Bisq going rogue?

[bitcoin talk]

Could Bisq go rogue thereby making it impossible to withdraw my funds? Does it have the capacity to do so?

[mk4]

I'm pretty sure they can't. Bisq is non-custodial, and if ever they go bust, you can import your Bisq wallet backup to another wallet such as Electrum.

https://docs.bisq.network/secure-wallet.html

[figmentofmyass]

Could Bisq go rogue thereby making it impossible to withdraw my funds? Does it have the capacity to do so?

your biggest concern would be security vulnerabilities in bisq's software. case in point: Hacker Exploits Flaw in Decentralized Bitcoin Exchange Bisq to Steal $250K

To carry out the thefts, the attacker was able to set other users’ default fallback address – the destination to which crypto is sent to if a trade fails – to their own. Posing as a seller, they would start a trade with a buyer and simply wait for the time limit to run out. Rather than going to the legitimate owner, the digital assets arrived with the attacker, along with the buyer’s payment and security deposit too.

as an open-source application, it's unlikely that bisq developers would purposefully inject malicious code putting your funds at risk, although it is possible. as a layman, your best bet is to wait on downloading/installing new releases until some time has passed for others to analyze the code.

[witcher_sense]

Could Bisq go rogue thereby making it impossible to withdraw my funds? Does it have the capacity to do so?

Bisq can be thought of as a regular bitcoin wallet, you are the owner of private keys and, therefore, have full control over your funds. Even if bisq developers were to go rogue, it would not prevent you from accessing your funds because all keys would still be in your possession. Decentralized, non-custodial exchanges are considered safer because of the fact that unlike on centralized exchanges like Binance and others, no one can freeze your funds, censor your transactions, ban your account due to suspicious activity or government request.

[RabbiTANK]

Could Bisq go rogue thereby making it impossible to withdraw my funds? Does it have the capacity to do so?

Bisq have to control over your funds, why are you bringing this up? Do you know the importance of private keys and recovery seeds? I get it's precaution but bisq isn't like coinbase or free wallet where users have to log into their wallet with email and password

[Porfirii]

I read the title of this thread and thought OMG fortunately it is not the case after reading what is it about.

Being true that it is decentralized, open source, you hold your keys... it is unlikely it would be their fault (I mean, going rogue), but I think it is a good advice not to have big funds there, just in case they get hacked. As in any other exchange, centralized or decentralized, I would just have the necessary funds there, not more. Coins would be always safer in a HW.

Better safe than sorry.

[LeGaulois]

I don't know about others but even if Bisq exchange is decentralized I treat it like any centralized exchange.

I don't keep coins on it for the long or even medium term.
I send coins to my wallet only when I need to use them and remove them as soon as I'm done. As it is said above better safe than sorry but since it is open-source if a bad code is injected it would be immediately noticed. Even if you have the private key, if your wallet is compromised you will have no use of the key since the bitcoins will be gone already

[o_e_l_e_o]

Everyone is talking about coins stored in your own Bisq wallet, which as above, is non-custodial and therefore Bisq have no access to.

If you use Bisq, you also have to deposit the bitcoin you are trading and/or a security deposit of bitcoin to an escrow address. There are a couple of things which prevent Bisq "going rogue" here. First of all, the escrow is a 2-of-2 multisig between you and the trading partner. Bisq used to use 2-of-3 multisigs where Bisq themselves had access to one key, but this is no longer the case. The only way for the funds in this address to end up in Bisq's control is for a trade to be disputed, you be unable to reach a resolution with the arbitrator, and the time locked transaction be published, which would send the funds to the donation address.

In order to keep the arbitrator and the donation address owner honest, they are both required to stake a bond. In the arbitrator's case, the bond is 10,000 BSQ, which at current trading prices equates to around 0.8 BTC or ~$29,000. In the case of the donation address owner, the bond is 50,000 BSQ, or 4 BTC (~$144,000).

To lose your money in this way, you would need you trading partner, the arbitrator and the donation address owner to collaborate with each other and against you. As soon as they did, the wider DAO would vote to punish the arbitrator and the donation address owner, and they would both lose their staked coins. So if you are trading less than $173,000 or 5 BTC in a single trade at current prices, then there is no incentive for these people to "go rogue".