Limits & Risk Controls

Overview

Daya enforces multiple layers of limits to manage risk, ensure liquidity, and comply with regulations. Understanding these limits helps you design resilient integrations.

Volume Limits

Hierarchy

Limits are enforced at three levels:

Per-Onramp Limit

Max: $1,000 USD equivalent per onramp

Applies to each individual onramp
Calculated using current exchange rate
Enforced before FX execution

What happens when exceeded:

Deposits beyond limit are FLAGGED
Require manual operations review
Not automatically processed

Example:

Onramp created for ₦1,545,000 (~$1,000)
Deposit 1: ₦1,000,000 → SETTLED ✅
Deposit 2: ₦600,000 → FLAGGED ❌ (exceeds $1,000 total)

For throwaway onramps, typically only one deposit is expected. Multiple deposits trigger review.

Per-Merchant Daily Limit

Max: $10,000 USD equivalent per 24-hour rolling window

Applies to all deposits across all onramps for a merchant
Rolling window (not calendar day)
Reset 24 hours after first deposit

What happens when exceeded:

New deposits are FLAGGED
Onramp creation may be blocked
Webhook: deposit.flagged

Example:

Day 1, 10:00: Deposit $5,000 → SETTLED
Day 1, 14:00: Deposit $4,000 → SETTLED
Day 1, 16:00: Deposit $2,000 → FLAGGED (exceeds $10,000)
Day 2, 10:01: First $5,000 deposit drops off → $4,000 available

System-Wide Daily Limit

Max: $100,000 USD equivalent per 24-hour rolling window

Applies across all merchants on Daya
Protects treasury liquidity
Rarely hit under normal operation

What happens when exceeded:

New deposits may be delayed or flagged
Onramp creation temporarily disabled (system-wide)
Daya operations notified immediately

System-wide limits are shared across all merchants. During high-volume periods, your deposits may be affected even if you’re under your merchant limit.

Limit Enforcement

Limits are checked at multiple stages:

Stage	Checks	Action if Exceeded
Onramp creation	Merchant daily onramp count	Block creation, freeze merchant
Deposit creation	Within onramp validity window	Flag deposit
FX execution	Per-onramp, per-merchant, system-wide	Flag deposit, no FX
Withdrawal	Risk engine policies	Flag or reject

Onramp Creation Limits

Max: 1,000 onramps per merchant per day

Prevents abuse and DoS attacks
Applies to both throwaway and permanent onramps
Automatically enforced

What happens when exceeded:

POST /v1/onramp returns 429 error
Merchant account automatically frozen
Email sent to [email protected]
Manual review required to unfreeze

Response:

{
  "error": {
    "code": "onramp_creation_limit_exceeded",
    "message": "Merchant has exceeded daily onramp creation limit (1,000/day)",
    "details": "Your account has been temporarily frozen. Contact [email protected]"
  }
}

Design your integration to reuse permanent VAs for repeat users instead of creating throwaway onramps for each transaction.

Risk Engine

All on-chain withdrawals pass through a risk engine before broadcasting. The risk engine evaluates:

Risk Factors

Volume limits

Per-onramp limit
Per-merchant daily limit
System-wide daily limit

Velocity checks

Deposits per hour from same user
Deposits to same destination address
Frequency of onramp creation

Address screening

Destination address reputation (future: Chainalysis)
Known bad actors list
Sanctions screening

Pattern detection

Unusual deposit amounts
Geographic anomalies
Timing patterns

Merchant health

Merchant KYB status
Historical reversal rate
Compliance flags

Risk Outcomes

Outcome	Description	Next Steps
APPROVE	Withdrawal proceeds	Transaction broadcast to chain
FLAG	Held for manual review	Deposit status → `FLAGGED`
REJECT	Permanently rejected	Deposit status → `FAILED`

Risk engine decisions are logged with full context for forensics and audit.

Merchant Freeze

Merchants can be frozen (manually or automatically) for:

Trigger	Auto-Freeze?	Resolution
Exceeded onramp creation limit	✅ Yes	Contact support
Risk investigation	❌ Manual	Compliance review
Failed KYB	❌ Manual	Complete KYB
Compliance issue	❌ Manual	Case-by-case

Impact of freeze:

All new onramp creation blocked
Existing onramps may be disabled
No FX execution or withdrawals
Webhook: merchant.frozen (future)

To unfreeze:

Contact [email protected]
Provide context/explanation
Operations reviews and decides
Manual unfreeze if approved

Handling Limit Errors

Per-Onramp Limit
Merchant Daily Limit
Onramp Creation Limit

Scenario: Single deposit exceeds $1,000Error: Deposit status → FLAGGEDAction:

Inform user their deposit is under review
Contact support if urgent
Consider splitting into multiple smaller deposits

Scenario: Accumulated deposits exceed $10,000/dayError: New deposits → FLAGGEDAction:

Show user estimated wait time (24 hours from first deposit)
Consider requesting limit increase
Monitor usage to stay below limit

Limit Increase Requests

To request higher limits:

Document your use case
- Expected volume
- Business model
- User demographics
Provide historical data
- Past transaction volumes
- Average transaction size
- Reversal rates
Submit via support
- Email: [email protected]
- Include merchant_id
- Explain business need

Typical approval time: 3-5 business days

Limit increases require KYB completion and compliance approval.

Monitoring Your Limits

Track your usage to avoid hitting limits:

// Check current usage
const response = await fetch('https://api.daya.xyz/v1/merchant/limits', {
  headers: { 'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY' }
});

const limits = await response.json();
console.log(limits);

Response:

{
  "merchant_id": "merch_abc123",
  "daily_volume": {
    "used": "8500.00",
    "limit": "10000.00",
    "available": "1500.00",
    "reset_at": "2026-01-15T10:00:00Z"
  },
  "onramp_creation": {
    "used": 47,
    "limit": 1000,
    "available": 953,
    "reset_at": "2026-01-15T00:00:00Z"
  }
}

Set up alerts when usage reaches 80% of limits to avoid surprises.

Best Practices

Monitor usage proactively

Check limits before creating onramps or processing deposits.

Use permanent VAs for repeat users

Reduce onramp creation count by reusing VAs.

Implement graceful degradation

When limits are approached, inform users of delays or direct to alternatives.

Request limit increases early

Don’t wait until you hit limits. Request increases when you reach 70% usage consistently.

Design for peak volume

Consider your busiest days when planning capacity.

Next Steps

Edge Cases

Handle failure scenarios and edge cases

Deposits

Understand deposit lifecycle

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Onramp Types

Lifecycle & Statuses

Limits & Risk

Overview

Volume Limits

Hierarchy

Per-Onramp Limit

Per-Merchant Daily Limit

System-Wide Daily Limit

Limit Enforcement

Onramp Creation Limits

Risk Engine

Risk Factors

Risk Outcomes

Merchant Freeze

Handling Limit Errors

Limit Increase Requests

Monitoring Your Limits

Best Practices

Next Steps

Edge Cases

Deposits

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Onramp Types

Lifecycle & Statuses

Limits & Risk

​Overview

​Volume Limits

​Hierarchy

​Per-Onramp Limit

​Per-Merchant Daily Limit

​System-Wide Daily Limit

​Limit Enforcement

​Onramp Creation Limits

​Risk Engine

​Risk Factors

​Risk Outcomes

​Merchant Freeze

​Handling Limit Errors

​Limit Increase Requests

​Monitoring Your Limits

​Best Practices

​Next Steps

Edge Cases

Deposits

Overview

Volume Limits

Hierarchy

Per-Onramp Limit

Per-Merchant Daily Limit

System-Wide Daily Limit

Limit Enforcement

Onramp Creation Limits

Risk Engine

Risk Factors

Risk Outcomes

Merchant Freeze

Handling Limit Errors

Limit Increase Requests

Monitoring Your Limits

Best Practices

Next Steps