TechFlow, April 17 — According to an official announcement, Circle has launched the Refund Protocol smart contract protocol, designed to provide non-custodial refunds and on-chain dispute resolution for stablecoin payments.
The protocol enables three core functions via smart contracts: setting a fund lock-up period, allowing refunds to predefined addresses, and enabling payees to withdraw funds early upon payment of a fee. Unlike traditional custodial solutions, arbiters cannot transfer funds to arbitrary addresses. The protocol supports ERC-20 token payments, with smart contracts recording information such as recipient address, amount, and refund address.
Circle stated that the protocol aims to make stablecoin payments more aligned with modern digital payment experiences while minimizing reliance on centralized third parties. The protocol is now open-sourced on GitHub and was developed by Alex Kroeger and Kaili Wang from Circle Research.
