Glossary — Agentic Finance
What is a Conditional Payment?
1 min read Updated
A transaction executing only when specific conditions are met — delivery confirmation, oracle thresholds, time windows, or multi-party approval. Enables trustless agent commerce.
WHY IT MATTERS
Unconditional payments risk non-delivery. Conditional payments make fund release contingent on verifiable conditions.
Conditions: on-chain (contract state, oracles, timestamps) or off-chain (APIs, attestations). More verifiable conditions = more viable transaction types.
Foundational for A2A: pay-on-delivery, milestones, quality-conditional pricing — all without inter-agent trust.
HOW POLICYLAYER USES THIS
PolicyLayer enables conditional payments by evaluating conditions within the policy framework — funds release only when criteria confirm.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Who defines conditions?
The operator or the payment protocol. PolicyLayer enforces whatever conditions are defined — amount thresholds, time windows, oracle values, etc.
What if conditions are disputed?
On-chain conditions are deterministic — no dispute possible. Off-chain conditions may need arbitration mechanisms, which is an active area of development.
Can conditions be updated?
Before payment initiation, yes. Once funds are in escrow with defined conditions, changing them typically requires both parties' agreement.