The crypto-payments glossary

A model where funds move directly between wallets and the service never holds them or the private keys. Apa orchestrates payments but never takes custody.

The moment a payment is final and the asset has landed in the merchant's own wallet. A direct payment is final on confirmation; a routed payment settles when the route completes, occasionally longer when networks are busy. Either way it lands in the merchant's own wallet — there is no holding balance or payout delay — and on-chain settlement is irreversible once confirmed.

Infrastructure that moves value from one blockchain to another. Routed payments may use a bridge when the customer pays on a different network than the merchant receives on.

Converting a payment into the asset and network the merchant wants, by swapping, bridging, or both. Payments are routed whenever the paid asset or network does not exactly match the merchant payout wallet.

The fee paid to a blockchain's validators to process a transaction. Gas is set by network demand and is paid to the chain, never to Apa.

A crypto asset designed to track a stable value, usually the US dollar — for example USDC. Merchants often settle in a stablecoin to avoid price volatility.

The asset and network a customer chooses to pay with at checkout, such as ETH on Ethereum or SOL on Solana.

The asset and network a merchant has chosen to keep. If the customer pays that exact asset on that exact network, the payment is direct and free; otherwise it is routed.

An automated message Apa sends to your server when a payment changes state — created, pending, routing or paid — so your backend can react in real time.