Can this tool be used without the escrow part?
Just 2 people: payer sends the BTC to some address and they can only be released when payer and payee agree on it.
Of course - just have either of the two people be the escrow agent.
The only drawback is if the payer and payee fail to agree, the only alternative is nobody gets the funds. That advantage could be used by the payer to extort something from the payee beyond the goods he has already received.
If either of the 2 people is the escrow agent, then he will have both Invitation codes and can claim the BTC for himself?
Go to Tools >> Two-Factor Bitcoin Tools >> Key Combiner.
You'll need a fresh empty bitcoin address that you don't care about, as will your trading partner. You give them your hex public key (found via the address utility), and they give you their hex public key. You put your hex PRIVATE key in "Input Key 1" and their PUBLIC hex key in Input 2. Make sure EC Multiplication is checked, which it is by default, and hit combine. This will generate a bitcoin address at the bottom. When they put *their private hex key* and *your PUBLIC hex key* in the respective inputs on their software, they will arrive at the same bitcoin address as you did. You can both verify that the same address was generated.
Then to get the private key of that address you two created, you simple need to enter the private hex key of both your and your partner's address. So either they give their private key to you, or you give your private key to them.
Voila! No escrow, but you can both verify the faux-escrow address and know for sure the other party cannot access it.
