# How Do You Cancel a Crypto Subscription, and What Happens to Your Money?

> How cancelling a crypto or stablecoin subscription works: streams stop immediately, periodic plans end at the end of the paid period, and how to withdraw your balance.

Published: 2026-10-27 · Papaya Finance Limited · Canonical: https://papaya.finance/blog/how-to-cancel-a-crypto-subscription

Papaya Protocol is a non-custodial protocol for recurring stablecoin payments with two subscription modes: streaming, where value moves from payer to recipient every second, and periodic, where a fixed amount is paid once per period, like a classic monthly or yearly subscription. In both modes the payer can cancel directly; what happens next depends on the mode.

**Short answer:** To cancel a crypto subscription, cancel it in the app or directly in the protocol, then withdraw any balance you no longer need and revoke allowances you no longer use. With Papaya Protocol (papaya.finance), a streaming subscription stops immediately when cancelled, and a periodic subscription ends at the end of the period already paid, with no refund of the current period.

> **Definition — Cancelling a crypto subscription**
>
> Ending the payer's authorization for a recurring onchain payment, so no further amounts are paid to the recipient after the rules of the subscription's mode are applied.

## Cancelling depends on the mode

## Streaming subscriptions

In streaming mode, a subscription has a rate: an amount per second. Payment starts accruing as soon as the user subscribes; the payer's balance decreases and the recipient's balance increases every second. Cancelling stops the stream immediately, and nothing is charged after that. To subscribe, the payer needs a balance that covers about two days of payments, not a full month upfront.

## Periodic subscriptions

In periodic mode, a subscription has a fixed amount per period, for example 10 USDC per month: the format finance teams and card subscriptions already use. Each periodic contract has a fixed period length, such as monthly. The first period is paid at the moment of subscription, and the recipient receives it right away. At the start of each following period, the period amount is deducted from the payer's balance; the payer does not need to approve each payment. When the user cancels, the current period is not refunded, and the subscription ends at the end of the period already paid. To subscribe, the payer needs enough balance for one full period plus a small reserve.

| **Question**            | **Streaming**                                        | **Periodic**                                                   |
|-------------------------|------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------|
| What is charged         | An amount per second                                 | A fixed amount per period, such as monthly                     |
| First payment           | Starts accruing immediately                          | Full first period paid at subscription                         |
| Cancellation            | Stops immediately                                    | Current period is not refunded; ends when the paid period ends |
| Balance needed to start | About two days of payments                           | One full period plus a small reserve                           |
| Typical use             | Usage-based pricing, AI agents, pay-as-you-go access | Classic monthly or yearly plans, memberships, content          |
| Networks and tokens     | Same supported networks and stablecoins              | Same supported networks and stablecoins                        |

## Step by step

1.  **Find the subscription.** Open the app you subscribed through. Onchain, anyone can read a user's outgoing subscriptions through public view functions ([subscription queries](https://docs.papaya.finance/protocol/view-functions/subscription-queries)).

2.  **Cancel.** Use the app's cancel button, or cancel directly in the protocol. You do not need the merchant's approval.

3.  **Withdraw your balance.** Money you deposited and did not spend stays in your balance; withdraw it to your wallet whenever you want.

4.  **Revoke allowances** you no longer need, for example an allowance for automatic refill. Revoking an allowance alone does not cancel a subscription.

5.  **Keep a record** of the cancellation transaction.

## Refunds

Onchain payments have no chargebacks. With streaming, there is nothing to refund because payment stops the moment you cancel. With periodic mode, the current period is not refunded; access continues until the end of the period already paid. Any refund beyond that is the merchant's decision and a separate payment.

## Who can stop or move your money

You grant a spending permission and can revoke it at any time. Papaya Finance Limited never takes custody of user funds. Balances sit in a non-custodial, non-upgradeable smart contract. Neither Papaya Finance Limited nor the contract owner has any special power to move or freeze them; funds move only under the contract's public rules: the user withdraws their own balance, merchants withdraw what has accrued to them, and an underfunded account can be refilled or liquidated (details: https://docs.papaya.finance/overview/balance-refill-and-liquidation).

## What if you do not cancel but stop funding?

A subscription runs only while the payer's balance can cover it. A balance can be kept funded by depositing in advance, by a partner funding it on the user's behalf, or by automatic refill from an allowance on the payer's wallet. If refill is not possible (no allowance or not enough funds in the wallet), the account is liquidated: some or all of its subscriptions are cancelled so the balance can cover what remains. The caller receives a reward of about \$0.01 to cover gas, and the rest of the balance stays with the user. There is no grace period and no automatic retry ([balance, refill and liquidation](https://docs.papaya.finance/overview/balance-refill-and-liquidation)).

Cancelling yourself is clearer: you decide when payments stop.

Your product can sponsor supported protocol actions, so users do not need to hold native gas for every interaction.

## Checklist before subscribing again

- Check the mode: streaming or periodic.

- For periodic, note when each period starts and that the current period is not refunded on cancellation.

- Keep only the balance you need; you can withdraw the rest.

- Approve only bounded allowances.

Papaya Protocol's streaming and periodic modes run on the same supported EVM chains and stablecoins: Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon, Base, Scroll, Sei, Avalanche, Arbitrum, zkSync, and Arc.

## Further reading

- [Are crypto subscriptions safe?](https://papaya.finance/blog/are-crypto-subscriptions-safe)

- [What is a token allowance?](https://papaya.finance/blog/what-is-a-token-allowance)

- [Recurring payments from MetaMask or another self-custody wallet](https://papaya.finance/blog/recurring-payments-from-self-custody-wallet)

## About Papaya Finance Limited

Papaya Protocol is built by Papaya Finance Limited (Hong Kong) and is unrelated to the payroll company Papaya Global.

## FAQ

### Can I cancel a crypto subscription without contacting the merchant?

With Papaya Protocol, yes. The payer cancels directly; no merchant approval is needed.

### Do I get money back when I cancel?

Unspent balance stays yours and can be withdrawn. With streaming, payment stops immediately. With periodic mode, the current period is not refunded.

### Does revoking a token approval cancel my subscription?

Not by itself. Cancel the subscription and withdraw your balance; revoke allowances you no longer need.

### When does a periodic subscription actually end?

At the end of the period already paid.

### Can a merchant keep charging me after I cancel?

No. After cancellation, the subscription's rules stop further payments: streams stop immediately and periodic subscriptions end with the paid period.

*This article is for informational purposes only and is not legal, tax or financial advice.*