❓ Before you trade

Who goes first when you buy crypto from a stranger?

Nobody should. If one side has to hand over first, that side can lose everything. Escrow exists to remove that step.

In a direct deal somebody always goes first: either you pay and hope the coins come, or they send and hope the money comes. Whoever goes first is lending the full amount to a stranger with no collateral. Every "who goes first" argument on Telegram or Discord is really the two sides negotiating who takes that risk. The honest answer is that neither should, and the only way to get there is a third thing that holds the crypto while the payment happens.

The order that removes the question

  1. 1The seller locks the crypto in escrow. On iEscrow it leaves the seller’s balance the moment the trade is accepted.
  2. 2Only then does the buyer see the payment details and pay. The buyer is not paying someone who can walk away: the coins are already out of the seller’s hands.
  3. 3The seller confirms the money arrived (by looking at the account, not at a screenshot). The crypto is released to the buyer.
  4. 4If the seller does not confirm within 30 minutes, the trade escalates to a dispute by itself; if the buyer never pays, the window expires and the crypto returns to the seller. Nobody can cancel a trade once it is accepted.

What a "middleman" does not do

A person who offers to hold the funds is not escrow: they are a third party who now has to be trusted by both sides, and the clone accounts in every deal group exist precisely to be that person. Escrow is not a trustworthy person; it is an order of operations in which no one holds what belongs to the other. See A "guarantor" on Telegram is not escrow.

The practical rule for any deal, anywhere: if the seller will not lock the crypto before you pay, you are being asked to go first. Decline.
Was this article helpful?

Related articles

I paid and the seller won't release my crypto. What now?
What you can do when you already sent the money and the other side went quiet, is asking you to cancel, or says the payment never arrived.
The buyer sent a screenshot but the money isn't in my account. Do I release?
No. The only payment that counts is money you can see in your own account, for the exact amount, from the person you are trading with.
Which payment methods can be reversed after you sell crypto (and why PayPal and Venmo aren't on iEscrow)
Crypto leaves and does not come back. The danger for a seller is a fiat payment that can be pulled back weeks later. Here is which rails can do that.
Buying USDT from someone on Telegram or WhatsApp without getting scammed
The problem is not the chat app. The problem is paying a stranger first. Here is how to take that same deal somewhere the crypto is locked before you pay.
Still have questions?
The support team is here to help.
Contact support