wallet_pay standard. A unified protocol for initiating and processing blockchain-based payments.
What is wallet_pay
wallet_pay is the open standard that defines how wallets and payment applications communicate to initiate and process blockchain-based payments.
It provides a consistent way to describe payment requests: who is paying, what asset is being transferred, and under what conditions; regardless of wallet, blockchain, or application context.
At its core, wallet_pay enables interoperable, wallet-native payments across the entire WalletConnect ecosystem and beyond.
Why a Standard Matters
Payment interactions between wallets and merchants have often been fragmented, each relying on custom APIs, message formats, or user flows. This lack of alignment makes it difficult for wallets, service providers, and merchants to work together at scale.wallet_pay introduces a shared language for payments, allowing:
- Wallets to interpret any standardized payment request without bespoke integration.
- Merchants and service providers to issue payment requests compatible with any wallet that supports the standard.
- Ecosystem scalability for new payment contexts (online checkout, recurring payments, point-of-sale, etc.) can all use the same foundation.
wallet_pay abstracts how payment information is exchanged, so innovation can focus on what experiences are built on top.
Who Should Use wallet_pay
| Stakeholder | How They Benefit |
|---|---|
| Wallet developers | Implement a unified payments interface that works across merchants and ecosystems. |
| Payment Service Providers (PSPs) | Use the standard as a bridge between wallets, merchants, and on-chain settlement logic. |
| Merchants & Platforms | Integrate once and accept payments from any wallet_pay-compatible wallet. |
| Consumer Apps for Payments (POS, web checkout, invoices, subscriptions) | Build new payment experiences using a common protocol. |
While CAIP-358 primarily defines wallet-to-merchant interaction, it is extensible to PSPs that relay or implement those interactions.
Role in the WalletConnect Payments Ecosystem
Within WalletConnect,wallet_pay serves as the foundational protocol that powers all payment-related features.
Every SDK or product, such as the POS SDK, implements or extends wallet_pay to handle request creation, signing, and transaction tracking in a consistent way.
This means that any wallet or merchant integrating wallet_pay is automatically compatible with the full WalletConnect Payments ecosystem, present and future.
Specification Reference
Thewallet_pay standard is defined in CAIP-358: Universal Payment Request Method. It specifies how payment requests are structured and exchanged between merchants and wallets. Lifecycle management and status tracking (e.g., pending, confirmed, failed) are implementation details defined by WalletConnect’s POS SDK.