Frequently Asked Questions
Common Inquiries, Resolved
General
In the context of a financial transaction, escrow is a third-party entity that holds onto funds or assets on behalf of two other parties involved in the transaction. The funds or assets are not released until both parties have fulfilled their obligations as specified in the transaction agreement. This ensures that the funds or assets are only transferred when all the agreed-upon conditions have been met, providing protection for both parties involved. Escrow is often used in real estate transactions to ensure that the buyer’s funds are not released to the seller until the property has been transferred and all necessary documents have been signed.
BitEscrow is a neutral third party that provides protection for sellers and buyers. When you use us, we hold and disburse Bitcoin in a smart contract according to escrow terms, in a non-custodial way.
There are several reasons why you might want to use escrow in a financial transaction. It provides protection for both parties, adds an extra layer of security to the transaction, and can help streamline the transaction process, making it more efficient. By using an escrow service, the funds or assets are held by a neutral third party until all the agreed-upon conditions of the transaction have been met, helping to prevent disputes and ensuring the transaction is completed as planned.
Simple answer is Trust. With BitEscrow, the odds of being scammed are significantly less, compared to completing a transaction without it. We offer a fair, cheap, and fast system where anybody, anywhere can get what they want, with an opportunity to inspect goods or services to decide if they meet the terms and conditions agreed upon with the other party.
Nnon-custodial contracts are contracts that does not hold onto the user’s private keys. Instead, the user retains control of their own private keys and has full control over their funds. This provides a higher level of security and privacy for the user, as their funds are not at risk of being stolen or misused by the service provider.
BitEscrow can be used for the sale of a wide range of goods and services where there is a need for additional protection or security for the transaction parties. Common examples include real estate, vehicles, art, collectibles, businesses, and domain names. It’s important to respect local and international laws, as illegal activities are not permitted and will result in a ban from the service.
BitEscrow protects buyers by withholding payment to the seller until the buyer has inspected and accepted the merchandise or the inspection period expires. It protects sellers by releasing funds once delivery is confirmed and the buyer has accepted the goods or services or the inspection period has expired. It provides security against chargebacks and secures transactions from fraud.
Yes, BitEscrow can be used for international transactions as crypto has no borders. It is advisable to ensure the contract length accommodates the timeline of delivery to prevent early contract expiration.
To get started with BitEscrow, you need a working email address you have access to and a valid Bitcoin address.
Account
If you forget your password, you can easily reset it by clicking on the "Reset Password" link on the login page. Follow the instructions provided to create a new password.
Yes, you can change the email address associated with your account. Simply go to your account settings and update your email information.
To update your profile information, navigate to the "Account" section in your settings. Here, you can edit and save changes to your profile details.
Yes, you can link your account with your Google account for a convenient one-click login experience. Look for the "Login with Google" option during the login process.
If you wish to deactivate or delete your account, please go to your account settings and select the "Delete Account" option. Follow the provided instructions to complete the process. This will also delete any and all data associated with your account.
To enhance the security of your account, enable two-factor authentication in the "Security" section of your settings. Follow the steps to set up this additional layer of protection.
If you're having trouble logging in, ensure that you're using the correct username and password. If the issue persists, please contact our support team for further assistance.
Currently, we do not offer the option to merge multiple accounts into one. Each account must be managed separately.
To adjust your account's privacy settings, go to the "Privacy" section in your account settings. Here, you can customize your privacy preferences.
Yes, for security purposes, your password must be at least 15 characters long and include at least one capital letter, one symbol, and one number. No spaces are allowed in the password.
Transactions
We currently only support Bitcoin.
No. You start escrow for free and after the transaction is completed funds will be released directly to the provided address. You can connect external accounts via the settings page. For advanced users, you can use any wallet you would like, as long it is supports the same currency you are transacting in.
We are non-custodial, so the security of our service is significantly higher than that of custodial solutions.
Yes, you can add and change your preferred payment wallet / payout wallet. Be sure to ensure that your wallet address is correct before creating a contract.
No, unless the escrow contract is canceled.
Yes, you may modify the terms and send them back to the other party to review before starting a transaction. Once confirmed, you may not modify them.
You can cancel escrow before funds are sent by the other party. If the escrow amount is deposited, you can't cancel. If funds were sent to the escrow smart contract, the only way is to agree with the other party and dispute and ask for annulling, or let the contract expire.
Log into your account > Navigate to your dashboard > Visit the transactions page > Click on the transaction you would like to see the status of.
We use the coingecko api, so prices are in real time. crypto rate/price will be fixed at the moment of submitting escrow. That means we don't edit it.
If the dispute is in your favor, the money should be sent back to you within the timeframe of the contract's length. Once the contract expires, payments will be sent within 10-30 minutes.
We don't advise you to use an exchange wallet, but yes, you can. If you still want to, check the minimum withdrawal or deposit amount of that exchange.
Any wallet with a valid Bitcoin address.
It is most likely a scammer; if someone ever asks you to complete an escrow transaction outside our platform, please let us know.
Cancel or dispute the escrow.
100 sats
There is no max amount you can escrow on our platform.
Fees
We charge a 1% flat fee on all transactions. You will see this calculated before submitting a new escrow.
They will be automatically calculated before the contract is submitted - these fees are not usually more than $1.
Privacy
For non-custodial transactions, no. For custodial transactions, yes, as required by law for any escrow service. KYC is totally optional.
We only collect the necessary amount of data for marketing and analytical purposes, to improve your experience. This data is never ever shared or sold outside of our company. Other than that, we will never ask for more data than needed. For more information, see our privacy policy. You can opt out at any time.
Yes, there are ways to use BitEscrow anonymously.
No. Because of musig, none of the transaction data is visible. See an example on the mempool: https://mempool.space/tx/9e5d8ccd8b3e214204bf06ca6fc84cf32dedaf607940a3e34b1709facb214172
Still have a question?
Ask us in the Discord server!
Ask us in the Discord server!