SiGMA MAGAZINE: Carl Munsayac on compliant crypto payments
For Carl Munsayac, entering fintech did not come with an elaborate plan to transition from law to tech. Rather, it began with a simple feeling of frustration that led him to identify a broader structural failure in digital finance. Now, as a co-founder of Altswitch and Payxn.app, he is building a payment framework designed to make crypto transactions easier while adhering to government regulations.
In this conversation with Matthew Busuttil for SiGMA Magazine, he shares themes and ideas that have influenced his strategy in creating the platform.
Carl’s background illustrates the unique mixture of legal education, corporate experience, and entrepreneurship. By obtaining his Bachelor of Science Degree in Legal Management, he gained an understanding of how laws are created, what it means to operate under governmental control, and how companies comply through governance and operational tools. This academic foundation formed the basis for Payxn’s design and philosophy around compliance and cross-border transactions.
A problem that sparked an idea
The origin of Payxn was far from glamorous. It began with a practical inconvenience during a peer-to-peer crypto transaction. Munsayac found himself waiting for a prolonged period while selling Tether, exposing inefficiencies in existing crypto payment processes.
“The origin of Payxn is surprisingly unglamorous. It started with a one-hour wait selling USDT through a P2P platform, where the merchant took far too long to process the transaction to my bank account.”
What seemed like a minor issue revealed a systemic problem affecting millions of crypto users. Munsayac recognised that crypto payments required speed but also trust, and they had to operate within a regulatory framework.
“I have a legal background, so my approach to solving this problem had to incorporate safety and compliance, as well as speed, because if a financial product cuts corners in complying with governmental regulation, it will not build trust; it will destroy it.”
From the beginning, Payxn was designed with compliance embedded into its architecture rather than as an afterthought.
Operational discipline from procurement
Before entering the world of fintech, Munsayac was the Head of Purchasing in a corporate setting. In his position, he was charged with the responsibility of developing a procurement tracking framework to assist in managing multiple projects, multiple vendors, and frequent payment deadlines.
Without an existing framework, the company was exposed to the risk of financial loss through mismanagement or inadequate record-keeping, resulting in the establishment of an operation with inaccurate and unclear information.
Developing this infrastructure consisted of a lot of time spent on highly detailed work as well as providing operational clarity.
“Confidence in a payment platform comes from accuracy and transparency, and we built Payxn to translate the complexity of crypto, including confusing hashes, network fees, and technical jargon, into something any business owner can understand and trust.”
Payxn reduces complexity while maintaining operational clarity, making crypto payments accessible for large global operations and small merchants alike.
Placing compliance where it matters
Regulatory oversight in the fintech industry has become more restrictive. In order to facilitate maximum access to clients, Payxn uses enhanced compliance verification at the point where it’s most relevant. All users can establish accounts and create wallet addresses without operational friction or having any of the checks being done until the point of converting any digital assets back into fiat currency.
Payxn accomplishes this through partnerships with regulated and licensed exchanges that will facilitate the transfer of funds between crypto and fiat. By partnering and generally collaborating with regulated institutions that administer compliance, Payxn can maintain oversight while increasing overall efficiency.
The importance of this type of architecture applies to many industries where there is a global presence that needs a payment system capable of providing for rapid transaction processing. The global nature of crypto facilitates the immediate transfer of funds worldwide, avoiding the delays that occur and the geographic restrictions imposed by traditional financial banking institutions.
Innovation with practical focus
Fintech innovation often attracts attention for ambitious concepts. Munsayac believes sustainable innovation is grounded in solving immediate, tangible problems.
Limited resources at Payxn’s early stages required careful prioritisation. The company focused on identifying specific pain points and addressing them quickly.
“One of the earliest lessons you learn as a startup is that shiny objects are everywhere, and the discipline is in ignoring most of them.”
This disciplined approach ensures product decisions are based on real user feedback rather than speculation, keeping innovation commercially relevant.
AI and the next payments evolution
Looking ahead, Munsayac believes the convergence of artificial intelligence and payments will drive the next transformation in digital finance.
AI agents are increasingly capable of executing tasks independently, and payments will become part of automated workflows, managing billing, payment requests, and settlements without human intervention.
“The trend we’re most excited about at Payxn is the convergence of AI and payments.”
Through integrations such as Model Context Protocols (MCPs), Payxn is positioning itself to support this ecosystem, where AI agents could generate invoices, initiate payments, and settle transactions autonomously. This allows businesses to focus on product development and service delivery rather than administrative processes.
Building value through accessibility
Despite technological change, Munsayac’s perspective is straightforward: value creation begins with the customer.
For Payxn, this means prioritising accessibility and usability in crypto payments, enabling businesses anywhere to transact digitally using only a device and an internet connection.
As cryptocurrency adoption grows globally, platforms that combine usability, compliance, and technological capability will play a significant role in shaping digital finance. Munsayac’s objective is clear: crypto operates beyond borders, and Payxn aims to provide the infrastructure for businesses worldwide to access that potential.
