ColdtillColdtill vs Cryptomus
Cryptomus is a hosted crypto payment processor. Merchants open an account, payments land in a Cryptomus balance and are paid out on request. Coldtill is software you run on your own server, so payments go straight to your own wallets and there's no account with anyone.
That difference stopped being theoretical in October 2026, when the UK put sanctions on the company behind Cryptomus.
The short answer: with a hosted processor, your money is only as safe as the processor. If you use Cryptomus today, read the sanctions section below and get legal advice. If you want crypto payments that no regulator's action against a third party can freeze, run them yourself.
Regulatory actions, from the government sources
UK sanctions, 8 October 2026. The UK designated Xeltox Enterprises Ltd under the Russia sanctions regulations, listing Cryptomus, Heleket and Certa Payments as name variations (UK sanctions ID RUS3755). The measures include an asset freeze and a ban on UK financial institutions processing payments to, from or via it. The UK's stated reason: "reasonable grounds to suspect" that it supports the Russian financial services sector "through its ownership of CRYPTOMUS and activities linked to and continued via HELEKET". Sources: the sanctions notice and press release.
Canada, record AML penalty, 16 October 2025. FINTRAC, Canada's financial intelligence unit, imposed a penalty of C$176,960,190 on Xeltox Enterprises Ltd, "operating as Cryptomus", for 2,593 violations of Canada's anti-money laundering law. They included failing to report 1,068 suspicious transactions that FINTRAC linked to "trafficking in child sexual abuse material, fraud, ransomware payments and sanctions evasion", failing to report 7,557 transactions from Iran under a ministerial directive, and failing to report 1,518 large transactions. FINTRAC called it "unprecedented enforcement action". Xeltox has appealed the penalty to Canada's Federal Court. Sources: FINTRAC's announcement and penalty notice.
As of 15 October 2026 we found no US (OFAC) or EU listing.
What this means for merchants
With a hosted processor, your revenue sits in the processor's balance until it pays you out. Cryptomus' own terms say assets "may be stored with third-party custodians or in pooled accounts" (§8.6.1), that it may "without prior notice… freeze assets or transactions" (§4.2), and that after a block it "shall have no obligation to return Digital Assets or funds held therein" (§5.18).
When the processor itself is hit by sanctions or a regulator, every merchant balance is exposed at once, whatever the merchant did. UK businesses in particular are generally prohibited from dealing with a designated entity's funds. Take legal advice on your own position.
Side by side
| Coldtill | Cryptomus | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Software on your own server | A hosted account with Xeltox Enterprises Ltd |
| Regulatory status | No company in the payment path | UK sanctions (October 2026); C$177M FINTRAC penalty, under appeal |
| Who holds incoming payments | You. Deposit contracts can only pay your cold wallet | Cryptomus, in its balances, until you withdraw |
| Can your funds be frozen | No. There's no account and no balance | Yes, "without prior notice", under its terms |
| KYC / KYB | None | Required: identity and address, and for companies directors, shareholders and beneficial owners |
| Fees | Free (2%), Standard $499 once (1%), Pro $999 once (no fee); no fee on Bitcoin or auto-converted payments | 2% per payment for new users, negotiable down to 0.4% |
| Coins | 200+ coins on 35+ chains | "More than 100" |
| Get paid in stablecoins | Yes, to your own wallet | Yes, inside its balance |
| US merchants | Yes | Doesn't serve US citizens or residents |
Why Coldtill can't be frozen
Coldtill is software, not a service. Customers pay into deposit addresses that belong to you: on Ethereum-style chains, Tron and Solana they're contracts that can only ever send to your cold wallet, and Bitcoin goes straight to your own wallet's addresses. No company sits between your customer and your wallet, so there's no balance for a regulator, a court or a bankruptcy to freeze, and no account for us to close. If coldtill.com disappeared tomorrow, your checkout would keep working.
You still get paid in dollars if you want: auto-convert takes 200+ coins and delivers USDC or USDT to your own wallet. One thing no gateway can change: Tether and Circle can freeze USDT and USDC at the token level.
Moving from Cryptomus
- Install Coldtill Free with one command on any Linux server:
curl -fsSL https://coldtill.com/install.sh | sudo bash -s -- --edition free. - Point it at your own cold wallets; there's nothing to sign up for.
- Swap your checkout over with the REST API, the TypeScript SDK or the WooCommerce plugin.
See the self-hosting guide or download Coldtill.
Facts about Cryptomus come from the UK sanctions notice, FINTRAC's penalty notice, and Cryptomus' terms, AML policy and fees, checked on 15 October 2026. See also all crypto payment gateways compared.