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What are Payouts?

A Payout in Bluerails represents an outbound transaction – funds flowing out from one of your Accounts to an external destination. Payouts allow you to send funds globally, either directly as cryptocurrency or converted into fiat currency delivered to a bank account. Think of Payouts as the mechanism for initiating withdrawals or sending payments from your Bluerails Account balances to the outside world.

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How Payouts Work

You can initiate payouts from your Accounts in two main ways:

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1. Direct Crypto Withdrawal

If your Bluerails Account holds a balance of a specific cryptocurrency (e.g., USDC, ETH), you can initiate a payout directly to an external crypto address on the corresponding blockchain.
  • You specify the source Account, the crypto asset and amount, and the destination wallet address.
  • Bluerails processes the request, constructs the blockchain transaction, and broadcasts it to the network.
  • The Payout record tracks the transaction details and its status on the blockchain.
Bluerails Account(ETH Balance)
Payout Processing
Blockchain Transaction
External Crypto Wallet

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2. Fiat Payout (Crypto-to-Fiat)

You can send funds to traditional bank accounts globally, even if your Bluerails Account primarily holds stablecoins like USDC.
  • You specify the source Account (typically holding USDC), the desired fiat currency and amount to be delivered (e.g., 1000 EUR), and the recipient’s bank account details.
  • Bluerails handles the conversion from your source crypto asset (e.g., USDC) to the target fiat currency (e.g., EUR) based on a provided quote.
  • Bluerails then manages the delivery of the fiat funds through appropriate banking rails (e.g., SEPA, SWIFT, local ACH) to the recipient’s bank account.
  • The Payout record tracks the crypto amount debited, the conversion details, the fiat amount sent, and the delivery status.
Bluerails Account(USDC Balance)
Crypto-to-Fiat(USDC → EUR)
Fiat Delivery(e.g., SEPA)
External Bank Account
Fiat Payouts often involve obtaining a quote first (/transfer/quote endpoint) to lock in an exchange rate before executing the payout (/transfer/quote/{quote_id} endpoint).

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Payout Lifecycle & Status

Similar to Payments, Payouts progress through various statuses:
  1. Pending/Initiated: The payout request has been received but not yet fully processed.
  2. Processing/Converting: Funds are being debited, conversion is happening (for fiat payouts), or the blockchain transaction is being prepared.
  3. Sent/In Transit: The fiat transfer has been initiated with the banking partner, or the crypto transaction has been broadcast to the network.
  4. Completed: The funds have successfully arrived at the destination bank account or received sufficient confirmations on the blockchain.
  5. Failed: The payout could not be completed (e.g., insufficient funds, invalid recipient details, compliance rejection, network issue).
Tracking payout status is crucial for reconciliation and customer support. Use API calls and webhooks for real-time updates.
Refer to the Payout API Reference for detailed endpoint specifications for initiating and managing payouts.
Payouts complete the cycle, allowing you to disburse funds received via Payments (Inbound) and held in your Accounts.