iEscrow is a hybrid P2P exchange: you buy and sell crypto directly with another person, with any payment method, without having to trust them. In every trade, a smart contract acts as arbiter (escrow): it holds the funds in guarantee and only releases them once both parties have delivered.
The idea in one line
It combines the best of a centralized exchange (CEX) — ease of use, an internal balance, support — with the security of a decentralized one (DEX): the custody of the trade is handled by an on-chain contract, not a promise.
What a typical trade looks like
- 1Someone posts a listing on the marketplace (or you create one): "selling X crypto, I accept this payment method".
- 2The counterparty accepts and an escrow opens. The crypto funds are held in guarantee.
- 3The buyer pays through the agreed method (bank transfer, another crypto, etc.) and declares it.
- 4Once the seller confirms they received the payment, the contract releases the crypto to the buyer.
- 5If something goes wrong, either party can open a dispute and a mediator resolves it.
What you can trade
- Crypto for money: you sell crypto and get paid by bank transfer or any method you both agree on (or the other way around).
- Crypto for crypto: both sides put up crypto, even on different networks - a cross-chain swap with an arbiter.
- Crypto for a product: you pay in crypto for a physical item; the seller ships it and the funds are released once you confirm it arrived.
- Crypto for a service: you pay in crypto for work; the money is released by milestones, as the work gets delivered.
In all four cases the mechanism is the same: the crypto stays locked in escrow until both sides deliver. For the detail on products and services, see Escrow for a product or service (with milestones).
You don't need to know anything about blockchain to use iEscrow. You operate with your internal balance like in any app; the contract works underneath.