[ANN] Achow101's escrow service

[achow101]

My name has changed from knightdk to achow101. See https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1609738.0.

I am now opening an escrow service!

Always wait for or ask for a PGP signed message from me before sending me any Bitcoin. Always verify the message you receive.

I will no longer be escrowing Forum Account sales.

I will escrow nearly everything so long as it is legal. Some examples:
Digital trades (e.g. Bitcointalk accounts, domains)
IPOs/ICOs (e.g. altcoin IPOs)
Signature Campaigns
Physical trades (e.g. miners)

I can do both 2 party and multi party escrows.

I am offering two types of escrow, traditional and multisig.
Traditional escrow requires that you trust me to hold onto the funds and release them when requested.
Multisig is using a multisignature Bitcoin address which does not require that you trust me to not steal the funds.

I will be charging fees for my services. The following is a baseline but they can be decreased and negotiated
Private party escrow (e.g. product trade): 0.01BTC or 1% of the trade value, whichever is greater
Multi-party escrow (e.g. Sig campaign): 5% of the amount

How to conduct an escrowed trade
1. Contact me through PM to initiate the escrow. Make sure that the message you send contains who the buyer and seller are, how much is being paid, who is paying the fee, and whether to use multisig. I will assume by default the trade will be using traditional escrow
2. I will respond with a PGP signed message with instructions which will contain the details of the transaction and where the Bitcoin should be sent.
3. If any dispute arises, I will be the judge and resolve it as fairly as possible. I will make a decision and release the Bitcoin to the proper parties. I will remain neutral throughout the dispute.

Contact
Bitcointalk PM: This is the only method through which I can be contacted and the only method through which any escrow instructions will be sent.

I am online at the following times (all EST):
Weekdays: 4:00 PM - 10:00 PM (sometimes I will be on earlier but on mobile so I may not be able to provide escrow)
Weekends: 11:00 AM - 10:00 PM

My PGP Public Key
This is my PGP public key, always make sure that any instructions that I send are signed with this PGP key. It can also be accessed at https://keybase.io/achow101/key.asc

Code:

-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
Version: GnuPG v1

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=+hz7
-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----

PGP Signed Message verifying this service

Code:

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA512

This signed message verifies that I, knightdk, am opening an escrow service on bitcointalk.org on February 22, 2016.
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1

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d/H7uOvrn4dcHf+bp0YB
=2Sdd
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Tips are appreciated and they can be sent to 16mT7jrpkjnJBD7a3TM2awyxHub58H6r6Z

Please leave comments and feedback here or in my trust.

[1715415369]

1715415369

[1715415369]

1715415369

[1715415369]

1715415369

[DebitMe]

Why was your password reset recently and can you sign a message from an address you have posted from before today?

[achow101]

Why was your password reset recently

I had to change my password because there was the potential that someone could have hacked me. So I changed it, and I typed the password wrong when I set it so I had to reset and redo it. It is because of what I described here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1340882.0

and can you sign a message from an address you have posted from before today?

Sure:

Code:

-----BEGIN BITCOIN SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Comment: Signed by Bitcoin Armory v0.93.3

This is knightdk verifying that I still own this account on February 22, 2016
-----BEGIN BITCOIN SIGNATURE-----


G5jr4YxFcYvIX8IZr/Hm3Iy5uYP6l68N320ub2DVHn5B5ihsDi8LlIwJoLMbAg9e
bxdNAdUkIt1yfdaK5zNX7LU=
=C6vu
-----END BITCOIN SIGNATURE-----

Address was staked in https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=996318.msg11476547#msg11476547

[DebitMe]

Why was your password reset recently

I had to change my password because there was the potential that someone could have hacked me. So I changed it, and I typed the password wrong when I set it so I had to reset and redo it. It is because of what I described here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1340882.0

and can you sign a message from an address you have posted from before today?

Sure:

Code:

-----BEGIN BITCOIN SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Comment: Signed by Bitcoin Armory v0.93.3

This is knightdk verifying that I still own this account on February 22, 2016
-----BEGIN BITCOIN SIGNATURE-----


G5jr4YxFcYvIX8IZr/Hm3Iy5uYP6l68N320ub2DVHn5B5ihsDi8LlIwJoLMbAg9e
bxdNAdUkIt1yfdaK5zNX7LU=
=C6vu
-----END BITCOIN SIGNATURE-----

Address was staked in https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=996318.msg11476547#msg11476547

cool beans, good luck with your service!

[xinzark]

That's what this community need. An escrow service by a user with clean background not others whose accounts are suspected to be bought
Don't get me wrong but charging 0.01 btc at the beginning of your service seems to be big

[achow101]

That's what this community need. An escrow service by a user with clean background not others whose accounts are suspected to be bought
Don't get me wrong but charging 0.01 btc at the beginning of your service seems to be big

Well I have heard that escrowing can be difficult and many times people don't tip. The thing is, I want a little reward, but if I started out without a fee and then started charging a fee later, then people wouldn't like it. Instead I will start out with a higher fee and over time I may lower that. Also, I don't want a ton of escrow requests because they take a lot of time so this is a little barrier to keep the load lower.

[doctorsnaggles]

Well I have heard that escrowing can be difficult and many times people don't tip. The thing is, I want a little reward, but if I started out without a fee and then started charging a fee later, then people wouldn't like it. Instead I will start out with a higher fee and over time I may lower that. Also, I don't want a ton of escrow requests because they take a lot of time so this is a little barrier to keep the load lower.

I guess your "business model" is not based on barclays or similar.

[barbara44]

Can anyone tell apart from Knightdk's escrow service , which are the good escrow services ? List them in the order from most reliable to least reliable. This will help us making a choice in selection.

[Mickeyb]

Can anyone tell apart from Knightdk's escrow service , which are the good escrow services ? List them in the order from most reliable to least reliable. This will help us making a choice in selection.

If you're looking for a safe, big transaction escrow Mitchell is the guy , a relatively small but quick escrow ~$100 I'd go for Sebastian and for the safest escrow I'd go for shorena. @OP there's much competetion already for offering such a high fee

Here's the whole list anyway: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=855778.0

[achow101]

If you're looking for a safe, big transaction escrow Mitchell is the guy , a relatively small but quick escrow ~$100 I'd go for Sebastian and for the safest escrow I'd go for shorena.

Hey! Don't be advertising for others in my thread  

@OP there's much competetion already for offering such a high fee

Yeah, I know, but there have been a few escrows who have stopped escrowing so I thought I would come fill in a gap and help escrow stuff. Also, my fees are negotiable (I will add that to the OP) and I can usually be talked into lowering my fees significantly.

[weex]

Hey Knightdk. Great to see you're starting in on the escrow biz. The project you helped me with before has been released at least at the alpha level. You should sign up to be a mediator as I would use you for a future job. http://reinproject.org Check it out. Also, if you have any ideas for jobs to post to help the project, I'm accepting suggestions.

[achow101]

Hey Knightdk. Great to see you're starting in on the escrow biz. The project you helped me with before has been released at least at the alpha level. You should sign up to be a mediator as I would use you for a future job. http://reinproject.org Check it out. Also, if you have any ideas for jobs to post to help the project, I'm accepting suggestions.

Awesome, I'll check it out. It has come a long way since I last looked at that!

[Smack That Ace]

Can you code ?

Thanks
Duke

[achow101]

Can you code ?

Thanks
Duke

Depends on what you want, but that is off topic for this thread.

[Smack That Ace]

Sorry
Needed a coder escrow for a deal.

Regards

Duke

[achow101]

Sorry
Needed a coder escrow for a deal.

Regards

Duke

Regarding this I suppose: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1392185.msg14175242#msg14175242.

Yes, I do code and I can read and understand code. If you would like me to escrow a deal, please send me a PM.

[JohnBitCo]

Can you guide me how does escrow works ?

[achow101]

Can you guide me how does escrow works ?

The buyer or seller contacts the escrow to arrange an escrow of a good or service.

The escrow creates an escrow address. This address can be either a normal address or a multisig address. The multisig address requires that 2 of the 3 parties involved (seller, buyer, escrow) allows the transaction from that address to happen. It is extra protection.

Then the seller sends the funds for the payment to the escrow address. The product is then exchanged. If it is a digital good and the escrow can verify it, then it is sent to the escrow. The escrow will verify the good and if it meets what the buyer stated that he wanted, it is forwarded to the buyer. If the buyer likes the product, then he tells the escrow to release the funds from the escrow address to the seller. If the buyer doesn't, he can dispute.

For physical goods, usually it is just the seller ships the item to the buyer and the buyer will verify that the item he received was what he wanted. He then informs the escrow to release the funds. If what he got wasn't what he wanted, he can dispute.

If a dispute happens, the escrow mediates. He takes information and evidence from both parties and decides who gets how much of the money.

That is how escrow typically works.

[JasonXG]

Mind my asking but why do you not have any rating or trust at all ?

[achow101]

Mind my asking but why do you not have any rating or trust at all ?

I do have trust, it's just that none of the people who have left me feedback are on Default Trust so most people don't see those feedback. If you click the link in my trust page to show untrusted feedback, you will see all of those ratings.