Bitcoin Forum

Hey Everyone,

Just wondering since I've never escrowed before I would like/need to in the future. Is there a guide on how to escrow somewhere around here?

Thanks

I'm not too sure about a guide, but escrow is a pretty simple and effective concept. Basically, you bring another trusted member into your 2 man deal. Say you're trading an Amazon gift card for Bitcoin and dont want to be scammed. You send the Bitcoin to the escrow and the other person will directly send you the Amazon card. When you confirm that the card is working and test it out, you can tell the escrow to release the funds to the other guy.

There are services in this section. Just use the search function to find an escrow. I offer services too, so let me know if you'd like me to escrow for you.

I would be very careful with forum escrow as multiple of them have ripped off users.

I've never escrowed before, but I've heard about Multisignature wallets. Don't they prevent Escrows ripping users off? Are they not used a lot?

For OP or anyone that doesn't know what that is here is an article:
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Multisignature (https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Multisignature)
TLDR: Basically you create a wallet that requires more than one key (similar to a password) to move funds. Theoretically you could have a key, the seller/recipient have a key and the escrow have a key and require at least two keys to move the funds. That way the money is held until either the user or escrow confirms the transaction is ok, conversely the Escrow could give the key to the seller/recipient in case the buyer/sender is the one ripping off.

At least that is my takeaway, if anyone with more experience could weigh in I would greatly appreciate it and I think OP would too

I do not buy the I deal of this escrow, because if the service has been released and it works well then and later tell escrow that it doesn't work out that they shouldn't released the money. Man you get screw from there, with my own opinion escrow do scam too and not 100% sure.

Now if you have understood how to deal with someone on internet from above article referance ink, you might be thinking of trusted escrow members around this forum?
Bitcointalk has has a few reputed escrows you can choose one for your deals here https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=855778.0

Could someone comment/point towards trusted escrows on this forum?

This might be something you are looking for https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1938190 you can use the thread to contact any of them they are pretty trusted/active members of the forum stay safe.

I haven't seen any universal guide here in the forum. I might be wrong though.

But basically here's how it goes.

1. A Buyer and a seller agrees to terms. i.e. seller wants to buy a domain from buyer
2. Buyer then put the money to an escrow
3. Seller then transfer all information to the Buyer
4. Buyer checks everything and approves
5. Buyer notify the Escrow that everything is perfect. Instruct the escrow to pay the Seller
6. Escrow now pay the Seller

So escrow in essence is like a middleman. A broker between two parties. But there is a fee if you will hire a escrow, they only charged a certain percentage of the total escrow amount. But its better to get one than scam by the other party.

You can check this thread for more info:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=855778.0
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=276897.0

Goodluck!!!

As seeing your rank and concern about your expectedness. I am really sorry to say that you cannot take as escrow in signature, bounty, ico or simple trades. Please look the link below provided. There is already many people in forum doing and they have trust from the other people involves in the trade with them. Please shoot a pm to Lauda or Ognasty to teach about that.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=855778.0

First you must to have a good reputation where you want to become escrow, if you have a good reputation you will be easy to trust with others so that others will trust you to save their funds to you. The difficulty of being an escrow is to build a positive trust in yourself, if we already have a positive trust all will be easy.

Lol I wasn't asking how I could be an escrow I was wondering how I setup escrow between me and another party I didn't know how it worked. I sell a lot of different things and I would like to have a trusted escrow that I could use regularly once my sales build up. But I know how it works now, and I should have worded my original post better. Thanks for all the input and suggestions though :)

so Escrow is a bit off or not safe when it comes to selling codes? please correct me if I am wrong. Because if the buyer just got the code and used it and tell to the seller that code isn't working, then the fee will be on hold and chance to have it returned to the buyer. Or is there an agreement or something especially for this kind of "one time use" stuff?

Bitcoin itself can’t make use of Escrow, you just have to find a trusted person to act as the Escrow service, or whatever you may call. You send the amount to the guy acting as an Escrow, then he holds the funds, and the person you’re paying or doing business with will them forward the goods/package when they confirm you’ve funded escrow. Once you’ve got the package in good condition, you can tell the Escrow service to release/forward the funds to the receiving partner. But, who would agree to such a long process? The real fact is there is nothing like Escrow in Bitcoin. Unless exchangers like Xapo, Coinbaseetc decides to start offering such services to users.

It is definitely risky to deal with codes when you're making any transaction online for that reason. Generally, people can slightly get hints at whether or not someone is lying but this is really tough too. In the case where the code is used and it's claimed that the code is not working, the escrow could ask for proof of the code not working and try to see whether or not a scam was attempted.

yes I agree to this. Anyway, thanks for this thread. This is very helpful especially to us newbie. To be honest, what I was thinking about escrow is that they have a company or group of middleman that will facilitate the transaction and they have rules, tools, etc how to make it secure. And as I reading the thread, anyone can be an escrow, it can be someone here in the forum who call themselves "trusted middleman/escrow".

The above link is the list of the most reputable escrows here around the forum. All you need to do is to look for their history and decide if they are to be trusted or not.


Then who would generate the Multi sig address? If the escrow himself generated the keys, there is a high chance that he also has control to all of the keys since he can just paste them off somewhere around his machine.

This is precisely why I wanted someone more experienced to weigh in. Great observation. Question, if theoretically an automated service existed that generated such a multisignature address, and then sent a key to each person in the transaction without revealing the other keys to any single individual, would it be more feasible?

You can check threads others have posted for lists of parties providing escrow within this forum. My advice would be to check who's active and ask if they'd accept escrowing your transaction. If they would, you can then start a message convo in this forum with all parties involved including the escrower.

The guide is simple,check the reputation of a member before using them as an escrow.Reputation just doesn't mean the green feedback's but total forum contribution.If you find some escrow service interesting,make sure you open a thread about them and see if the community suggests you to hire them as an escrow.Personally,avoid third party websites as much as possible.Hire an escrow depending on your trade.An escrow who deals with good wouldn't turn out to be as reliable if the trade goes wrong involving a script.

Avoid users with negative feedbacks like him.

This is an interesting topic. Is there a shortage of reliable escrow services for crypto? Maybe I should start one. One thing about escrow, having a reliable service people trusts will increase the overall value of bitcoin. Everyone wins. That makes it worth focusing on long term bitcoin value rather than being a thief and looking for short term gains that will only cause people to lose faith in btc overall.

It is quite easy. It is either the seller sends the goods to the escrow or the buyer sends the bitcoins to the escrow. If all checks out then the escrow will release whatever he has to the proper party. Plain and easy. You have to choose a reputable escrow though, there are plenty scammers out there, so be careful.

Escrow and Customer Service, these are the things that
should be looked at when buying or trading for bitcoins.

Those are the things I loved about Paxful.

I never did escrow on this forum so I don't know much about it personally but what actually happens here is that you and your seller send btc , collateral, assets to the escrow manager and he will exchange it for buyer and seller.
There are plenty of escrow managers here on this forum choose a trusted one :)

To know escrow service, you don't need to be a escrow manager. To say as simply as laymen concept. Escrows are the middle men available in this forum. Who can help you to transact the bitcoin safely for sender and receiver. Some won't spare the fees cost and some would ask about that.
There is a list of members available in the forum to help you in this, you can find it service discussion section.

You should start using an escrow to mediate your trades. Especially when dealing with newer members who can offer all kinds of cool, new cheap products for this forum, you need to be careful with your deals. This goes for OP too and anyone that is reading this. Escrows help make trades safer and more effective even though they may take a bit more time out of your day.

You'll just escrow if there's a need to avail or use their services. But if you are trusting the person you are dealing with then there's no need for you to have some guides for using an escrow. It's a very easy thing to ask them for your deals, just message reputable people here.

I recommend to choose the big 3 if you are dealing a large amount to others check this thread
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=855778.0
And you see the old escrow here in forum the big 3 can be choose as most trusted here in forum and it is good to choose them if you dealing a large transactions ..

I think they are offering some assurance too because they are acting as a middleman, well there are some trusted escrows in these forum and not all are scams and in my opinion  I think some reputable escrows here will accept payments even if it's not that high than scam people out and destroy their trust.


But because this is an international organization and almost all of us here are hiding  at the back of our computer it would be hard to find someone that you trust unless you know him for a long time that's why escrow are created and yes it's better to pay high in the reputable ones than pay on someone claiming that they are escrows but in the end scam people out.

At is core escrowing is not an activity that requires great knowledge or skill, but it requires a massive amount of trust, so if you are looking for an escrow you can find many well reputed members in the forum willing to escrow for you, now if what you want is to become and escrow then that is going to be a lot harder since as I have said you need to be trusted and you are a new member of the community.

The point of having a escrow is simply by having two way man to secure your transaction on a both one to one cases. But in terms of ICO and signature , Escrow is the one who manage the system of transactions of dealing with sending profits and bitcoins for the participants.

Having an escrow is just having a middle man with your transactions and it is more good in both party because there is security for the money that will be going out to the sender's wallet.
Anyway I am a bit confused if you want to use escrow or be an escrow someday?
If to be an escrow you need to build up good reputation and high level or ranked up account here.

Hey there adamantasaurus, most of the comments here are right. And escrow is basically just a guy that will secure your funds together with other party that you'll transact. In this case that for sure you'll be using it in the future, always go to the recommended people and has a good reputation here in forum. Don't just go with the people that wants to be your escrow without trading history.

Actually to use escrow is easy. Just know who will stand for it, it must be trusted here in the forum. Anyway escrow service is the one who stand as middle man, it really has to be trusted, there is a list here in this forum whom you can trust on. Just be wise on choosing some gives it free and some ask for high fee. If your transaction is just in small amount maybe you can do it without escrow but if the amount is a hundred bucks and you are newbie for sure they will ask for escrow, that is the time you gonna use escrow service.

I personally believe that escrow is a great equalizer, it levels the playing field. In escrow, you only need to have a trusted escrow to make a good deal to work. Trusted escrow serves as a scam protector and it protects both ways.

There are many good escrows but we cannot ever have enough good escrows, an escrow that may have been a long term member of the community could decide to just stop offering his services because he found another way to make money, or maybe he has so much work that he can only accept big deals and does not have the time to escrow for small deals anymore.

Escrow is a form of security when you’re paying for something online and you don’t really trust the person you are dealing with, you simply bring in a middle man that is trusted and you send him the money while the person sends the good or service to you and the escrow confirms the deal.

It is just a form of security put in place by payment sites like paypal.com and localbitcoins.com that enables them to release the money to the seller after you have confirmed delivery of a good service or that you are satisfied with what you got.

it is simple go to trust and check green one

many green users provide escrow service here and other  use them rank as escrow

I developed a Ethereum Escrow Smart Contract/Dapp.


The buyer creates an escrow transaction, specifying the seller address, escrow address and amount of Ether. The smart contract locks the buyer's funds. When buyer receives the item, he can release the locked funds in the Dapp.

If a dispute happens, the escrow agent can step in to refund the buyer, or release funds to seller. At any point in time, the escrow agent NEVER has access to the funds, which elimates one big security risk of transferring the entire transaction amount to the escrow.


In exchange for his service, escrow agent can set a percentage fee to charge.


Here's some screenshots of the Dapp. It is live at: http://escrowmyether.com/


If you are looking to offer escrow services, have a look, it might be useful for you :) It greatly reduces the Escrow agent's workload, because if the transaction proceeds smoothly, Buyer will release funds himself. There is no intervention required by the Escrow agent, saving a lot of time. Assuming 90% of transactions have no dispute, that's 90% of time saved.


Requires connection to an Ethereum node. I suggest Metamask as it only takes 3 mins to setup. Parity will work as well.



Picture of buyer's dashboard. Click initialize new transaction to create new escrow tx.
https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/24837709/31051334-4bd9f7b0-a698-11e7-92e6-5672bd478e2b.jpg



Enter seller address, escrow address and amount to send. If the address is entered correctly, the seller/escrow's name will appear.
https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/24837709/31051404-cfbd440a-a699-11e7-9c97-0f9134f3cdaf.jpg


If you own the address, you can update your profile info. It is stored on the blockchain.
https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/24837709/31051638-b6bf8e12-a69f-11e7-8a01-85f2545460fa.jpg


Buyers, when you receive your product. Please head into the dashboard, click the transaction, and click "Release Funds"
https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/24837709/31051557-b36c3988-a69d-11e7-861d-86321d14cf86.jpg


When a transaction is complete, Seller can withdraw his funds from the smart contract. Escrow agent can also withdraw his fees. If transaction is refunded, Buyer can withdraw the refund.
https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/24837709/31051660-dcd812da-a6a0-11e7-90ac-59cfe0ab465d.jpg



I made a video guide for escrow agents and buyers: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLN7fp80Uh8Iwy0tI2jTU0A


For a written guide using the Dapp, please read this thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2221107.0


It's all open source. You can see the code if you're interested

Escrow smart contract: https://etherscan.io/address/0x1c02ce498dc6d0d6ef05a253e021258b07eeba91#code

Smart contract for storing profile info: https://etherscan.io/address/0xcf356ab67132c1359ebdd0ccc928fdb020eaa929#code

Github: https://github.com/KayinCheung/KayinCheung.github.io


It has been reviewed by Reddit /r/EthDev community with a 1 ETH bug bounty: https://www.reddit.com/r/ethdev/comments/6zwb1x/escrowmyether_1_eth_bug_bounty/


Disclaimer: There is a 0.25% dev fee to support future development. If Escrow agent charge 1%, the total fees for Seller is 1.25%. It's free to use for Escrow agent and Buyers.


If you need help setting up to offer escrow service, please feel free to pm me. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

Only untrusted ones, some escrows have been around for a very long time and have escrowed millions of dollars sometimes in a  single transaction and yet they have not scammed a single cent.

this is Best two escrow team

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1938190 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1938190)

you can ask them to save your money till Deal end or use this

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=855778.0 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=855778.0)

But happened more than once in the past, escrow once reputable now have negative trust. For example escrow.ms and Quickseller. There was at least one once reputable escrow that stole money, but I don't remember the name. Also accounts can be hacked

Positive trust and honest transactions surely increase the odds, but are not 100% warranty

Since you have been around for a very long time you remember those specific cases, I suppose the only thing we can say is that a trusted escrow can help you in your transactions but even then we must be careful.

Correct since there are certain happenings that escrow scam his clients and watch those past history on scam accusation thread and you will see there that the popular escrow scamming incident is with master-P who used to be a trusted member of this furom before, And for this issue we should make it a basis so that we will be more vigilant upon using an escrow service so that we will not be scam by trusted score hiding scammers.

This is just happening when you chose the wrong escrow. If I have a big project and there's a big amount of bitcoin/money involve I'll be depending to those escrow that has been trusted and will let them sign a contract for a proof of professionalism. But in most cases, escrows that has good reputation now in the community are reliable. Don't just trust those people that doesn't have any background in dealing with others and if possible pay them for their service so that they'll never think something bad about the money.

The concept of Escrow is practically known to all. Can anyone provide information on how to actually code a smart contract for Escrow? Plus what are the different ways to release an escrow? Like milestone based release? And is the release effected with Voting?

Hey you said you would tell the escrow the card is working then I tell you to release the btc because it is working. What then if I say the card is not working give mr back my bitcoin, but the truth is it was working. Just curious and is there a list of trusted escrows here? I believe moderators should publish a list of trusted escrows.