diff --git a/src/integration/blockchain/bitcoin/services/bitcoin-based-fee.service.ts b/src/integration/blockchain/bitcoin/services/bitcoin-based-fee.service.ts
index 8bf81c9c79..a2fc89d9fd 100644
--- a/src/integration/blockchain/bitcoin/services/bitcoin-based-fee.service.ts
+++ b/src/integration/blockchain/bitcoin/services/bitcoin-based-fee.service.ts
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ export interface FeeConfig {
 }
 
 // Node's own minimum relay fee floor (sat/vB); broadcasts below this are rejected outright.
-const MIN_FEE_RATE_SAT_VB = 1;
+export const MIN_FEE_RATE_SAT_VB = 1;
 
 export abstract class BitcoinBasedFeeService {
   private readonly logger = new DfxLogger(BitcoinBasedFeeService);
diff --git a/src/subdomains/core/payment-link/services/__tests__/payment-link-fee.service.spec.ts b/src/subdomains/core/payment-link/services/__tests__/payment-link-fee.service.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9f2634deb8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/subdomains/core/payment-link/services/__tests__/payment-link-fee.service.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+import { Blockchain } from 'src/integration/blockchain/shared/enums/blockchain.enum';
+import { BlockchainRegistryService } from 'src/integration/blockchain/shared/services/blockchain-registry.service';
+import { PayoutBitcoinService } from 'src/subdomains/supporting/payout/services/payout-bitcoin.service';
+import { PayoutFiroService } from 'src/subdomains/supporting/payout/services/payout-firo.service';
+import { PaymentLinkFeeService } from '../payment-link-fee.service';
+
+describe('PaymentLinkFeeService', () => {
+  let service: PaymentLinkFeeService;
+  let blockchainRegistryService: jest.Mocked<BlockchainRegistryService>;
+  let payoutBitcoinService: jest.Mocked<PayoutBitcoinService>;
+  let payoutFiroService: jest.Mocked<PayoutFiroService>;
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    blockchainRegistryService = {} as unknown as jest.Mocked<BlockchainRegistryService>;
+
+    payoutBitcoinService = {
+      getCurrentFeeRate: jest.fn().mockResolvedValue(8),
+      getRecommendedFeeRate: jest.fn().mockResolvedValue(4),
+    } as unknown as jest.Mocked<PayoutBitcoinService>;
+
+    payoutFiroService = {
+      getCurrentFeeRate: jest.fn().mockResolvedValue(6),
+      getRecommendedFeeRate: jest.fn().mockResolvedValue(3),
+    } as unknown as jest.Mocked<PayoutFiroService>;
+
+    service = new PaymentLinkFeeService(blockchainRegistryService, payoutBitcoinService, payoutFiroService);
+  });
+
+  // --- calculateFee() Tests --- //
+
+  describe('calculateFee()', () => {
+    it('should use the recommended rate (not the CPFP-multiplied payout rate) as the Firo customer minimum', async () => {
+      const fee = await service['calculateFee'](Blockchain.FIRO);
+
+      expect(fee).toBe(3);
+      expect(payoutFiroService.getRecommendedFeeRate).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+      expect(payoutFiroService.getCurrentFeeRate).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    });
+
+    it('should floor the Firo minimum at the relay minimum so protocol-fixed Spark payments pass', async () => {
+      // On a quiet Firo node estimatesmartfee yields the relay floor (~1 sat/vB); the customer
+      // minimum must never exceed what a Spark-spend to the transparent deposit address pays.
+      payoutFiroService.getRecommendedFeeRate.mockResolvedValueOnce(0.4);
+
+      const fee = await service['calculateFee'](Blockchain.FIRO);
+
+      expect(fee).toBe(1);
+    });
+
+    it('should use the recommended rate (not the CPFP-multiplied payout rate) as the Bitcoin customer minimum', async () => {
+      const fee = await service['calculateFee'](Blockchain.BITCOIN);
+
+      expect(fee).toBe(4);
+      expect(payoutBitcoinService.getRecommendedFeeRate).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+      expect(payoutBitcoinService.getCurrentFeeRate).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    });
+
+    it('should floor the Bitcoin minimum at the relay minimum when the recommended rate dips below it', async () => {
+      payoutBitcoinService.getRecommendedFeeRate.mockResolvedValueOnce(0.4);
+
+      const fee = await service['calculateFee'](Blockchain.BITCOIN);
+
+      expect(fee).toBe(1);
+    });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/subdomains/core/payment-link/services/payment-link-fee.service.ts b/src/subdomains/core/payment-link/services/payment-link-fee.service.ts
index 290fe88ad0..6e76290ce8 100644
--- a/src/subdomains/core/payment-link/services/payment-link-fee.service.ts
+++ b/src/subdomains/core/payment-link/services/payment-link-fee.service.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { Injectable, OnModuleInit } from '@nestjs/common';
 import { CronExpression } from '@nestjs/schedule';
 import { Environment, GetConfig } from 'src/config/config';
+import { MIN_FEE_RATE_SAT_VB } from 'src/integration/blockchain/bitcoin/services/bitcoin-based-fee.service';
 import { Blockchain } from 'src/integration/blockchain/shared/enums/blockchain.enum';
 import { PaymentLinkBlockchains } from 'src/integration/blockchain/shared/util/blockchain.util';
 import { DfxLogger } from 'src/shared/services/dfx-logger';
@@ -79,11 +80,25 @@ export class PaymentLinkFeeService implements OnModuleInit {
         return +(await client.getRecommendedGasPrice());
       }
 
+      // The customer minimum is the network's own minimum for an inbound payment to confirm — it
+      // must NOT include the CPFP/default margin from getSendFeeRate, which exists only for DFX's
+      // own outbound spends. The value differs per chain because the chains do, but neither carries
+      // the payout margin.
       case Blockchain.BITCOIN:
-        return this.payoutBitcoinService.getCurrentFeeRate();
+        // Bitcoin fees are user-adjustable and the chain can congest, so use the recommended
+        // (next-block) rate, which adapts to congestion — floored at the relay minimum so the
+        // advertised minimum is always relayable.
+        return Math.max(await this.payoutBitcoinService.getRecommendedFeeRate(), MIN_FEE_RATE_SAT_VB);
 
       case Blockchain.FIRO:
-        return this.payoutFiroService.getCurrentFeeRate();
+        // Same principle as Bitcoin: Firo's own next-block rate without the payout margin, floored
+        // at the relay minimum so it stays relayable. The current OCP deposit address is transparent,
+        // so a Stack Wallet payment is a Spark-spend to it, whose fee sits at the relay floor and
+        // cannot be raised; Firo does not congest and its node usually returns no estimate, so this
+        // resolves to the relay floor in practice — exactly what that Spark-spend pays. A dedicated
+        // relay-floor cap belongs here only once a Spark `sm1…` deposit address is deployed, whose
+        // protocol-capped fee cannot follow a congestion-adaptive minimum.
+        return Math.max(await this.payoutFiroService.getRecommendedFeeRate(), MIN_FEE_RATE_SAT_VB);
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/src/subdomains/supporting/payout/services/__tests__/payout-firo.service.spec.ts b/src/subdomains/supporting/payout/services/__tests__/payout-firo.service.spec.ts
index 291bf0ff6d..ea59bacf36 100644
--- a/src/subdomains/supporting/payout/services/__tests__/payout-firo.service.spec.ts
+++ b/src/subdomains/supporting/payout/services/__tests__/payout-firo.service.spec.ts
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ describe('PayoutFiroService', () => {
       mintSpark: mintSparkSpy,
       getInfo: jest.fn(),
       getTx: jest.fn(),
+      estimateSmartFee: jest.fn(),
     } as unknown as jest.Mocked<FiroClient>;
 
     const mockFiroService = {
@@ -225,4 +226,27 @@ describe('PayoutFiroService', () => {
       expect(mockFeeService.getSendFeeRate).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
     });
   });
+
+  describe('getRecommendedFeeRate()', () => {
+    it('returns the node estimate without the payout margin', async () => {
+      (mockClient.estimateSmartFee as jest.Mock).mockResolvedValueOnce(3);
+
+      await expect(service.getRecommendedFeeRate()).resolves.toBe(3);
+      expect(mockClient.estimateSmartFee).toHaveBeenCalledWith(1);
+      expect(mockFeeService.getSendFeeRate).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    });
+
+    it('degrades to the relay floor when the quiet node returns no estimate (null)', async () => {
+      (mockClient.estimateSmartFee as jest.Mock).mockResolvedValueOnce(null);
+
+      await expect(service.getRecommendedFeeRate()).resolves.toBe(1);
+    });
+
+    it('propagates a node/RPC error (fail-closed) instead of masking it as the relay floor', async () => {
+      const nodeError = new Error('Firo node unreachable');
+      (mockClient.estimateSmartFee as jest.Mock).mockRejectedValueOnce(nodeError);
+
+      await expect(service.getRecommendedFeeRate()).rejects.toBe(nodeError);
+    });
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/subdomains/supporting/payout/services/payout-bitcoin.service.ts b/src/subdomains/supporting/payout/services/payout-bitcoin.service.ts
index d1929a0708..080a8ca27a 100644
--- a/src/subdomains/supporting/payout/services/payout-bitcoin.service.ts
+++ b/src/subdomains/supporting/payout/services/payout-bitcoin.service.ts
@@ -63,6 +63,12 @@ export class PayoutBitcoinService extends PayoutBitcoinBasedService {
     return this.feeService.getSendFeeRate();
   }
 
+  // Network's recommended (next-block) rate without the payout send margin (see getSendFeeRate).
+  // Used as the customer-facing minimum for inbound Open CryptoPay payments.
+  async getRecommendedFeeRate(): Promise<number> {
+    return this.feeService.getRecommendedFeeRate();
+  }
+
   // Quantize each amount to 8 decimals before serializing to the RPC. Even though
   // BitcoinBasedStrategy.aggregatePayout already rounds once, downstream fee
   // adjustments and fixRoundingMismatch can re-introduce float artifacts. Reject
diff --git a/src/subdomains/supporting/payout/services/payout-firo.service.ts b/src/subdomains/supporting/payout/services/payout-firo.service.ts
index ba0ed01d62..9b7bd68556 100644
--- a/src/subdomains/supporting/payout/services/payout-firo.service.ts
+++ b/src/subdomains/supporting/payout/services/payout-firo.service.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { Injectable } from '@nestjs/common';
+import { MIN_FEE_RATE_SAT_VB } from 'src/integration/blockchain/bitcoin/services/bitcoin-based-fee.service';
 import { FiroClient } from 'src/integration/blockchain/firo/firo-client';
 import { FiroFeeService } from 'src/integration/blockchain/firo/services/firo-fee.service';
 import { FiroService } from 'src/integration/blockchain/firo/services/firo.service';
@@ -62,4 +63,15 @@ export class PayoutFiroService extends PayoutBitcoinBasedService {
   async getCurrentFeeRate(): Promise<number> {
     return this.feeService.getSendFeeRate();
   }
+
+  // Network's recommended (next-block) rate without the payout send margin (see getCurrentFeeRate),
+  // used as the customer-facing minimum for inbound Open CryptoPay payments. Firo's estimatesmartfee
+  // returns null on a quiet node (little traffic) — the normal state, where the relay floor is the
+  // correct customer minimum (a Spark-spend to the transparent deposit address pays exactly that), so
+  // degrade to it. A genuine node/RPC error still propagates (estimateSmartFee returns null only when
+  // the node answers without an estimate; callNode rethrows connection errors), so a down node fails
+  // closed like Bitcoin — the chain drops out of the fee cache rather than being advertised at 1.
+  async getRecommendedFeeRate(): Promise<number> {
+    return (await this.client.estimateSmartFee(1)) ?? MIN_FEE_RATE_SAT_VB;
+  }
 }