Topic: How to begin with becoming an escrow agent? (Read 2109 times)

why would i get neg rep for asking about a process? if you read above,


I was simply asking the advice of those who have been here longer then I, before attempting something that could turn out badly if not approached in the right way. (such as the masterP incident) As stated above I will be putting this mission on hold and begin by building trust amongst the community, by simply trying to be a larger part of it.

Id like to thank all of those who commented with helpful advice, all of which I will be taking with me from this point forward in my 'crypto-career'

I don't think OP need to be -neg
He was just asking on how to be escrow which is hard to be one especially on Bitcoin

firstly he need trust, don't try to be an escrow without it, even for a small deal
You will not get tipped but probably -neg

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Well said.  The list is down to a "Big Three" with no-one seemingly willing to break into the top five with a couple declining the nomination.  I think doing reasonable trades that aren't just buying to then resell will gain people's trust.

Saying this


will make people wonder.

That's >18,000 BTC now. 

By this are you referring to account sales?If so isn't this generally a shady area for this forum? I feel if I became involved in the account sales occurring here it may tarnish my already limited reputation. (Plus being against my personal belief that accounts should stay with the OG owner).

As for the thread with 'friends' posting good things, I have two small issues with that:
1) My family and friends have been scared away from BTC long ago, falling victim to many of the scams associated with crypto. I am the 'lone wolf' left of my original group of friends. This makes it rather difficult to have 'friends' posting nice things, as none are remaining users on BCT.
2)This goes back to my issues with shadiness. Having multiple users post nice things could easily be interpreted as one user with multiple accounts.... and fraudulent trust (or the implication thereof) is not what I'm after here.

However I would like to thank you, and all of the other posters, for taking the time to respond to my thread and give advice on this subject.

Probably a good idea to start one of those threads where your friends post about you (never made one, but there is a section here for it). A good starting point that is needed is account escrows. There is a lack of escrows for them and most are low in value (good starting area and potential niche market for you). Expect to not get tipped much or even thanked often for your hard work though.

The thread has no relation with being an honest escrow agent.He needs to be trusted enough and have some nice posting history on the forum in order to be in the eyes of the buyers & sellers as well,otherwise he is going to get neg-rep very soon.

OP also needs to start posting here https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/bitcointalk-escrows-trade-safely-855778 to discuss his intentions and to introduce himself. (As well as signing wallets and other stuff)

I do believe you when you say you're the original owner, but you have to keep in mind that not all account sales are advertised using the name of the account being sold...
Most account sellers don't disclose the account they're selling.

That's why it's important to sign a message with an old, staked address

I have used many wallets, the one on my account here is simply the newest (an android wallet actually) if you also check my 'memeber since:' stat youll see how long Ive been a member here. Also if you checked the 'account sales' threads here, youll find my account has never been sold. So definitely not a 'newbie' who sprung to life in december lol

Yes 'NottaDev' is simply an inside joke between a few friends, In no way do I consider myself a dev..... yet . As you say, My dox would be very easily put together due to the fact I dont hide where I am or who I am, this is on purpose in an attempt at transparency. If you wanted to... my real name is also floating around here on another thread.

I have not yet decided to put my name out AS an escrow, I was simply inquiring about the  process to becoming one. From the advice given, I will likely be putting time into simply making useful posts and maybe making a few exchanges through the forum here.... basicaly business as usuall.

Maybe in 6-12 months my presence here, aswell as my trust rating, might be high enough to attempt this mission. Untill then, Id like to thank everyone for their advice. Especially those who are or were escrow agents themselves.

So, just to verify; your BTC address used is 1G2PTf59cYsWKoZjj3i3Cv1Bb8NuNaeho2 which has been in use since Christmas (when quite a few newbies sprung to life)

http://www.bctalkaccountpricer.info/?token=1igbtg8j


https://blockchain.info/address/1G2PTf59cYsWKoZjj3i3Cv1Bb8NuNaeho2 the outgoing wallets are inconclusive at first glance as they don't show up here.

Your info (available to anyone)


I discount


as being said in jest.

I don't disagree with @mocacinno but I would take a slightly different approach, I wouldn't for example give passwords to family and friends in a manor they could run away with the coins easily, nor would I for example revel details of my OS, firewall or similar - this would tell someone planning to attack you where and how to attack.

I haven't read anything from l8nit3 to make me want to use him as an Escrow, I think given the endevour he wants to embark on, he should be online more often to respond to our questions.

I'll keep following the thread to see what transpires.

I would start by having  0% fees and try to work you on your account:
- Do traders
- Upgrade in rank

Then you will see more people will trust you with low amounts of money.

I agree with all the points in your OP, one more thing i could think off:

A lot of companies and also escrow services (master-p) claimed to be hacked when they were running away with our coins. Next to having massive green trust, a self dox and giving some bitcoins as collateral, i'd like to see an escrow agent that is completely open about his/her security.

That way, people know how the escrow agent secures our coins, and any problems with the security precautions can be given to the escrow in the form of feedback.

security-wise i'd expect an escrow agent to:
- have both his address and PGP key staked in an old thread
- run up-to-date OS's (preferably linux or unix), or at least be open about his virusscanner/malware detection
- has a decent network setup in his office (routing, firewall,...), everything regularly updated (firmware-wise)
- either use a hardware wallet, or use an offline PC to sign all transactions, and have a watch-only client on his internet-pc
- store part of his funds on paper wallets, generated with the offline PC
- have a strong contingency-plan in case of an accident (for example, store an usb-stick with his/her encrypted wallet.dat in a safe with his bank, and give his wife and brother/sister a password to decrypt said wallet.dat).
- use a good password policy (Keepass) to have strong and regularly updated passwords on all his accounts


Personally, if i was buying a couple thousand dollars woth of goods, i'd rather pay 3% to an escrow agent that had massive green trust, could be doxxed by theymos, had some collateral with a second escrow agent and was 100% open about his security measures compared to a free escrow agent that is completely anonymous and with whom i have no idear about his security...

i am agree with WENGER,i also think that trust is everything,and not easy to get some trust from any user or member,i found some escrow fail on some forum because they can't hold the trust,yes because trust is not only hard to get,but hard to hold,make sure that you have many time transaction with some user,and have permit from any admin or post on macro thread.

I mean no offense by this, but I definitely would not use you as an escrow--not with the other escrow agents already available with positive trading history.  They got to be trusted by doing trades first and they've been around for a lot longer than you.  You're a senior member, which is getting there, but you still have a ways to go before being Legendary.

first you must be trusted member green trust and higher rank,
and usually makes people believe that you must be a moderator or a part of this forum

Five thousand, or even ten thousand dollars would be more the sum required in prior trades.

You don't even have a reply for this that you sent.

Farming trust , you mean? That is just wrong. Escrow should be someone nearly everyone mutually trusts, not someone who you have to keep on the toes, just because he had some 50 buck deals with DT members.

imo this should be the only reason someone starts openly offering their services as an escrow provider, its a very strong show of peoples' trust in an individual.