Payment Gateway
Quick Answer
A payment gateway facilitates the transfer of payment information between customer, merchant, and processor. Crypto payment gateways replace traditional card networks with faster, cheaper blockchain rails.
Full Definition
A payment gateway is the technology that facilitates the transfer of payment information between a customer, merchant, and payment processor. In crypto, a payment gateway connects customer wallets to merchant systems, handles currency conversion, monitors blockchain confirmations, and triggers settlement. A crypto payment gateway replaces the traditional card network stack (Visa/Mastercard, acquiring bank, issuing bank) with blockchain-based rails that are faster, cheaper, and globally accessible. SpacePay is a leading crypto payment gateway.
Related Terms
Payment Channel
A payment channel allows multiple off-chain transactions between two parties, with only opening and closing settled on-chain — enabling micro-payments at near-zero cost.
Peer-to-Peer (P2P)
Peer-to-peer means direct interaction between parties without an intermediary. Blockchain payments flow directly from sender to receiver without a bank in the middle.
Private Key
A private key is a cryptographic secret giving full control over a blockchain address. Anyone with the private key can move all funds — losing it means permanent loss of access.
Proof of Stake (PoS)
Proof of Stake is a consensus mechanism where validators stake crypto as collateral, offering faster blocks and lower fees than Proof of Work — critical for payment processing.
Proof of Work (PoW)
Proof of Work is a consensus mechanism where miners solve computational puzzles to validate transactions. Used by Bitcoin, it is secure but slow (10-minute blocks).
Public Key
A public key is the cryptographic counterpart to a private key, used to derive wallet addresses and verify transaction signatures. It can be shared openly.