Inside the Rise of Apps That Let You Pay with Crypto, Even Where Merchants Don’t Accept It

A small group of startups is quietly showing that crypto can be spent at regular stores without forcing merchants to change their point-of-sale systems or learn complicated new procedures.

They work through a pay-on-behalf system, where shoppers scan the merchant’s usual bank QR code, send crypto into an app or escrow wallet, and a local partner pays the merchant in fiat.

The crypto goes to the local partner after the merchant gets paid, so the app or escrow wallet holds the funds until the payment is settled, acting like a temporary promise to pay.

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