How to begin with becoming an escrow agent?

[l8nit3]

What exchanges have you been on?

I've seen the name l8nit3 but can't recall where or under what circumstances.

craptsy, bittrex, poloniex, yobit, c-cex, and many more. However I was also quite active for a bit on HT during the XPY days. Im also occasionally on xda-dev for android..... usually asking for assistance in whatever project ive decided to attempt lol

[1715176609]

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[1715176609]

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[1715176609]

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[Timelord2067]

What exchanges have you been on?

I've seen the name l8nit3 but can't recall where or under what circumstances.

craptsy, bittrex, poloniex, yobit, c-cex, and many more. However I was also quite active for a bit on HT during the XPY days. Im also occasionally on xda-dev for android..... usually asking for assistance in whatever project ive decided to attempt lol

Oh ok, I can't recall, no matter, I can only suggest you do trades here in the currency exchange section, but having said that, you could likely get tagged for attempting building trust.

[teddy5145]

Why do you want to be an escrow anyway?
We already have so much escrow currently that i don't think we need another one
But the mandatory requirements to be an escrow is a trust
Good luck getting trusts

[Blazed]

Let me see if I can help at all. I recently retired from the "Big 5" because frankly it sucks being an escrow here. The best way to start I suppose is by offering to handle small escrows. Do not try to go for big stuff until you have proved yourself trustworthy. I think a good idea moving forward after the Master-P thing might be to get vetted by someone trusted (basically hand over your dox). Probably a good idea to start one of those threads where your friends post about you (never made one, but there is a section here for it). A good starting point that is needed is account escrows. There is a lack of escrows for them and most are low in value (good starting area and potential niche market for you). Expect to not get tipped much or even thanked often for your hard work though. Definitely charge a decent fee because it is a lot of work once you get known!

[enhu]

becoming an escrow agent is somehow not an easy route this time especially because of what recently happen with masterp, i believe you already know that. it made a buzz here in the forum and somehow people thinks it is unsafe this time. its been resolved as far as i know but sure its not going to be the same anymore.

[praprata]

Trust is the most important for escrow. Is really nice to be agent, but they are already a lot of people that they can trust to be a escrow. I think it will be difficult to go in.

[Timelord2067]

Found it -

Thanks for the heads up - will add to the list on the forum site (kind of quiet just now - we need more stimulation!!!)

Awesome thank you
also as a headsup, the links in the OP of this thread still point to sexcoinforum.ORG instead of .com

Yeh, we're trying to tell as many people as possable that the forum is now sexcoinforum.com - Will add you to the list later today.

I like the idea of the self Dox-ing.  The more transparent you are the more quickly we can hunt you down if / when you cock up the better...

[Blazed]

Trust is the most important for escrow. Is really nice to be agent, but they are already a lot of people that they can trust to be a escrow. I think it will be difficult to go in.

It takes years to build up trust and you have to start somewhere. Starting small and doing small escrows (~$20) is a good place to begin. I am curious why you wish to become an escrow? When I started it was due to so many people asking me to escrow...not from the desire to do extra work.

[Timelord2067]

Trust is the most important for escrow. Is really nice to be agent, but they are already a lot of people that they can trust to be a escrow. I think it will be difficult to go in.

It takes years to build up trust and you have to start somewhere. Starting small and doing small escrows (~$20) is a good place to begin. I am curious why you wish to become an escrow? When I started it was due to so many people asking me to escrow...not from the desire to do extra work.

Another tool of the trade would have to be having a set of PGP keys.

The BCT PGP/GPG Public Key Database: Stake Your PGP Key Here https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1159946.0

But Blazed is right, I'm wondering why you'd want the grief right now?

[Snorek]

Op, I have pretty interesting method for you. I thought about it and here it goes: If you want to offer escrow services and you are 'newbie' escrow probably the best way for you to do it is to use another escrow.
In short: you deposit sum of money (say 1 BTC) with help of another very trusted escrow, and offer people your escrow services with the limit of 1 BTC. That is how you build up your trust and eventually you will be independent escrow.

[subSTRATA]

Trust is the most important for escrow. Is really nice to be agent, but they are already a lot of people that they can trust to be a escrow. I think it will be difficult to go in.

It takes years to build up trust and you have to start somewhere. Starting small and doing small escrows (~$20) is a good place to begin. I am curious why you wish to become an escrow? When I started it was due to so many people asking me to escrow...not from the desire to do extra work.

imo this should be the only reason someone starts openly offering their services as an escrow provider, its a very strong show of peoples' trust in an individual.

[Mickeyb]

In short: you deposit sum of money (say 1 BTC) with help of another very trusted escrow, and offer people your escrow services with the limit of 1 BTC. That is how you build up your trust and eventually you will be independent escrow.

Farming trust , you mean? That is just wrong. Escrow should be someone nearly everyone mutually trusts, not someone who you have to keep on the toes, just because he had some 50 buck deals with DT members.

[Timelord2067]

In short: you deposit sum of money (say 1 BTC) with help of another very trusted escrow, and offer people your escrow services with the limit of 1 BTC. That is how you build up your trust and eventually you will be independent escrow.

Farming trust , you mean? That is just wrong. Escrow should be someone nearly everyone mutually trusts, not someone who you have to keep on the toes, just because he had some 50 buck deals with DT members.

Five thousand, or even ten thousand dollars would be more the sum required in prior trades.

You don't even have a reply for this that you sent.

ollierexx 0: -0 / +0   2015-12-15   0.01204000   Reference   Great service, fast responses, would absolutely use again.

[betohell]

first you must be trusted member green trust and higher rank,
and usually makes people believe that you must be a moderator or a part of this forum

[The Sceptical Chymist]

I mean no offense by this, but I definitely would not use you as an escrow--not with the other escrow agents already available with positive trading history.  They got to be trusted by doing trades first and they've been around for a lot longer than you.  You're a senior member, which is getting there, but you still have a ways to go before being Legendary.

[EdenHazard]

Hello again BCT members!
I am reaching out to all those with more knowledge then I currently have on the subject of escrow services. Being that I've become a 'Senior Member' here on BCT and have been a fairly active member since July 14, 2014, 11:03:00 AM, I have decided I would like to offer my services as an escrow agent to any who need one.

However, before actually releasing an ANN stating such (or similar advertising), I would like to do all of my research and know exactly what is required of all parties, specifically me of course. lol

I understand that I would need to have a valid and confirmed PGP signature (to essentially verify my 'online identity'), and would likely need to use a multisig setup for each transaction, however that is where my knowledge ends. (I understand how to setup the things Ive mentioned, I just don't know if more is required.)

So, if anyone here at BCT could shed some light on the subject for me that would be greatly appreciated.

EDIT#1
advice so far for anyone else who is looking into the subject:

1)from avatar_kiyoshi

begin from trade something like voucher steam, trade BTC to fiat/PayPal ....... your name listed to escrow list on Marco thread.

2)from WENGER

...trust is everything...

3) from Shibashi Dogemoto

...positive feedback from trusted members ...feedback from DT should be earned ....... giving your dox to theymos or badbear

4)from prodigy8

...deposit some money to administrator, And escrow the deals up to this amount...

and 5) from subSTRATA and twister

...forget it...

/EDIT#1

i am agree with WENGER,i also think that trust is everything,and not easy to get some trust from any user or member,i found some escrow fail on some forum because they can't hold the trust,yes because trust is not only hard to get,but hard to hold,make sure that you have many time transaction with some user,and have permit from any admin or post on macro thread.

[mocacinno]

I agree with all the points in your OP, one more thing i could think off:

A lot of companies and also escrow services (master-p) claimed to be hacked when they were running away with our coins. Next to having massive green trust, a self dox and giving some bitcoins as collateral, i'd like to see an escrow agent that is completely open about his/her security.

That way, people know how the escrow agent secures our coins, and any problems with the security precautions can be given to the escrow in the form of feedback.

security-wise i'd expect an escrow agent to:
- have both his address and PGP key staked in an old thread
- run up-to-date OS's (preferably linux or unix), or at least be open about his virusscanner/malware detection
- has a decent network setup in his office (routing, firewall,...), everything regularly updated (firmware-wise)
- either use a hardware wallet, or use an offline PC to sign all transactions, and have a watch-only client on his internet-pc
- store part of his funds on paper wallets, generated with the offline PC
- have a strong contingency-plan in case of an accident (for example, store an usb-stick with his/her encrypted wallet.dat in a safe with his bank, and give his wife and brother/sister a password to decrypt said wallet.dat).
- use a good password policy (Keepass) to have strong and regularly updated passwords on all his accounts


Personally, if i was buying a couple thousand dollars woth of goods, i'd rather pay 3% to an escrow agent that had massive green trust, could be doxxed by theymos, had some collateral with a second escrow agent and was 100% open about his security measures compared to a free escrow agent that is completely anonymous and with whom i have no idear about his security...

[chokesir]

I would start by having  0% fees and try to work you on your account:
- Do traders
- Upgrade in rank

Then you will see more people will trust you with low amounts of money.

[Timelord2067]

I don't disagree with @mocacinno but I would take a slightly different approach, I wouldn't for example give passwords to family and friends in a manor they could run away with the coins easily, nor would I for example revel details of my OS, firewall or similar - this would tell someone planning to attack you where and how to attack.

I haven't read anything from l8nit3 to make me want to use him as an Escrow, I think given the endevour he wants to embark on, he should be online more often to respond to our questions.

I'll keep following the thread to see what transpires.

[Timelord2067]

So, just to verify; your BTC address used is 1G2PTf59cYsWKoZjj3i3Cv1Bb8NuNaeho2 which has been in use since Christmas (when quite a few newbies sprung to life)

http://www.bctalkaccountpricer.info/?token=1igbtg8j

1G2PTf59cYsWKoZjj3i3Cv1Bb8NuNaeho2 First posted on: January 08, 2016, 04:32:53 AM

username:   l8nit3
post count: 342 including this one
rank:          senior member
Btc addy:    1G2PTf59cYsWKoZjj3i3Cv1Bb8NuNaeho2

https://blockchain.info/address/1G2PTf59cYsWKoZjj3i3Cv1Bb8NuNaeho2 the outgoing wallets are inconclusive at first glance as they don't show up here.

Your info (available to anyone)

Gender:    Male
Age:    28
Location:    Southern Ontario

I discount

L8nit3 of NottaDev Inc.

as being said in jest.