Refund.
Seller agrees. USDC slides home.
Client requests a refund, seller agrees. Full amount credited back to the client — no middleman, no fees.
Escrow Protocol v1.0/Live on Arbitrum Sepolia/Open source
The middlemanthat cannot run.
Escrow with a real human middleman — but the smart contract holds the money. They judge. Code pays. Nobody can disappear with your funds.
The problem with middlemen
The problem
Two strangers online agree on a trade.
They use a middleman to hold the money.
The middleman is a stranger too.
Nothing stops them from just leaving.
The fix
Keep the middleman — they're useful for judging deals. Take the money out of their hands. A smart contract holds it. The middleman only casts a vote.
- Middleman can
- verify the deal, break ties, resolve disputes.
- Middleman cannot
- send funds to their own wallet. The smart contract simply doesn't have that function.
How it works
Three truths that make Blue Escrow different.
Most escrow services are a person you have to trust. We replaced the person with code — and gave the person a different job.
Truth 1 of 3.
The code holds your money.
Not us. Not the middleman. A smart contract on Arbitrum is the only thing that can release the funds — and only when both sides agree the work is done.
Funds enter the contract the moment all three parties sign. Nobody can withdraw them outside the rules — not even Blue Escrow.
- Held
- $2,400.00
- Locked from
- Blue Escrow
- The middleman
- Anyone else
- Releases when
- Both sides agree the work is done.
→ Code-controlled. No exceptions.
Truth 2 of 3.
The middleman is a judge, not a treasurer.
You both pick a human you trust to settle disputes. They only step in when things go wrong. They never hold, move, or touch the money — the code keeps it out of their reach.
If a deal goes smoothly, the middleman doesn't act at all. If it doesn't, they decide who's right — and the contract pays out accordingly.
- Allowed
- Decide disputes
- Confirm deliveries
- Sign-off on releases
- Blocked
- Hold the funds
- Move the money
- Override the code
→ A judge, never a treasurer.
Truth 3 of 3.
Every deal lives on-chain. Forever.
Receipts, signatures, reputation — all permanent records on Arbitrum. Nobody can edit them. Nobody can delete them. Your track record is yours, public, and tamper-proof.
Your reputation follows you across platforms. It's a soulbound badge minted on settlement — no central authority can revoke it.
Forever on-chain · · ·
Safeguards
What if it goes wrong?
The happy path above is one of five on-chain resolutions. Scroll to see how the contract handles each one — without the middleman ever touching a dollar.
Dispute → Buyer.
Middleman rules client. Vault returns.
Client requests refund, seller rejects, middleman arbitrates — and sides with the client. Full amount returns to the client. The middleman earns a soulbound NFT, not money.
Dispute → Seller.
Middleman rules seller. Vault releases.
Same dispute, opposite verdict. Seller payout, middleman commission, platform fee — same split as a clean delivery.
Timeout.
Deadline passes. Anyone can rescue the client.
If nobody moves before the deadline, anyone on-chain can call `executeTimeout` and the vault refunds the client. Permissionless, always free.
Compared
Old escrow held your money. We hold nothing.
Escrow.com takes a cut and can freeze your funds. A Telegram middleman takes a cut and can simply disappear. We removed the part where anyone has to be trusted.
| Criteria | Escrow.com | Telegram middleman | Blue Escrow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who holds the money | Escrow.comA private company | Telegram middlemanA stranger online | Blue EscrowA smart contract |
| Can they steal it? | Escrow.comFreeze yes, steal rare | Telegram middlemanEasily, no consequence | Blue EscrowNot in the code |
| Public record | Escrow.comPrivate, centralized | Telegram middlemanNone | Blue EscrowPermanent, on-chain |
| Verifiable reputation | Escrow.comN/A | Telegram middlemanManipulable reviews | Blue EscrowSoulbound NFTs |
| Works worldwide | Escrow.comGeographic limits | Telegram middlemanAt your own risk | Blue EscrowAnywhere USDC works |
| Protocol fee | Escrow.com0.89 – 3.25% | Telegram middlemanInformal, negotiated | Blue Escrow0.33% flat |
0.33%
The only fee
A third of a percent. That's the whole number.
No subscriptions. No withdrawal fees. No hidden FX. 0.33% of the deal, taken by the contract at release — before anybody else is paid.
The middleman sets their own fee on top (usually 1 – 3%). Transparent, negotiated, and shown to everyone before the deal is signed.
Escrow.comup to 3.25%
Upworkup to 20%
Stripe2.9% + 30¢
Proof
The numbers aren't a pitch. They're on-chain.
0Total · on-chain
ARBITRUM · 8 RECENT BLOCKS
Everything below is verifiable at block level. Read the contract, check the math yourself.
0.0M
USDC settled
Across 3,214 deals this quarter
0.00%
Protocol fee
Flat. No tiers. No hidden cuts.
0+
Verified middlemen
With on-chain reputation
0
Funds ever lost
Audited. Open-source. Immutable.
Receipts
Every deal mints three receipts.
SOULBOUNDCLIENTSELLERDEAL
Three records · one deal
Not collectibles. Not art. Permanent, verifiable records of who kept their word. Your reputation — portable, unforgeable, yours forever.
Questions
Answers, plainly said.
No jargon, no hand-waving. If you've never touched a wallet, start here.