Major Protocols and Networks

Conflux Network – Layer 1 PayFi architecture

Conflux is one of the earliest blockchain networks to formally define and promote the concept of a PayFi stack. As a high-throughput Layer 1 blockchain, it offers a scalable infrastructure suitable for supporting real-time, programmable payments. Conflux’s architecture allows for faster transaction finality and lower gas fees, both critical for micropayments and continuous financial flows. Its PayFi framework includes components for tokenized receivables, stablecoin support, cross-chain settlement, and real-world asset integration.

Conflux also emphasizes regulatory alignment, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, where it has established partnerships with government-linked entities. This positions the network as a viable base layer for compliant PayFi applications across consumer, enterprise, and public-sector use cases.

Bitget Wallet – Retail PayFi gateway

Bitget Wallet focuses on providing PayFi features to individual users through a consumer-friendly interface. The wallet allows users to manage digital assets, earn yield, and make payments all within a unified platform. It supports stablecoins, layer-2 integrations, and automated payment scheduling. Its roadmap includes features such as streaming salaries, yield-backed subscriptions, and AI-driven financial management tools.

By abstracting away the complexity of Web3 interactions, Bitget Wallet aims to make PayFi usable for non-technical users. This aligns with the broader goal of expanding financial inclusion and lowering the barriers to adoption for digital payment systems.

Huma Finance – Credit-based payments

Huma Finance introduces decentralized credit infrastructure tailored for payment flows. It offers smart contracts that issue working capital, salaries, and advance payments based on on-chain credit assessments. By tokenizing invoices and income streams, Huma enables users to unlock capital without relying on centralized lenders or collateral-heavy borrowing.

Its protocol is composable, meaning it can be integrated into other PayFi applications, including payroll systems, invoice marketplaces, and digital platforms that serve small businesses or freelancers. Huma’s credit scoring model uses transparent, verifiable metrics drawn from wallet activity and past protocol usage.

Ondo Finance – Tokenized yield integrations

Ondo Finance is known for bridging real-world assets—such as tokenized bonds and treasuries—into DeFi ecosystems. In the PayFi context, these assets can serve as yield sources that fund payments. A user could, for instance, allocate $1,000 to a tokenized Treasury product and direct the generated yield to cover monthly subscription fees or utility bills.

Ondo’s infrastructure is particularly relevant to PayFi models like “Buy Now, Pay Never,” where payments are made from yield rather than capital. By integrating compliant and regulated financial products into DeFi protocols, Ondo helps anchor PayFi in real-world value and legal frameworks.

Maple Finance – Lending as a backend for PayFi

Maple Finance is a decentralized corporate credit marketplace that provides undercollateralized loans to institutions. While primarily a lending protocol, its infrastructure supports enterprise-level payment automation. For example, loan disbursements and repayments can be structured as streaming contracts, with interest payments flowing automatically to liquidity providers.

In a PayFi context, Maple can power working capital solutions for DAOs, protocol contributors, or service providers who receive funding in advance and repay through future cash flows. Its model demonstrates how institutional finance mechanisms can be applied to programmable payment workflows.

Stellar – Real-world cross-border PayFi

Stellar is a mature blockchain network optimized for cross-border payments and remittances. It supports multi-currency transactions, anchors for fiat on/off ramps, and high transaction speeds. Stellar’s ecosystem is designed for integration with financial institutions, making it well-suited for use cases like international payroll, merchant settlements, and NGO disbursements.

Its infrastructure is aligned with many PayFi principles: low-cost transactions, asset tokenization, and programmable payment rails. Stellar’s partnerships with fintech companies and development agencies position it as a reliable platform for deploying PayFi applications in emerging markets.

Wallets, SDKs & Dev Tools

In the PayFi ecosystem, wallets serve as the primary interface through which users initiate, manage, and receive payments. Unlike traditional wallets that simply hold tokens, PayFi-enabled wallets support real-time financial flows, credit integration, and automated payment execution. These wallets often include built-in support for streaming protocols, recurring payments, and tokenized receivable tracking.

By integrating smart contract functionality directly into the user interface, wallets allow consumers and businesses to interact with complex financial instruments in a simplified environment. This makes PayFi accessible to non-technical users and helps bridge the gap between DeFi capabilities and consumer usability.

Some wallets also include multi-chain support and embedded exchange features, allowing users to switch assets, settle obligations, and pay vendors within a single platform. The focus is on minimizing steps while maximizing control, transparency, and cost-efficiency.

Developer SDKs for Embedded PayFi Functions
Software Development Kits (SDKs) play a critical role in enabling application developers to incorporate PayFi functions without needing to understand blockchain infrastructure in depth. These SDKs abstract smart contract interactions and provide tools for issuing invoices, triggering payment streams, integrating KYC modules, and connecting to liquidity protocols.

By offering prebuilt functions and API endpoints, SDKs reduce the time required to bring PayFi-based services to market. Developers can embed programmable payments into existing applications—such as marketplaces, platforms, or mobile apps—without building entire blockchain systems from scratch.

This accelerates adoption, especially among fintech companies that want to access decentralized financial tools but lack internal Web3 expertise.

PayFi Plugins and Protocol Extensions
Many PayFi solutions offer modular plugins or extensions that work with existing DeFi protocols, DAO frameworks, or NFT marketplaces. These plugins can be added to platforms to automate contributor payments, distribute royalties, manage recurring donations, or settle asset purchases in real time.

For example, a DAO can use a PayFi plugin to automatically pay core contributors based on participation metrics, with funds streamed via smart contract logic. NFT marketplaces can integrate PayFi to instantly split payments among creators, curators, and platforms, removing the need for intermediaries or manual payouts.

These modular tools enhance composability and allow PayFi systems to evolve without requiring monolithic deployments.

Supporting Infrastructure and APIs
In addition to wallets and SDKs, PayFi ecosystems depend on supporting APIs that connect front-end interfaces to blockchain networks. These include identity verification services, on-chain credit scoring APIs, oracle feeds, and off-ramp integrations. Together, they ensure that real-world data can trigger payment events securely and accurately.

APIs also play a role in compliance, allowing developers to implement geo-restrictions, AML/KYC logic, and transaction monitoring. This helps projects stay within regulatory guidelines while maintaining decentralization and user control.

PayFi’s growing library of open APIs and dev tools reflects its ambition to become not just a financial product, but a programmable financial layer that any developer can tap into.

Composable Ecosystem

Interoperability as a Core Principle
One of the defining features of PayFi is its composability—the ability for different protocols, tools, and financial logic to interoperate within a shared environment. Unlike traditional financial systems, which are siloed by geography, regulation, and proprietary infrastructure, PayFi is built on open-source smart contracts and interoperable standards. This allows payment workflows to be embedded into a wide variety of decentralized applications without duplication or incompatibility.

Developers can combine PayFi primitives such as streaming payments, tokenized invoices, or yield-backed lending with modules from other DeFi protocols like decentralized exchanges, lending platforms, insurance services, or identity registries. This modularity enables the creation of new financial products that are greater than the sum of their parts.

Integrating with DAOs, DeFi, and NFT Platforms
PayFi integrates seamlessly with DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations), where community contributors are often paid based on governance-approved milestones or participation metrics. Payment streams can be automatically linked to voting outcomes, governance scores, or contributor reputation, allowing DAOs to operate more efficiently without manual treasury management.

In DeFi, PayFi extends the utility of existing protocols by adding real-time payment capabilities. A lending platform can offer yield distributions via streaming instead of bulk payouts. A staking protocol can enable dynamic payments based on validator performance. These enhancements improve user experience and create new incentive structures.

In NFT ecosystems, PayFi enables automatic royalty distribution and revenue sharing. Creators, collaborators, and curators can all be paid simultaneously and in real time when an NFT is sold or licensed. Smart contracts eliminate the need for centralized platforms to manage revenue splits, ensuring fairness and transparency.

Bridging Web3 with Web2 Systems
Although PayFi is native to blockchain environments, many implementations include bridging layers to Web2 platforms. These connections make it possible to embed PayFi logic into traditional software tools, including accounting platforms, ERP systems, e-commerce apps, and payroll software. Through API integrations and SDKs, legacy systems can access decentralized payment infrastructure without needing to operate directly on-chain.

This bridging functionality is essential for businesses transitioning from Web2 to Web3. It allows them to experiment with programmable finance while maintaining continuity with their existing workflows and regulatory obligations.

Unlocking Network Effects and Ecosystem Growth
Composable PayFi infrastructure encourages ecosystem-level growth. When one protocol builds a reusable payment module, other projects can adopt it, extend it, or integrate with it. This creates positive feedback loops where innovation spreads horizontally across the ecosystem. A successful payment stream contract used in payroll can also be adapted for royalty payments, grant disbursement, or subscription models.

These network effects lower development costs and improve product quality across the ecosystem. As more projects adopt shared standards and tools, interoperability becomes easier, attracting more users and developers into the PayFi environment.