Imagine that you are buying something from someone and you want to pay them in bitcoins. What do you do? Do you send them the money first and then hope they give you whatever it is you are buying from them? Well, you can. But what if they don't give you the promised product? Well, you can say bye-bye to your bitcoins forever since sending bitcoins is irreversible. This is why we need a good system in place to gain trust, especially when you are just starting to trade with someone. However, there are a few good escrow services for bitcoin available online. In this article, let’s go over the best bitcoin escrow services available to you right now.
What is Escrow?
Before we get started, it’s important to know what escrow is. Let’s look at our previous example—imagine you are buying something from someone. Instead of sending money directly to them, you can send it to someone else who you both agree on. They will receive not only your money but also the product from the seller. Once they have it both, they can transfer the money over to them and send you the product. You are both safe since the money goes through someone else—the middleman. That is pretty much what escrow is. When money is locked in escrow (or with the middleman), both parties are safe.
Bitcoin Escrow Services Available Now
We have compiled some escrow services that work and are good for the job. We have listed the pros and cons for each so you can take a look at the ones you are interested in and pick the one that better suits your needs.
Coinsavr Escrow
Coinsavr is the world’s most advanced bitcoin escrow service that is automated, encrypted, and extremely safe. Coinsavr’s features are unique as it not only allows a full-featured bitcoin wallet but also redefines current bitcoin escrow—completely eliminating a physical person to be the “middleman.” The only people involved in a transaction should be the people actually involved. There shouldn’t be someone else who knows details about the transaction because your privacy should be protected. With Coinsavr Escrow, only you and your transaction partner are involved.
Coinsavr allows both parties to view the status in real-time. Users can set a time-frame for a transaction so it can be completed in time. If nothing goes wrong, both users involved in a transaction can merely complete the transaction by releasing bitcoins and sending over the product or item. Moreover, both parties can also dispute the transaction after which Coinsavr Staff will step in for the final outcome of the transaction.
Bitrated
Birated is another escrow service that allows users to hold funds in escrow. Bitrated offers Multi-signature transactions so transactions can be looked over by a trusted third party (known as a trust agent) in case of a dispute. The trust agent can resolve conflicts in case of fraud, for instance. Moreover, if nothing goes wrong, there would be no intervention by the trust agent.
However, users are required to pick a trust agent on their own which can be overwhelming as to which agent to choose. Moreover, the fees for high-rated and reputable trust agents may be significantly more than other trust agents. For this reason, it is up to the user to ensure that the trust agent they pick is the right one. Coinsavr resolves this problem by holding the funds in Coinsavr escrow, and users do not need to worry about having someone trusted to look at the transaction as Coinsavr Staff are the ones who will intervene in case of a dispute.
Escrow My Bits
Escrow my bits is a light-weight escrow site that offers escrow services similar to the two listed above. No registration is required on this website, and the application is very straight forward. It also provides many escrow types for users. Although it does not have features such as private messaging or encryption, it can easily be used for small to large transactions without any consequences.
There you have it, the three bitcoin escrow services that you should consider using for your next transaction. It's important to stay safe before it's too late!
