Reown Payments Summit: What We Learned, What Comes Next

Last week, Reown brought together some of the most forward-thinking minds in payments for our inaugural Payments Summit. Across one packed day of working sessions, leaders from Revolut, Trust Wallet, Binance Pay, Alchemy Pay, and more joined us to reimagine what onchain payments can, and should look like.

Our focus: clear pain points, honest collaboration, and tangible outcomes. And at the center of it all was AppKit, the Reown-powered gateway to easy, secure crypto payments.

Aligning on Reality: What’s Broken and What Needs Building

In breakout groups, we mapped out friction across five key areas:

E-commerce checkout and Point-of-Sale
Pay with Exchange
Subscriptions and recurring payments
KYC and portable identity
Stablecoin merchant adoption

Across the board, the takeaway was clear: crypto UX still lags behind what consumers expect. If onchain payments are going to scale, they need to meet the moment, especially at checkout.

Reown’s latest report, The State of Onchain UX, revealed something that builders have long suspected:

72% of crypto users store funds on exchanges like Binance or Coinbase
But only 12% said they enjoy making crypto payments
64% would pay more often if they didn’t have to move funds first
Nearly half have abandoned a payment because the process was too complex

Checkout needs to feel familiar

Users want the Apple Pay of crypto: fast, flexible, and reliable. Today, network toggles, gas estimates, and address copy-pasting still get in the way. We heard it loud and clear: UX should not be the barrier.

Physical PoS must match the tap experience

For merchants using NFC, speed is non-negotiable. AppKit’s roadmap includes hardware-friendly tools and hybrid models like wallet-linked cards to bring crypto into real-world retail.

Self-custody can’t succeed without better flows

Right now, custodial wallets dominate thanks to smoother onboarding and better fiat ramps. But there’s an appetite for more control, if the experience improves. We’re building for that.

Recurring payments need a new model

In regions where cards aren’t reliable, crypto subscriptions should be an obvious win. But the current solutions—email-based prompts or irreversible token allowances- aren’t working. A better standard is overdue.

Stablecoins are gaining merchant trust

From small merchants to global players, stablecoin adoption is rising. What’s missing is user visibility: merchants benefit from faster settlement and lower costs, but those benefits rarely make it to the checkout screen. That’s where AppKit comes in.

What’s Reown Launched

AppKit already powers rich onchain payment flows with speed, safety, and simplicity built in.

Pay with Exchange:

Introducing Pay with Exchange, a new feature in AppKit that lets users pay directly from their Binance or Coinbase accounts, with no app-switching and no credential sharing.

Instead of forcing users to withdraw, switch tabs, or wait for fund transfers, Pay with Exchange embeds the exchange payment flow directly into your app. That means fewer drop-offs and smoother conversions, all while keeping the experience secure and native.

Wallet Checkout:

Let users pay in one click, without switching networks, copying addresses, or second-guessing the flow.

Wallet Checkout is Reown’s standard for easy, secure payments from self-custodial wallets. It strips away the friction that slows down onchain checkout today: no popups, no token approval confusion, and no unnecessary redirects. Just a clean, fast payment experience that works across chains and devices.

For businesses, Wallet Checkout means fewer abandoned carts and better conversion. For users, it means a flow that feels as simple as Apple Pay with full control and zero compromise on ownership.

Built on WalletConnect’s trusted infrastructure, Wallet Checkout makes crypto payments feel familiar, not foreign.

Subscriptions:

A better way to handle recurring crypto payments, coming soon!

AppKit is building the first subscription flow that actually works for onchain businesses and users. No token allowances. No complex smart contract setup. Just a simple, secure way to support repeat payments for memberships, services, or digital goods.

Users can opt in with one click and stay in control of what gets charged and when. Businesses get a seamless, reliable revenue stream, without relying on custodians or patchwork tooling.

Whether you're running a content platform, SaaS product, or community membership, AppKit will make recurring crypto payments feel native, not bolted on.

What AppKit Can Do for Your Business

AppKit isn’t just a payments SDK. It’s the best tool for delivering real value at checkout, without adding complexity for your team or your users.

Here’s how AppKit creates growth, conversion, and scale:

1. Cut checkout friction

AppKit replaces clunky flows with a single, fast payment experience. Whether your users are paying from a wallet or a major exchange like Coinbase or Binance, the steps are minimal and the logic is built in. No redirects. No lost conversions.

2. Reach more users, on more chains

With AppKit, your app works across wallets, networks, and devices, automatically. Support EVM chains, Solana, and even Bitcoin from day one. Wherever your users go, AppKit follows.

3. Move faster with built-in standards

Forget building from scratch. AppKit includes ready-made flows for one-click checkout, Pay with Exchange, and (soon) subscriptions. You can drop them in, customize the UI, and launch in days, not weeks.

4. Track what works, fix what doesn’t

AppKit’s analytics engine gives you insight into every stage of the user journey. See which wallets convert best. Spot drop-off in real time. Then optimize with data, not guesswork.

5. Build with confidence

AppKit is battle-tested across thousands of apps and millions of users. It’s built on the WalletConnect Network and backed by rigorous security standards. That means fewer unknowns and more stability at scale.

Building Together

The real success of the Summit wasn’t just shared alignment, it was shared ambition. Every leader in the room is shaping what the next generation of payments looks like. And with AppKit, we’re giving them the tools to do it.

If you're building in this space, now's the time to get involved.

Reach out through the Reown Dashboard to test early versions, explore integrations, or co-design the next wave of payment standards.