Margin economics
Why nanopayments matter — at sub-cent prices, card processors literally cannot transact at the unit economics. PicoFlow batches via Circle Gateway to compress per-call cost ~99%.
Per-call price $0.001000 USDC, 1,000 callsbest: gateway-batched
| Rail | Fee per call | Net per call | Margin % | Viable? | Notes |
|---|
| card | $0.300029 | $-0.299029 | -29902.9% | no | Stripe 2.9% + $0.30 fixed — fixed fee dominates sub-cent prices |
| raw-onchain | $0.009000 | $-0.008000 | -800.0% | no | Direct Arc transfer ≈ $0.0090 per tx |
| gateway-batched | $0.000050 | $0.000950 | 95.0% | yes | One settlement amortised across N=1000 authorisations |
Per-call price $0.005000 USDC, 1,000 callsbest: gateway-batched
| Rail | Fee per call | Net per call | Margin % | Viable? | Notes |
|---|
| card | $0.300145 | $-0.295145 | -5902.9% | no | Stripe 2.9% + $0.30 fixed — fixed fee dominates sub-cent prices |
| raw-onchain | $0.009000 | $-0.004000 | -80.0% | no | Direct Arc transfer ≈ $0.0090 per tx |
| gateway-batched | $0.000050 | $0.004950 | 99.0% | yes | One settlement amortised across N=1000 authorisations |
Per-call price $0.010000 USDC, 1,000 callsbest: gateway-batched
| Rail | Fee per call | Net per call | Margin % | Viable? | Notes |
|---|
| card | $0.300290 | $-0.290290 | -2902.9% | no | Stripe 2.9% + $0.30 fixed — fixed fee dominates sub-cent prices |
| raw-onchain | $0.009000 | $0.001000 | 10.0% | yes | Direct Arc transfer ≈ $0.0090 per tx |
| gateway-batched | $0.000050 | $0.009950 | 99.5% | yes | One settlement amortised across N=1000 authorisations |