Cowrie Research

asterpay

5 min read

AsterPay

  • Name: AELIRA LTD d/b/a AsterPay
  • URL: https://asterpay.io/
  • Category: agent-payments screening and EUR-settlement company / x402 facilitator operator / KYB-and-payout policy shell
  • Tags: ethereum-ecosystem
  • Summary: AsterPay clears the bar for a company note because the practical control surface is not an x402 sidecar exists. One named operator controls KYA trust scoring, sanctions screening, tier-based payment limits, merchant registration and KYB, the MPE merchant-resolution directory, optional dashboard/API-key workflow, x402/x402r facilitation policy, and the licensed-partner EUR payout shell. There is no especially useful neutral AsterPay protocol doing separate analytical work here; the live dependency is the company-run screening, gating, and settlement workflow around stronger lower-layer rails like x402, MPP, and ERC-8004.
  • What it does:
    • Operates a trust layer for AI-agent payments built around KYA scoring, ERC-8004 identity checks, and per-call sanctions / AML screening
    • Facilitates x402 and MPP payment flows for paid API endpoints, including verification, onchain settlement, and optional x402r-style escrow / refund routing
    • Runs a merchant discovery layer that resolves registered business identifiers or merchant IDs to the IBAN/BIC AsterPay has on file for payout
    • Packages EUR settlement through SEPA Instant and partner banking rails after merchant KYB, while marketing other rail expansion where available
    • Exposes a dashboard, sandbox API keys, KYB workflow, analytics surfaces, and a hosted MCP / SDK shell around the same operator-controlled payment stack
    • Provides the legal and policy perimeter for agent-payment screening, payout eligibility, Trust Score gating, and merchant onboarding through AELIRA LTD rather than through a neutral protocol body
  • Key claims:
    • The homepage says AsterPay is the trust, discovery and EUR-settlement layer for AI agent commerce, advertises free x402 verification and settlement, and identifies the operator in the footer as AELIRA LTD (HE 490977) in Cyprus
    • The docs say every payment passes through a five-layer framework — Verify, Screen, Score, Settle, Comply — built from KYA scoring, sanctions / AML screening, trust tiers, and EUR settlement via licensed European partners, which is unusually direct evidence that operator policy is the real product
    • The docs say live EUR settlement requires KYB and that dashboard accounts are optional for analytics or sandbox keys, confirming that the meaningful gating surface is merchant approval and payout enablement rather than API-key possession alone
    • The supported-capabilities endpoint says AsterPay itself is the named facilitator, advertises live EUR settlement via SEPA Instant for registered merchants, and publishes one signer address plus ERC-8004 agent metadata for the facilitation surface
    • The privacy policy says AELIRA LTD is the data controller, collects KYB / AML, Travel Rule, VoP, transaction, and KYA data, and shares data with licensed payment partners, screening providers, identity-verification providers, and cloud infrastructure, which makes the company boundary materially stronger than the protocol branding
    • The terms say AsterPay does not hold a CASP licence itself, operates as a technical service provider behind licensed European partners, assigns merchants to EU or US rails based on country of incorporation, and reserves the right to refuse, hold, escrow, reverse, or refund transactions based on Trust Score, sanctions screening, or risk monitoring
    • The llms.txt and SKILL.md materials further show that the same operator is trying to own the agent-facing discovery surface too: hosted MCP tools, merchant-resolution identifiers, first-call-free pricing policy, and machine-readable manifests all sit under one company-run shell
  • Whitepaper: No standalone company whitepaper is the point here. The strongest primary materials for this pass were the homepage, docs portal, supported-capabilities endpoint, privacy policy, terms, llms.txt, and SKILL.md, captured in ../whitepapers/asterpay-company-primary-sources-2026-08-12.md.
  • Sources:

Internal linkages

Protocol / company boundary

  • There is no especially useful standalone AsterPay protocol doing the analytical work here.
  • The stronger lower layers are external: x402 and MPP for paid-request transport, ERC-8004 for agent identity, and x402r for escrow / refund extensions.
  • This note is for the named operator that scores agents, screens counterparties, decides payout eligibility, registers merchants, assigns rails, exposes hosted discovery surfaces, and determines which agent-payment flows feel safe or production-ready by default.
  • That split matters because what does x402 do? and which company decides who can use the AsterPay trust / payout shell, on what terms, and with which risk limits? are related but not identical questions.

Control surface

  • Practical leverage sits in Trust Score construction, sanctions / AML screening, tier thresholds and transaction limits, merchant and operator KYB approval, dashboard and sandbox access, supported chain/asset coverage, payout-rail assignment, merchant-directory registration, and the choice to direct-settle, escrow, refund, or refuse a payment.

  • The marketed non-custodial posture is real in the narrow sense that AsterPay routes through onchain settlement and licensed partners, but it does not remove the company choke points around screening, routing eligibility, payout activation, and transaction-state interpretation.

  • Read AsterPay as a company-run trust-and-settlement control plane for agent commerce, not as a neutral payment rail.

  • Last reviewed: 2026-08-12 UTC

Graph View

Backlinks