Bitcoin Forum

I'm trying to build an annotated list of all the escrow systems currently in use in the Bitcoin ecosystem and for digital commerce. Also a list of proposed new systems that have yet to be fully implemented. For the most complete list, I will pay 1 bitcoin.

Update:

As I am increasing the bounty again, let me create some criterion for what I want:

• A list of each commonly used escrow service (no bitmit is not an escrow service; they are implementing one for their marketplace)
• A annotation explaining how the service works
• Links, if possible to find, of a security analysis of the escrow system
• Pros and Cons of each system
• Proposed new escrow systems that have yet to be implemented
• Names of anyone in the community working on new escrow systems

For particularly helpful snippets, I'll pay 0.05 btc.

Bounties Paid so Far:
(rethaw; 0.05; bonus; https://blockchain.info/tx/c588b68ee110e80af46549b9249d362c3620562d4148468e966e6605db030bf8)
(Voodah; 0.05; bonus; https://blockchain.info/tx/7be9132ff75b73158a3469f6957d3a2e5464a38b18452354575c3d708b652c6c)
(Abdussamad; 0.05; bonus; https://blockchain.info/tx/cab3a8ce117affc408a5d79e52b2f116cdba669afe1e53ebf0f843806be3c816)
(Pajamaw; 0.05; bonus; https://blockchain.info/tx/ecdd88cbbf28a4e9348b20792840d2c27bebaeca1e86a3386ba825555ad3accf)

Bounty Increased to 0.50 bitcoins

You mean like this:

http://www.bitescrow.org/

Also, there is escrow at #bitcoin-otc (trusted individuals)

Basically, there are a few functional sites, but there are lots of users here in the forum and in otc doing it.

To the already mentioned:

http://www.bitescrow.org/

you can add:

http://btcrow.com/
http://www.bitcoin-escrow.net/
http://thebitcoinescrow.com/

but I know nothing about these sites (the last one looks pretty shady.... stay away imho)


Former examples (now closed) were:

https://clearcoin.appspot.com/
http://thrucoin.com/


There's also this list (and thread), which is 6 or 7 months old with some dead links but also contains lots of users offering in their posts:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=108716.0


So.. all of that plus you got users here in the forum and OTC of course...

....aaaaannnnd that's pretty much all there is afaik....

Add bitmit and silk road to the above list.  So the most comprehensive list thus far is

http://www.bitescrow.org/
http://btcrow.com/
http://www.bitcoin-escrow.net/
http://thebitcoinescrow.com/
https://clearcoin.appspot.com/
http://thrucoin.com/
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=108716.0
www.bitmit.net
silk road (which i'm having trouble locating atm)

You can send the .5bitcoin to
1KWQHHWxmHKa8KwQmeX7AmZMGtCsU9WYrB
 ;)

Recall I mentioned annotations. Sorry not that easy mate :)

Bounty increased 0.75 btc

A scammer can make a site and annouce it everyhere IMO.
I stick to trusted users.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=108716.0

Was just about to mention the same thread. I don't know how updated the list is, but it's a good start.

Lol, this OP is one funny guy.

I gave you the list you asked for initially in my first post.

Now it turns out what you need is:

+ a complete market & sector analysis
+ further security analysis of each asset found
+ comparative analysis of all assets found
+ new business ideas for the sector
+ analyisis/list of all upcoming players

and you want all of it for the lousy sum 0.75 ??

There's a whole industry dedicated to this, we call it market research.

Your little assignment (which was acceptable in your (now edited) first format and conditions) is probably a whole month's worth of work for a marketing firm, with of course, a proper cost.

It seems clear to me now you are just trying to rob people's time, and I find you highly deceptive, to say the very least.

I'm even thinking of using the trust system for the first time to give you a brand new -

If I were you, I'd respect my word, choose an answer and pay what I promised, OR at the very least simply understand the overextension of what you ask, apologize and delete this abortion of a thread. It is only making you look as sleazy guy, and from what I gather you want to call yourself a bitcoin educator.. Let's hope not all of our community's educators behave this way..

It is quite clear that the OP could have done a google search and generated the results you provided in about 5 minutes.  Furthermore, the list you provided appears to be somewhat inaccurate.

From a value perspective, you have not produced anything close to worth $50 or $75.  Any reasonable person would feel ashamed to demand $75 for a google search when it is quite clear the OP wanted something that involved at least a couple of hours of effort.

I would recommend that if you are so concerned about collecting a bounty that you are willing to call someone a scammer that you should first establish a more detailed and objective criteria.   Without a meeting of the minds there is no contract and thus no room to call anyone a scammer.

Charles has a history of paying bounties.  If you think he isn't offering enough, then say so and negotiate a price.   You have no more right to be the sole judge of meeting the customers demands than those curb-side window washers that demand payment after washing your windows.

It is. But he didn't do the search, indicating that a) his time is more valuable invested in another endeavour and thus he pays for it, or b) he's too lazy.
I assume it is a).


What part of what I said is inaccurate?


If I assume his time is valuable (as I did) $50 is not outrageous at all to offload a 15-30 min task, as this was originally (note 0.5 not 0.7). On my winter job as a ski systems technician I charge USD 300-500 hourly rates, and countless times have I offloaded work for a lot more than his bounty, sometimes even the full amount I get paid.

A lot more unreasonable and really something to be ashamed as you say, is to ask for a full dead-serious market research for the 0.7, less than $100 bucks for something probably upwards of 3-5k... Walmart should open a marketing department imho..

From a value perspective, one of the two options is a lot more crazy than the other.. honestly, which one is it?



I would recommend that you re-read my posts paying some more attention.

Not once did I express concern for collecting a bounty, nor did I ever call him a scammer.
I still think and mantain what I said: what he did was deceptive, and made him look sleazy. I'm sorry, but it's true.


I am saying so... and you are the one who out of the blue positioned yourself in the middle of this... maybe in a judgey kind of way?

I understand you vouch for Charles. I am merely pointing out what I myself consider to be faulty behavior, specially from someone who aspires to educate people.

This is what I got for 0.25 bitcoins: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=220412.msg2355726#msg2355726

i'm asking for about 2 hours worth of work at around $37.50 per hour. I don't expect a month long market report. Just a post that has more effort than a google search. If you happen to be a domain expert on escrow, then you could easily write something up addressing my questions in under an hour. My OP expressed annotations even before the update:




Where the hell are they? You expect to be paid 50 dollars for a five minute google search? You also did not satisfy the bounty prior to my update. Seriously dude?

Also any new systems? There are none? Escrow despite its enormous application has no innovation whatsoever?


Which implies I will wait for more than one contribution. You're clearly not comprehending what I'm asking for. I'm sorry you wasted your time making a list that will eventually be used to educate people in the Bitcoin community about escrow.  

In case you haven't read it, this is the best place to start. This explains how to use the blockchain to perform escrow and from it you can understand the underlying security of an escrow system.

Example 2: Escrow and dispute mediation

A buyer wants to trade with somebody he doesn't know or trust. In the common case where the transaction goes well, the client doesn't want any third parties involved. If something goes wrong though, he'd like a third party to decide who gets the money - perhaps a professional dispute mediation service. Note that this concept can apply to either buyer or seller. The mediator might request proof of postage from the merchant, for example.

In other words, one wants to lock up some coins so a third party has to agree in order for them to be spent:

  1. Agree with the merchant on a dispute mediator (e.g., ClearCoin).
  2. Ask the merchant for a public key (K1). Ask the mediator for a public key (K2). Create a new key for yourself (K3).
  3. Send the merchant K2. The merchant challenges the mediator with a random nonce. The mediator signs the nonce with the private form of K2, thus proving it really belongs to merchant.
  4. Create a transaction (Tx1) with an output script as follows and broadcast it:


Now the coins are locked in such a way that they can only be spent by the following methods:

  1. Client and the merchant agree (either a successful trade, or merchant agrees to reimburse client without mediation)
  2. Client and the mediator agree (failed trade, mediator sides with client, like a charge-back)
  3. The mediator and the merchant agree (goods delivered, merchant gets client's coins despite the dispute)

When signing an input, the contents are set to the connected output. Thus, to redeem this transaction, the client creates a scriptSig containing zeros where the other signature should be, signs it, and then sets one of the slots to his new signature. The partially-complete transaction can then be sent to the merchant or mediator for the second signature.

link (https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Contracts#Example_2:_Escrow_and_dispute_mediation)

Good luck with your bounty!

Whatever. Read my above post for my line of thought.

It's water under bridge. This whole discussion helps no one.

Voodah and rethaw, post some addresses. You both qualify for the 0.05 btc snippet bounty.

Neat! 1JHviQuE66JpZcVFqtBHnQjCKQY5Uq7xy3

I'm really interested in your project. It would be great if there was a trusted third party with no financial incentive to favor one service over the other. I believe John K is the current most widely used escrow service and it is completely manual, strange!

Bonus bounty paid:

https://blockchain.info/tx/c588b68ee110e80af46549b9249d362c3620562d4148468e966e6605db030bf8

Voodah send an address.

1G6EQwiAfTVyTpK4j3XZ65CvonjDGrPsQ

Thanks and good luck on your project.

Bonus Bounty Paid:

https://blockchain.info/tx/7be9132ff75b73158a3469f6957d3a2e5464a38b18452354575c3d708b652c6c

Payment confirmed.

Also, just stumbled upon this which went live yesterday.

http://www.jobs4bitcoins.net/ Escrow for jobs & services (from the mods of /r/jobs4bitcoins subreddit so it's kinda verified)

I'd like to write about escrow systems that don't involve (human) third parties but instead use the technology behind bitcoin.

• First up there is the variation on the multisig where you use public keys belonging to the buyer and the seller to create a multisig address. Bitcoins are then sent to that address and can only be redeemed with the cooperation of both the buyer and seller. The technical explanation of how this is done is here:
  
  https://people.xiph.org/~greg/escrowexample.txt
  
  
• Another approach is to use a site called bit2factor.org. It works like this:
  
  • The buyer of the coins enters a secret passphrase of his choice to generate an intermediate code. He then shares the intermediate code with the seller.
    
  • The seller uses the intermediate code to generate an encrypted private key, corresponding address and "confirmation code". He keeps the private key to himself but shares the address and confirmation code with the buyer.
    
  • The buyer enters the confirmation code and his secret passphrase to see if the same bitcoin address the seller gave him is generated. If yes he gives the seller the go ahead to send the coins to that address.
    
  • Now the coins are in an address whose encrypted private key is in the hands of the seller and the passphrase that will decrypt that private key are in the hands of the buyer. Neither party can spend the coins on their own.
    
  • After the buyer has paid the seller for the coins the seller sends him the encrypted private key. The buyer then enters that and his passphrase in the "Decrypt Key" form to get the decrypted private key behind the coins.
    
  • If the transaction goes south neither party can spend the coins on their own and have to cooperate to get access to the coins.
    

Disadvantages

• The last point is the biggest downside to this sort of system. When you don't have a third party to mediate you end up in a situation where the buyer and seller have to cooperate to get at the coins. Depending on the stage of the transaction the situation can be in one or the other party's favour and they can exploit it to their advantage:
  
  • If the seller has sent the coins to the multisig/bit2factor address but the buyer has not yet paid the buyer is at an advantage. He has nothing to loose. The seller OTOH stands to loose his coins forever. The buyer can ask for money in exchange for the passphrase that decrypts the private key.
    
  • If the buyer has paid then he is at a disadvantage. The seller can ask for more money to release the encrypted private key.
    
• It can get complicated and is not for newbies. Also the more complicated something is the higher the chances of monetary loss.
  

Advantages

The advantage is that there is no third party escrow agent who's fees you have to pay and who you have to trust. This fits nicely into the whole bitcoin philosophy of not having to trust your money to third parties.

Abdussamad, you earned a bonus bounty. Send address

Here you go:

1CYNQBmD6kmtmSfZ3hMSQyrS6oirDA9P8H

Bonus Bounty Paid:

https://blockchain.info/tx/cab3a8ce117affc408a5d79e52b2f116cdba669afe1e53ebf0f843806be3c816

Thanks!

Bounty increased to 1 btc

I'm not sure if this will qualify for the bounty but I admire your project and thought I could put my 2 cents in. I won't bother you with random sites that offer escrow services as you now have a plethora of those, but I'll just give you my thought and trust of the whole escrow system as is.

 Bitcoin, as a digital currency, deals with irrevocable transactions, because of this bitcoin has always been a viable option for scammers engaged in foul play.

Because of this systems of trust in an otherwise lawless Wild West scenario needed to be created, this is how the current escrow systems came to be.

We see these escrow systems in the current marketplace.

1-Member isolated third party escrows, where individuals act as an escrow for two other individuals.

2-Company based third part escrows, where a website will offer the service of creating an escrow that may or may not be disputable if fraud occurs.

For the most part most regular escrowing systems as seen in various lists throughout Bitcoin forums rely upon a "trusted" third party member

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=108716.0

This 'trusted' status differs in how its gained from place to place but relies upon the same ideas that an individual that displays a large amount of activity upon their profile in addition to the fact that they have had a large number of successful trades is a reputable individual.

This entire scenario relies on the concept that this individual finds it more worth his time to engage in respectable transactions that allow his own trading to continue, rather than to steal and subsequently ruin his reputation thus ending his trading business.

As noticed this creates a very high risk scenario once large transactions come into play. Is the escrow willing to waste his reputation upon this sum of money?

This answer comes from looking at the only mechanisms given in the bitcoin community, his trust and activity. Sites like bitcoin-otc thrive off of these systems, but are flawed by their lack of future assurance. Nothing is stopping an individual from calling quits on bitcoin all of a sudden and running with the money.

There's a true story that's often told in the silk road forums about a dealer that was trusted throughout the black market site, to a point where his name was synonymous with silk road. He became so trusted that escrow services were no longer thought necessary within his dealings. Then one 4th of july weekend (coincidence haha) he had a firesale, where he was going to give everything away for blowout prices. The blockchain estimated that there were over 20 million dollars worth of transactions made that weekend. It is not known whether he was raided or if he died, all that was known was that the trusted dealer did not send any of his promised bud to his mates.

So despite whatever relative ease or assurance that may be given when a 'trusted' member is offering escrow, there's nothing to say that the escrow will end bad, and the more money that's escrowed, the higher the risk of total losses.

This risk was somewhat mitigated with company based escrow services that started like ClearCoin and BTcrow. These methods offered DISPUTE RESOLUTION SERVICES. ClearCoin became a leading example of the strength of this little principle but unfortunately lasted only 6 months. But in a marketplace that demands anomonitity and deals with these irrevocable transactions, escrow services like this are seeing a field ripe for picking.

As for any future implementations of new bitcoin escrow policies, the only one that I think remains relevant other than creating more trusted company based services that allow disputes and insuranced transactions is the fact that bitcoin is in fact supported by scripts. As rethaw pointed out a few posts above this allows for educated clients to create there own dispute mediation service, unfortunately this can also be subject to fraud.

Pajamaw send an address you earned a bonus bounty.

18xbCH19TzWxm86rEq2opaHrsS5EHACLuP

 :D

I'll try and contribute more a little bit later, but if I don't good luck with the rest of your research!

Bonus Bounty Paid:

ecdd88cbbf28a4e9348b20792840d2c27bebaeca1e86a3386ba825555ad3accf

0.05 btc

The one thing I have not seen is any system where escrow agents post surety bonds with other escrow agents and where the blockchain prevents the escrow agent from doing anything other than releasing the money to some split between the two parties. 

I have also not seen any systems that allow each user to specify their own escrow agent where the escrow agents have agreed to allow a 3rd agent settle the dispute if the two escrow agents cannot agree.    Agents only get involved progressively if there is a dispute.   Combine this with some Nash Equilibrium-like features to encourage parties to settle rather than dispute and you have a very solid system that almost never has to be used.

Obviously the more 'levels of appeal' and surety bonds posted the more people that would have to colude to pull of a scam and ultimately no one would bother trying because they would take losses due to posted surety bonds.

Just noticed the new site above. Cool. Thanks for tipping us.
And I do have an Escrow site too. See my sig. thanks all

Another site (by the same author) that can be used by anyone to act as an escrow agent in a more traditional 3-party escrow (and without the ability to steal funds) is bitescrow.org

It implements the Casascius escrow proposal, which uses some interesting properties of of elliptic curve math to generate an address that can't be spent without cooperation of two of the 3 parties to obtain the private key, similar to an m of n multisig transaction but somewhat easier to use and compatible with every client regardless of whether or not they support multisig (P2SH) addresses. I don't think I can explain the math involved or the security any better than Casascius did at https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/User:Casascius/Escrow_scheme_draft

FYI, Open-Transactions supports smart contracts, and there is a sample "Escrow" smart contract that comes with OT.

(So you can use OT for escrow.)

I was just looking at Monetas. Good work, I hope the second round goes well. I hope you attend C3 to watch Daniel and my presentation on Invictus.

Hello Everyone, GOeureka are live now with Bounty Campaign. Please follow given link to participate.
Click Here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4978912.msg44898515#msg44898515

How i can get my BTC? ???