TheGamblest recently had the chance to talk with Siddharth Menon, the founder of PayRam a self-hosted stablecoin payments company.
Siddharth will go tell the story of establishing the PayRam, what issues is it solving, how to strike a balance between financial transparency, compliance, and the principle of censorship resistance and will share how decentralized technologies are integrated into PayRam’s ecosystem.
TheGamblest: Siddharth, could you start by sharing what inspired you to establish PayRam and how your background led you to tackle the challenges in digital payments? What was the initial problem in the iGaming payment landscape that PayRam set out to solve?
Siddharth: My work in payments and financial infrastructure has always been tied to the idea of freedom of access, particularly in systems that operate at scale.
I previously built WazirX, which helped make crypto trading accessible to millions of users in India. What stood out to me during that journey was how quickly participation grows once financial systems become open, neutral, and permissionless. When users are not constrained by geography, banking access, or institutional bias, entire markets begin to unlock.
That experience carried forward when I later built Tegro DEX, where we explored high-frequency trading directly onchain. It reinforced a simple idea: the future of the internet economy is built on permissionless systems where value moves as freely as information.
When I looked at the digital payments landscape, it was clear that this philosophy was largely missing.
Most businesses today rent their payment infrastructure from centralized providers. They operate at the mercy of upstream banks, compliance intermediaries, and policy changes they have no control over. Whether you are running an ecommerce platform, a SaaS business, or an online gaming operation, the underlying problem is the same. You do not own your payment stack, and that dependency creates fragility.
PayRam was founded to change that. The core vision is payment sovereignty, giving businesses the ability to self-host their entire crypto payment infrastructure, use their own databases, and process stablecoin transactions without relying on third-party custodians or centralized payment gateways. It is about building payments the way the internet was meant to work: open, permissionless, and owned by the people who use it.
Stablecoins are the enabling layer for this vision. They combine the stability businesses need with the openness of blockchain rails. Yet most crypto payment solutions are still built on centralized models, even when they support digital assets. We wanted to build something fundamentally different.
iGaming happens to be one of the industries where this philosophy delivers immediate and tangible value. The iGaming payment landscape is notoriously challenging. Operators constantly struggle with payment reliability, high-risk merchant account limitations, and the friction imposed by traditional payment gateways. They cycle through payment service providers, deal with account freezes, face delayed settlements, and live with the ongoing risk of losing access through no fault of their own.
PayRam provides a unique payments solution for iGaming operators who want full control over their payment stack. It is self-hosted infrastructure that removes dependency on centralized iGaming payment processors. Stablecoin payments for online gambling and betting platforms become seamless, while operators retain full control over their payment flow.
The same logic applies to any high-risk merchant or regulated industry that wants to stop renting financial rails and start owning them. PayRam is not an iGaming-specific solution. It is permissionless payment infrastructure that happens to solve some of the most persistent challenges in iGaming payments.
TheGamblest: What makes Payram different from other payment processors that serve the iGaming sector?
Siddharth: The core difference is ownership and the freedoms that ownership makes possible.
Most crypto payment processors and iGaming payment gateways require operators to outsource control of their payment stack. Funds move through intermediaries, policies are dictated upstream, and businesses remain exposed to decisions they have no ability to influence. Even solutions that support stablecoins typically operate as centralized platforms, where someone else holds the keys and has full visibility into how your business operates.
PayRam takes a fundamentally different approach. It is the world’s first self-hosted stablecoin payment gateway. Operators deploy it on their own servers, use their own wallets, and retain full custody of their funds at all times. It is similar to self-custody wallets, but applied to the entire payment infrastructure. For operators who value privacy, or who operate in jurisdictions where discretion matters, PayRam offers real autonomy. Your data stays with you. Your addresses are yours. Your rules define how the system runs.
This architecture also makes PayRam a permanent solution. Because it is fully permissionless, there is no central authority that can shut it down or revoke access. That stability is a key reason merchants across Europe, Asia, Latin America, and other regions have adopted PayRam. Many tell us it is the first time they feel genuinely secure in their payment setup.
PayRam also extends beyond basic payment rails. Operators wanted a single system where they could accept payments, process payouts, and run growth campaigns without relying on multiple disconnected tools. We built all three directly into PayRam, including native referral tracking and campaign management with automated payouts, all accessible from a single dashboard.
PayRam is modern payment infrastructure built for resilience, privacy, and true control, designed for operators who choose to own their financial rails instead of renting them.
TheGamblest: The term “censorship-proof payments” is powerful, how do you personally define it in the context of iGaming and fintech?
Siddharth: When I talk about censorship-proof payments, I am not referring to the absence of responsibility. I am referring to the absence of arbitrary control.
In iGaming, operators do not deal only with regulation. They are also subject to the internal policies of payment service providers, which often end up dictating content, market access, and even business continuity. These policies can change without notice, sometimes overnight.
That is a subtle but very real form of censorship.
Censorship-proof payments mean operators are no longer forced to navigate friction at every layer between themselves and their customers. There are no intermediaries holding funds, no upstream dependencies that can freeze accounts, and no third parties that can interrupt transactions without warning.
From a merchant’s perspective, this fundamentally improves ease of doing business. Time that would otherwise be spent managing PSP relationships, handling disputes, or planning contingencies can instead be invested in product development, player experience, and sustainable growth.
There is also a broader principle at play. The internet has consistently evolved toward openness and equal participation. Financial infrastructure should move in the same direction. Financial liberalization and permissionless systems enable innovation, particularly in global industries like iGaming.
Censorship resistance is ultimately about restoring balance. Infrastructure should serve the business, not govern it.
TheGamblest: Many traditional payment providers restrict iGaming transactions. What innovations has PayRam introduced to ensure uninterrupted transactions for gaming operators and players?
Siddharth: The question itself reveals the underlying problem. When operators ask how to ensure uninterrupted transactions, they are effectively asking how to escape a system that is designed to interrupt them.
PayRam was not built as a workaround. It was designed as a permanent, permissionless solution. Because operators self-host their infrastructure and use their own wallets, there is no upstream provider with the ability to restrict, pause, or terminate service. The same sovereignty that gives PayRam its privacy also makes it resilient.
The setup process reflects this philosophy. There are no approval queues, no paperwork, no KYB delays, and no dependency on banking relationships. Operators deploy their entire crypto payment stack by running a few lines of code, and most are live in under ten minutes. This is why operators across multiple continents have moved to PayRam after exhausting traditional iGaming payment processors.
At the infrastructure level, PayRam runs on decentralized blockchain rails. Stablecoin payments operate continuously, 365 days a year, without banking hours or settlement cycles. There are no delayed settlements. Players deposit directly into wallets controlled by the operator, with instant finality.
We have also focused on reducing friction for end users. PayRam supports on-ramp functionality, enabling card-to-crypto payments where funds land directly in merchant wallets. Players experience a smooth deposit flow, while operators gain immediate access to their funds.
From a technical standpoint, PayRam is built with developers in mind. Its APIs allow full automation of deposits, withdrawals, referral payouts, and internal workflows, removing the need for manual intervention.
Security and privacy remain foundational. No hot keys or seed phrases are stored on servers. Customer data never leaves the operator’s environment. For operators who require discretion, their payment infrastructure remains entirely under their control
TheGamblest: How do you strike a balance between financial transparency, compliance, and the principle of censorship resistance?
Siddharth: The easiest way to understand PayRam is to view it as infrastructure, similar to how WordPress operates on the internet.
WordPress provides the technology to build and run websites, but it does not dictate what content is published or how a business is run. Responsibility rests with the site owner, who operates according to their own jurisdiction and legal obligations. PayRam follows the same philosophy for payments.
We provide neutral and reliable payment infrastructure. Operators self-host the system, retain full control, and assume responsibility for their own regulatory compliance. This is not about avoiding rules. It is about giving operators the flexibility to implement compliance frameworks that align with their specific jurisdiction and business model, rather than being forced into a payment service provider’s internal policies that may have little connection to actual regulation.
This is the opportunity created by self-hosted infrastructure. Instead of inheriting restrictions shaped by someone else’s risk appetite, operators can structure compliance in a way that is appropriate for their business. That may involve integrating KYC providers, implementing transaction monitoring, or working closely with local legal counsel. PayRam provides the infrastructure. Operators decide how to operate within the laws that apply to them.
Privacy supports this model rather than conflicting with it. Funds remain self-custodied, and customer data stays on the operator’s servers. There is no centralized platform aggregating transaction data across merchants or monetizing behavioural information. Operators maintain data sovereignty, which strengthens their ability to manage compliance on their own terms.
At the same time, transparency is inherent to the technology itself. Blockchain-based systems provide verifiable and auditable transaction records by design. This transparency exists at the protocol level, without requiring operators to surrender control to intermediaries who may selectively enforce rules or restrict access based on internal policies.
In practice, this creates a clear separation of responsibilities. Regulators define the rules. Operators implement compliance according to their jurisdiction. Infrastructure providers like PayRam ensure the technology remains neutral, reliable, and accessible.
That separation matters. Financial infrastructure should empower legitimate businesses to operate freely and responsibly, not act as an unaccountable gatekeeper making compliance decisions on their behalf.
TheGamblest: Could you share how blockchain or decentralized technologies are integrated into PayRam’s ecosystem?
Siddharth: PayRam is built blockchain-native from the ground up. It is not a wrapper around traditional payment logic, but decentralized finance infrastructure with payments as its first application.
At the core is a family of proprietary smart contracts that handle fund management in a way most payment processors do not. Each customer is assigned a unique deposit wallet, and unlike traditional PSPs, operators can generate unlimited deposit addresses. This is a first in the industry. It significantly simplifies accounting, reconciliation, and dispute resolution, while giving operators granular visibility into every transaction.
The architecture governing fund movement is where PayRam truly differentiates itself from existing crypto payment gateways. The system performs automated bulk sweeps from deposit addresses to operator-controlled cold wallets. The key distinction is that PayRam does not store hot keys or seed phrases for deposit-related operations. The infrastructure is entirely keyless. Sweeps are executed through PayRam’s core smart contract layer, removing the security risks associated with conventional key management.
This keyless, self-custody architecture is not an add-on feature. It is the foundation of the platform. PayRam was designed as a full blockchain services platform, with payments implemented as a modular application on top. The same core infrastructure, including self-custody, keyless sweeps, and smart contract orchestration, can support future applications beyond payments. We are building a platform, not a single-purpose product.
From a multi-chain perspective, PayRam functions as a chain orchestrator. It currently supports Ethereum, Base, Polygon, Tron, and Bitcoin, with Solana and TON planned next. Operators can accept, manage, and settle stablecoin payments across multiple chains through a unified dashboard. Adding new chains or tokens does not require rearchitecting the system, as the design is modular by default.
Blockchain is used where it delivers clear value. That includes continuous availability, transparent and auditable transactions, removal of intermediaries, and true self-custody. There is no unnecessary complexity, only infrastructure designed to work reliably at scale.
TheGamblest: What are the key cybersecurity challenges when building such a resilient payment infrastructure, and how does PayRam address them?
Siddharth: From an engineering standpoint, this has been one of the most difficult problems we have worked on, and it also explains why established crypto payment processors have not attempted to build what we have.
Designing a self-hosted, non-custodial payment gateway requires compressing the infrastructure complexity of systems like Stripe or PayPal into something that can run reliably on as little as 4 GB of RAM and 4 CPU cores. Achieving that level of efficiency without compromising security is not trivial, but it is essential for true payment sovereignty.
The largest cybersecurity challenge in crypto payments is key management. In most security breaches, private keys are the weakest link. Our approach was to remove that attack surface entirely.
PayRam’s architecture is keyless for deposit-related operations. No hot keys or seed phrases are stored on the server. Fund sweeps are executed through PayRam’s core smart contract infrastructure rather than exposed private keys. Even if a server were compromised, there would be no keys to steal. This represents a fundamental departure from how most crypto payment gateways operate, and it is why security-focused operators move to PayRam after evaluating alternatives.
Reliability in a self-hosted environment is equally important. The system must remain lightweight and predictable. Operators should not need a large DevOps team to run enterprise-grade payment infrastructure securely. Many PayRam users manage the system alongside their existing stack without dedicated payment engineers.
Security also involves limiting data exposure. Customer data remains on the operator’s servers, and there is no centralized honeypot aggregating merchant data across the platform.
With PayRam, cybersecurity is achieved through architecture rather than reactive controls. By eliminating key storage, using smart contracts for fund movement, and keeping data local, the system is resilient by design.
TheGamblest: And for the last question, how do you see the payment ecosystem evolving for the iGaming industry in the next 3–5 years?
Siddharth: The next phase of iGaming growth will be driven by permissionless commerce, and the operators who embrace it early will help define the industry’s future.
The iGaming industry has already demonstrated global demand, but payments remain a structural constraint. Many regions are underserved not due to a lack of players or operators, but because traditional payment infrastructure does not scale across borders, risk profiles, or fragmented regulatory environments. For iGaming to reach its full potential, payments must become open, resilient, and independent of centralized gatekeepers.
This shift is already underway. A growing number of iGaming operators are adopting self-hosted stablecoin payment processors to address persistent issues such as account freezes, settlement delays, dependence on PSPs, and concerns around data sovereignty. As the industry matures, operators will increasingly prioritize payment autonomy and reliability over the perceived convenience of centralized providers.
However, this is only the beginning of a deeper transformation.
Payments will evolve beyond basic deposits and withdrawals. They will become programmable, composable, and automated. At PayRam, we are actively building toward this future by exploring emerging protocols such as x402 and ERC-8004, which are designed for agentic commerce. These systems allow autonomous agents to initiate, authorize, and settle transactions without continuous human involvement.
In an iGaming context, this enables entirely new categories of interaction. Agent-driven betting, automated trading strategies, and AI-led market participation will become increasingly relevant. Platforms that blend trading, betting, and forecasting have already shown that users are comfortable with these hybrid experiences. The convergence of crypto payments, autonomous agents, and onchain prediction markets will fundamentally reshape what iGaming looks like.
Over the next three to five years, permissionless payment rails, Web3 infrastructure, and programmable money will become standard for forward-looking operators. Those who adopt self-custody and blockchain-native payment systems today will be best positioned to experiment, scale globally, and adapt as the industry evolves.
For PayRam, the mission is clear. We are building payment infrastructure for what comes next, without locking operators into the limitations of today. We are not only addressing current challenges. We are shaping how value moves in the internet economy.
For operators ready to own their payment stack, the future is already here. Deploy PayRam in under ten minutes and experience what permissionless payment infrastructure feels like. This is the future of iGaming payments, and we are building it together.
