Payzum Blog

Crypto Payments Blog

Non-custodial, crypto-only payments — explained for the operators and developers who actually run the money. Pain, mechanics, and how Payzum solves it.

Non-custodial

Are there non-custodial BitPay alternatives? 5 options compared for 2026

BitPay is custodial even when it settles in crypto: it credits each payment to your BitPay ledger and forwards it in a daily batch, with minimums. Five non-custodial BitPay alternatives compared on where the money lands, published fees, coins and networks and what you have to run: Payzum, BTCPay Server, Blockonomics, Solana Pay and a plain wallet address. Plus when staying with BitPay is the right call, a Payzum vs BitPay table and a step-by-step migration with the webhook and status changes mapped.

24 min read
x402 / Agentic

What AI agents buy: Chainalysis' x402 data maps the demand — inference in the US, code checks in China, a cent a call, and wallets refilled like subscriptions

On October 14, 2026, Chainalysis published the first demand map for agentic commerce: more than 138 million x402 payments on Base, 87% of them under ten cents, sorted into what agents actually buy — model inference, data and search APIs, code and security checks, financial intelligence and agent tooling. US wallets made 88.1% of inference payments; China-linked wallets 0.1%, and 90% of code-analysis payments. Wallets now spend 18 minutes after funding and 89% get refilled. What it means if you sell an API, what the report leaves out, and a six-step seller playbook.

17 min read
Non-custodial

What are the best Coinbase Commerce alternatives for merchants in 2026?

Eight Coinbase Commerce alternatives compared on custody, coins, networks and who can sign up: Payzum, BTCPay Server, NOWPayments, Coinbase Business, Shopify Payments USDC, BitPay, CoinGate and Stripe's stablecoin payments. What Commerce merchants lost on 31 March 2026 (self-custody, hundreds of assets, sign-up from anywhere), how to get funds out of an old Commerce wallet, and a step-by-step migration with the webhook and status changes mapped.

24 min read
Non-custodial

Stablecoin payment privacy: Tempo Zones now hide payroll and treasury — a merchant's sales on a public chain are still an open book

On October 14, 2026, Tempo made Zones generally available: private stablecoin accounts for payroll, contractor payouts, B2B payments and treasury, with Deel first in production. Tempo's own write-up names the leak merchants live with — every settlement shows your volume. Here's what a stranger can read from your receiving wallet, why privacy reached payroll before the checkout, and what to change today.

15 min read
Non-custodial

What are the best NOWPayments alternatives in 2026?

Six NOWPayments alternatives compared on custody, where the money lands, stablecoins and in-person sales: Payzum, BTCPay Server, CoinPayments, BitPay, CoinGate and Stripe's stablecoin payments. Why new NOWPayments accounts start in Custody since May 2026, a head-to-head Payzum vs NOWPayments table, and a step-by-step migration that keeps your IPN handler: same x-nowpayments-sig header, five statuses to map.

21 min read
Regulation & Analysis

Non-MiCA stablecoins: ESMA now tells EU crypto firms to stop transfers and custody too — what a merchant paid in USDT should change before January 8, 2027

On October 8, 2026, ESMA told every MiCA-licensed crypto firm to stop serving EU clients in non-MiCA stablecoins — including the transfers and custody it had left open in January 2025 — and to clear legacy holdings within three months. Self-custody still keeps the tokens yours. It no longer keeps a licensed EU exit open, so the merchant question moves from where you hold to what you settle in.

16 min read
Cross-Border

What are the best crypto payment gateways for merchants in Latin America?

Eight options compared through a Latin American lens: Payzum, Binance Pay, Bitso Business, BitPay, Stripe stablecoin payments, NOWPayments, CoinPayments and BTCPay Server, plus one that doesn't serve businesses in the region (Coinbase Business). Which company qualifies in which country, who settles in pesos or reais and who leaves stablecoins in your wallet, the context in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela with Chainalysis figures and dated rules, a side-by-side table and which gateway fits which merchant.

21 min read
Non-custodial

Ledger CryptoBilis hack: an implant read recovery phrases off the screen and still passed Genuine Check — how a business that gets paid into its own wallet should hold crypto

On October 9, 2026, roughly $100 million was drained from hundreds of wallets set up on Ledger devices sold by CryptoBilis, an authorized reseller in Southeast Asia. Ledger confirmed an unauthorized hardware implant the next day, and its own documentation says Genuine Check can't detect one. The attacker waited months for balances to grow. The lesson for businesses: self-custody fails at the device and the seed, so design for one compromised device: buy direct, keep receiving wallets small, put treasury behind multisig.

17 min read
x402 / Agentic

Machine-to-machine payments have a price floor: Coinbase Institute's October 7 paper puts the card's at $1.19, and every API seller should know their own

On October 7, 2026 the Coinbase Institute published 'Machine-to-machine payments in the AiFi era', with a table of the smallest payment each rail can carry while keeping fees at or below 5%: about $1.19 on the cheapest card pricing, $0.90 on FedNow, $0.002–$0.02 for stablecoins on a low-cost network. The analysis: read it as a price floor, not a fee comparison. Your floor is the rail plus your processor, disputes and underwriting add two more, and the billing unit you sell to agents has to clear all of them.

16 min read