Topic: Would you guys be interested in an open source automatic escrow ? - page 2. (Read 1796 times)

what if the case is, A sends the correct amount of coins in the transaction but B only sends half or not really the goods he is selling then the bitcoins of A will be lost even he is the one being honest in the transaction?

I thought that the fact that, if a scam were to occur in the platform,the bitcoin would disappear as nor A nor B would have access to that bitcoin.

Process:
- A sends bitcoin to b through the platform.
- A no longer haves that bitcoin, it is being held by the platform and just waiting for A to sign it.
- B can see that the transaction is on process and proceeds to send the goods to A
- Once A receives said goods, A signs the transaction
- B receives the bitcoin

Scenario 1
*If B never sends the goods, A never signs.
::Outcome::
A loses the bitcoin as it is being held by the platform.
B didn't send his goods.
B never receives the bitcoin.

Scenario 2
*If B sends the goods, but A never signs.
::Outcome::
A loses the bitcoin as it is being held by the platform
B sent the goods to A
B never receives the bitcoin.

-- Proposal to avoid the loss: Have someone mediate the transactions so that he/she can resolve a dispute.

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Scenario 2 is not likely to happen, as A would have no motive to not sign

Scenario 1 is the one that could happen, but if it were to happen B wouldn't benefit from it other than making A lose bitcoin.

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I think this is one of those, why not both?

how about a platform that offers the both things.
- An easy and fast system without an external party in the transaction other than the application
- a medium for an easy escrow so that an external person can mediate the trade.

The second would have this process:

- C creates the transaction.
- A sends the bitcoin to the platform
- B sends the goods to A and registers it in the platform
- A confirms the reception of the goods
- C signs the transaction and the bitcoin is sent to B
- B receives the bitcoin

*If there is a dispute
- A makes the dispute
- B submits evidence
- A submits evidence
- C mediates and sends the bitcoin to the rightful party.

How do you plan to handle disputes? what if the seller claims to have sent the goods and the buyer claims not to receive it? you will need someone to act as a mediator. It would be best to use a 2 of 3 with buyer, seller and escrow each holding one key. If the transaction is all good, both buyer and seller can move the funds on their own without the escrow needing to do anything or even know the transaction is taking place, they only need the escrows public key to set up the 2 of 3. When there is a dispute then the escrow can get involved and ultimately choose who gets the coins by signing their transaction. So long as the escrow does not collude with the buyer or seller this is safe.

We really need better support for M of N in wallets. Something like this would significantly reduce scams on Bitcointalk. All an escrow needs to do is post their public key in a thread and the buyer and seller can craft a 2 of 3 address with it and continue on their own without the escrow and only require the escrow to do anything when there is a problem.

Perhaps you could make a standalone application to do m of n escrow transactions. I think the best way to do it would be to make it in Javascript, you're most likely to see the most usage there.

what if A never release funds? that's why i think 2 of 2 is useless, your idea is good though, a trustless escrow system is very much needed but needs to be 2 of 3 imo.

I want an excuse to get on a node.js project with bitcoin core or bitcoinjs.
I'm thinking about making a multi sig system.

The system would be like this:
A wants to send bitcoin to B in exchange for something.
A sends the bitcoin to a generated address from my app along with the target address, then the app makes the transaction requiring A's signature before the bitcoin is sent to B.

Any inputs on the subject? hurdles, maybe you think it is a stupid idea or a brilliant one?