Launched: BitEscrow - Non-Custodial Bitcoin Escrow Service \ stacker news ~bitcoin

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Launched: BitEscrow - Non-Custodial Bitcoin Escrow Service www.bitescrow.app/

7717 sats \ 26 comments \ @Tristan 16 May bitcoin

1425 sats \ 3 replies \ @supertestnet 16 May freebie

I have a thread here where I outline why I think this is so cool. Here I've copy pasted it with slight modifications:

At its core it's "just" escrow software. It helps you create a 2 of 3 multisig where the escrow agent has 1 of the keys and the buyer and seller have the other two. But it's particularly cool because it takes that to the next level: it supports frost multisig, which makes it one of the first bitcoin apps to actually use taproot for what it was meant for, and it's also designed so that users can reuse their bitcoin as collateral in multiple contracts without actually moving it. So you can use this as the basis for bitcoin layer twos.

I also love what they do with their integrated signing device. There's this separate little module that holds your keys and does all of the signing, so the website never has your keys, it just asks this module if you want to sign the contracts, and the module asks you.

I would love to see that piece in particular spun off into its own little app. Too few bitcoin apps do this "separation of concerns" thing where your signing device is separate from the apps you interact with. The signing module could change all that and is worth a lot on its own.

Sovereign Origin asked me the following question on twitter "This one [the part about using bitcoin as collateral] is not clear. They can do what now? This sounds very interesting!!"

I'm probably butchering this but I think it works like this. There are four people involved in every contract:

Alice = buyer Bob = seller Carol = agent Bitescrow = coordinator

Alice's funds go into a 2 of 2 multisig with bitescrow and she gets a presigned "backout transaction" so that bitescrow never has custody of her funds. Suppose Alice wants to buy a car from Bob for $60k. Alice and Bob must first agree on who Carol should be (their agent, separate from bitescrow), then Alice gets bitescrow to cosign a transaction that would, if broadcast, move Alice's funds (1 btc) from the 2 of 2 multisig into a 2 of 3 multisig, where Alice, Bob, and Carol have the keys.

Now Alice sends Bob $60k "real" dollars (USD, not bitcoin). In the "happy path" Bob sends her the car and everyone is happy so Alice and Bob just cooperatively tell the escrow "nevermind, don't actually broadcast anything." And Alice's money thus stays in the 2 of 2 multisig with the escrow. If there's a dispute, bitescrow broadcasts the transaction putting the money into the 2 of 3 multisig whereupon what happens next is up to Carol, the agent: if she sides with Alice, that means Carol thinks Alice got jipped, so Alice gets her bitcoin back. If Carol sides with Bob, she thinks Alice never sent the USD, so Bob gets Alice's money.

But in the "happy path" Alice's money never moved! It still remains in her original 2 of 2 multisig with bitescrow, so she can reuse it in another contract. Your bitcoin is used as collateral for contracts where you actually send something else (not bitcoin) and only use bitcoin as a fallback in case there is a dispute. This should scale really well, and it's also neat that bitescrow never custodies any user funds. They do have to be trusted not to collude with Alice though.

I think that's the basic model but @BlueSlime or @Tristan can correct my errors.

100 sats \ 0 replies \ @BlueSlime 16 May

We don't have frost implemented yet, but when it's ready we will be using it to federate the escrow server's side of the 2-of-2 address. For the user side of things, all multi-sig inputs are handled by the smart contract (we have a whole smart contract execution layer).

3 sats \ 1 reply \ @jp305 16 May

How do the parties pick their Carol? Do Carols get paid?

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @BlueSlime 16 May

You can specify any pubkey you wish to be Carol, and Carol can specify any funds she wants to get paid.

Carol could also act as a coordinator between Alice and Bob, and just use BitEscrow as the escrow service. Our protocol is designed for third-parties to help handle contract negotiation and mediate.

348 sats \ 1 reply \ @Tristan OP 16 May

Hey Stacekrs,

I'm excited to introduce BitEscrow, a revolutionary non-custodial Bitcoin escrow service. Our platform offers unmatched security, speed, and affordability for Bitcoin transactions. Here's what we're launching:

Developer Playground: Experiment with our API in a controlled environment with support for all test chains.
New Website: Explore our comprehensive resources including a developer page, branding guide, press kit, and more.
Developer Tools: Access our API, SDKs, NPM libraries, and test suite, all built from scratch using Typescript.
Key Features:
- Non-custodial security
- 187x faster transactions
- 1/5th the cost of traditional services
- Zero paperwork

We're setting a new standard for escrow services, making Bitcoin transactions more secure and versatile. Check out our new website and Developer Playground at BitEscrow.app.

Looking forward to your feedback and seeing what amazing projects you'll build with BitEscrow!

22 sats \ 0 replies \ @0xbitcoiner 16 May

Fantastic! Congratulations!

When I have more free time, I'll give it a try and provide feedback .

11 sats \ 0 replies \ @Maximux 16 May

I'm going to take a look👍

11 sats \ 0 replies \ @Car 16 May

Congrats guys!

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @djp 17 May freebie

Could you elaborate a bit on how the signer is meant to operator in an insecure environment?

1000 sats \ 0 replies \ @BlueSlime 16 May

Some of the docs are still a bit out of date, still working on updating everything.

The playground still needs some work and polish. We plan on ditching the low-tech passing of URLs around for negotiation, and using nostr instead.

Let me know if you have any questions about the playground.

3 sats \ 0 replies \ @BitcoinAbhi 16 May

This is certainly very amazing thing for Bitcoin. It gives Bitcoin advantage over any other coins

3 sats \ 2 replies \ @BlokchainB 16 May

Use this with eBay and boom commerce

110 sats \ 1 reply \ @Tristan OP 16 May

Or, start an amazing business to kill eBay - using our API! XD

3 sats \ 0 replies \ @Bell_curve 16 May

Yes 🙌

2 sats \ 0 replies \ @grayruby 16 May

Very cool. Congrats. Thanks for sharing.

22 sats \ 0 replies \ @Rsync25 16 May

Awesome!

22 sats \ 0 replies \ @Scoresby 16 May

Super excited to see you launch! Congrats!

22 sats \ 0 replies \ @Natalia 16 May freebie

interesting tool! I guess it would be nice for the bigger purchases.

21 sats \ 1 reply \ @purpurato 16 May

Is it available to transact with lightning?

31 sats \ 0 replies \ @Tristan OP 16 May

Not yet but we have plans to incorporate it sooner than later

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @Coinsreporter 16 May

GH rest! It seems amazing. I wanted such service for stackers who wanted to buy Bitcoin anon. It would be better if we get a few offers in INR.