diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 1d2faca95..290ce0bee 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -41,6 +41,17 @@ and [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/).
 
 ### Fixed
 
+- **Payment-goroutine panics no longer kill the process.** A panic
+  inside the wallet layer during `PurchaseSession`'s `Receive` call
+  (e.g. a mint returning malformed keysets) crashed the whole
+  `tollgate-wrt` daemon, taking down every concurrently active session.
+  The goroutine now recovers and sends an explicit
+  `payment processing panicked: ...` error into the existing result
+  channel, so the caller immediately gets a signed
+  `payment-processing-failed` notice instead of process death or a
+  misleading 30-second timeout.
+  ([#360](https://github.com/OpenTollGate/tollgate-module-basic-go/pull/360))
+
 - **Accept client MAC from request body/query.** The backend now
   accepts a `mac` field in Lightning invoice requests and Cashu payment
   requests (as a query param), and a `mac` query param for invoice
diff --git a/src/merchant/merchant.go b/src/merchant/merchant.go
index 238d44fca..4b0a8dd51 100644
--- a/src/merchant/merchant.go
+++ b/src/merchant/merchant.go
@@ -472,6 +472,13 @@ func (m *Merchant) PurchaseSession(cashuToken string, macAddress string) (*nostr
 	}
 	ch := make(chan receiveResult, 1)
 	go func() {
+		// A panic can only fire before the normal send, so this never
+		// double-sends; the channel buffer guarantees it never blocks.
+		defer func() {
+			if r := recover(); r != nil {
+				ch <- receiveResult{0, fmt.Errorf("payment processing panicked: %v", r)}
+			}
+		}()
 		amount, err := m.tollwallet.Receive(paymentCashuToken)
 		ch <- receiveResult{amount, err}
 	}()
diff --git a/src/merchant/purchasesession_panic_test.go b/src/merchant/purchasesession_panic_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4151d0010
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/merchant/purchasesession_panic_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+package merchant
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/OpenTollGate/tollgate-module-basic-go/src/tollwallet"
+	"github.com/nbd-wtf/go-nostr"
+)
+
+// panicToken is a minimal tollwallet.Token — just enough for PurchaseSession
+// to log and forward it to Receive.
+type panicToken struct{}
+
+func (panicToken) Mint() string               { return "https://panic-mint.example.com" }
+func (panicToken) Amount() uint64             { return 1 }
+func (panicToken) Serialize() (string, error) { return "cashuAstub", nil }
+func (panicToken) Close()                     {}
+
+// panicReceiveWallet stubs DecodeToken and Receive; every other WalletPort
+// method panics via the embedded nil interface, so untested wallet
+// interactions cannot pass silently.
+type panicReceiveWallet struct {
+	tollwallet.WalletPort
+}
+
+func (w *panicReceiveWallet) DecodeToken(tokenStr string) (tollwallet.Token, error) {
+	return panicToken{}, nil
+}
+
+func (w *panicReceiveWallet) Receive(tollwallet.Token) (uint64, error) {
+	panic("wallet exploded: simulated keyset corruption")
+}
+
+// TestPurchaseSessionPanicContainment pins the panic-containment contract of
+// the Receive goroutine in PurchaseSession: a panic inside the wallet layer
+// must surface to the caller as an explicit "panicked" payment-processing
+// error within 5 seconds — NOT crash the process and NOT degrade into the
+// 30s "payment-processing-timeout" notice.
+func TestPurchaseSessionPanicContainment(t *testing.T) {
+	cm, _ := setupTestConfigManager(t)
+	m := &Merchant{
+		tollwallet:        &panicReceiveWallet{},
+		configManager:     cm,
+		mintHealthTracker: newTestTracker(cm.GetConfig(), nil),
+	}
+
+	type psResult struct {
+		event *nostr.Event
+		err   error
+	}
+	done := make(chan psResult, 1)
+	start := time.Now()
+	go func() {
+		event, err := m.PurchaseSession("cashuAstub", "AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF")
+		done <- psResult{event, err}
+	}()
+
+	select {
+	case res := <-done:
+		elapsed := time.Since(start)
+		if elapsed >= 5*time.Second {
+			t.Fatalf("PurchaseSession returned after %v — panic degraded to a slow path, want explicit error <5s", elapsed)
+		}
+		if res.err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("expected notice event with nil error, got error: %v", res.err)
+		}
+		if res.event == nil {
+			t.Fatal("expected non-nil notice event")
+		}
+		if res.event.Kind != 21023 {
+			t.Fatalf("notice kind = %d, want 21023", res.event.Kind)
+		}
+		var code string
+		for _, tag := range res.event.Tags {
+			if len(tag) >= 2 && tag[0] == "code" {
+				code = tag[1]
+				break
+			}
+		}
+		if code != "payment-processing-failed" {
+			t.Fatalf("notice code = %q, want %q", code, "payment-processing-failed")
+		}
+		if !strings.Contains(res.event.Content, "panicked") {
+			t.Fatalf("notice content = %q, want it to contain %q", res.event.Content, "panicked")
+		}
+	case <-time.After(5 * time.Second):
+		t.Fatal("PurchaseSession did not return within 5s — panic NOT contained (process death or 30s timeout path)")
+	}
+}