridging the knowledge gap between TradFi and DeFi. With a keen eye for industry trends, she is constantly on the lookout for the latest developments in crypto and blockchain. 

Closely in contact with subject matter experts in the digital assets space, Mirela amplifies your voice through compelling interviews, webinars, reports, and articles. She aims to deliver informative and educational insights that help create the Web 3 ecosystem. To share more ideas and get inspired, connect with Mirela on LinkedIn or reach out via email at mirelac@thepaypers.com.

 

About Paula Albu

 

Paula Albu has experience in content writing and editing, as well as being a creative storyteller. As a Junior Editor at The Paypers, she investigates Web3 technologies along with the latest trends and regulations in banking and fintech. Paula is committed to turning complex industry topics into engaging, accessible content that resonates with readers and creates a meaningful connection. She is available via LinkedIn or at paula@thepaypers.com.