Why
Long-form content is the highest-leverage SEO + sales-enablement surface for a B2B infra startup. Zero blog today → zero content marketing → all acquisition is via outbound + word-of-mouth. The site has `/changelog` and `/press` but no `/blog`.
Where it should be linked from
- Footer "Resources" or "Company" column → "Blog"
- Navbar (optional — not required)
Design
`PageShell` + grid of post cards. Each card: category chip + title + 2-line excerpt + author + date + read time. Detail page reuses the editorial type system from `/about` and `/use-cases/[slug]`.
Use MDX for posts. One file per post in `apps/www/content/blog/`.
Copy
/blog index — header
What we're thinking about.
Notes on payment infrastructure, stablecoin rails, and the businesses building on them.
Long-form pieces on the architecture choices behind Useroutr, what we learn from customer integrations, and where stablecoin payments are actually heading. Mostly written by people on the engineering team.
Categories
- Engineering — Architecture decisions, postmortems, deep dives
- Industry — Stablecoin market analysis, regulatory updates, competitor moves
- Case studies — Customer integrations, with numbers
- Inside Useroutr — Hiring, team, what we believe
Seed posts (copy + outlines for the first 5 — write the full pieces later)
1. Why we picked CCTP V2 over Circle Gateway
Category: Engineering · Read time: 6 min
Excerpt: "When Circle shipped Gateway in May 2026, we evaluated whether to rebuild our cross-chain story around it. We didn't. Here's the actual decision."
Outline: The product gap (Stellar isn't on Gateway mainnet), the model mismatch (pre-deposit vs. one-time payment), what Stripe is doing (CCTP, not Gateway), when we'd revisit. Link to internal decision doc.
2. We swapped 5,000 lines of HTLC contracts for 800 lines of CCTP wiring. Here's why it was worth it.
Category: Engineering · Read time: 8 min
Excerpt: "Pre-CCTP-V2 we maintained HTLC contracts on six EVM chains. We deleted them all. The math, the diff, the audit savings."
Outline: What we had (the deploy matrix, audit cycles, gas costs). What we got (CCTP V2 contracts deployed by Circle, audited by Circle, called by us). The risks we took (single-point-of-dependency on Iris). How we mitigated them (status page + readiness probe + Standard Transfer fallback).
3. The managed wallet trap: why we shipped Approach A first
Category: Engineering · Read time: 5 min
Excerpt: "There's a Twitter-cohort version of building stablecoin infra that says 'always non-custodial.' The Stripe-cohort version says 'always frictionless.' We picked Stripe."
Outline: The custody spectrum (self-custody → managed → custodial). The merchant onboarding wall (Stellar Lab + Friendbot + trustlines). What real businesses do (none of that). Our compromise: Approach A now, passkey-derived self-custody as opt-in, BYO wallet always available. The marketing copy adjustment.
4. The 30-second quote: what it actually buys you
Category: Engineering · Read time: 4 min
Excerpt: "Every payment processor quotes an FX rate. Most lock it for 5 seconds — long enough to win the customer, short enough to win the spread war. We lock for 30. Here's the math."
Outline: Why 5s exists (rate volatility). Why 30s is OK for stablecoins (it isn't volatile). What it actually costs us. Why merchants want it (they don't have to refresh the page mid-checkout).
5. We don't take an FX spread. Here's what we do instead.
Category: Engineering · Read time: 3 min
Excerpt: "30 basis points, transparent, on the conversion line of the receipt. Not buried in the rate."
Outline: The standard processor model (visible mark-up + hidden spread). Our model (mid-market rate + explicit fee). Why we can do it (CCTP V2 is the rail; we don't run market-making books). Why merchants prefer it (they can ledger the fee separately for tax and reconciliation).
Acceptance criteria
Why
Long-form content is the highest-leverage SEO + sales-enablement surface for a B2B infra startup. Zero blog today → zero content marketing → all acquisition is via outbound + word-of-mouth. The site has `/changelog` and `/press` but no `/blog`.
Where it should be linked from
Design
`PageShell` + grid of post cards. Each card: category chip + title + 2-line excerpt + author + date + read time. Detail page reuses the editorial type system from `/about` and `/use-cases/[slug]`.
Use MDX for posts. One file per post in `apps/www/content/blog/`.
Copy
/blog index — header
Categories
Seed posts (copy + outlines for the first 5 — write the full pieces later)
1. Why we picked CCTP V2 over Circle Gateway
Category: Engineering · Read time: 6 min
Excerpt: "When Circle shipped Gateway in May 2026, we evaluated whether to rebuild our cross-chain story around it. We didn't. Here's the actual decision."
Outline: The product gap (Stellar isn't on Gateway mainnet), the model mismatch (pre-deposit vs. one-time payment), what Stripe is doing (CCTP, not Gateway), when we'd revisit. Link to internal decision doc.
2. We swapped 5,000 lines of HTLC contracts for 800 lines of CCTP wiring. Here's why it was worth it.
Category: Engineering · Read time: 8 min
Excerpt: "Pre-CCTP-V2 we maintained HTLC contracts on six EVM chains. We deleted them all. The math, the diff, the audit savings."
Outline: What we had (the deploy matrix, audit cycles, gas costs). What we got (CCTP V2 contracts deployed by Circle, audited by Circle, called by us). The risks we took (single-point-of-dependency on Iris). How we mitigated them (status page + readiness probe + Standard Transfer fallback).
3. The managed wallet trap: why we shipped Approach A first
Category: Engineering · Read time: 5 min
Excerpt: "There's a Twitter-cohort version of building stablecoin infra that says 'always non-custodial.' The Stripe-cohort version says 'always frictionless.' We picked Stripe."
Outline: The custody spectrum (self-custody → managed → custodial). The merchant onboarding wall (Stellar Lab + Friendbot + trustlines). What real businesses do (none of that). Our compromise: Approach A now, passkey-derived self-custody as opt-in, BYO wallet always available. The marketing copy adjustment.
4. The 30-second quote: what it actually buys you
Category: Engineering · Read time: 4 min
Excerpt: "Every payment processor quotes an FX rate. Most lock it for 5 seconds — long enough to win the customer, short enough to win the spread war. We lock for 30. Here's the math."
Outline: Why 5s exists (rate volatility). Why 30s is OK for stablecoins (it isn't volatile). What it actually costs us. Why merchants want it (they don't have to refresh the page mid-checkout).
5. We don't take an FX spread. Here's what we do instead.
Category: Engineering · Read time: 3 min
Excerpt: "30 basis points, transparent, on the conversion line of the receipt. Not buried in the rate."
Outline: The standard processor model (visible mark-up + hidden spread). Our model (mid-market rate + explicit fee). Why we can do it (CCTP V2 is the rail; we don't run market-making books). Why merchants prefer it (they can ledger the fee separately for tax and reconciliation).
Acceptance criteria