Terms of Service

These terms govern your use of the sBTC Escrow website and interface ("the app"). You will be asked to accept them the first time you connect a wallet; connecting a wallet or creating an escrow is acceptance. If you do not accept them, do not use the app.

You must be at least 18 years old, legally able to enter contracts, and not barred from using this service under the laws that apply to you, including sanctions laws.

sBTC Escrow is an interface to an open-source smart contract on the Stacks blockchain. We never hold, control, or have access to your funds. Funds you escrow are held by the contract itself and move only according to its published rules, triggered by signatures from the escrow's participants. We are not a bank, exchange, custodian, payment processor, or money transmitter.

We are also not a party to your underlying deal. What the seller owes the buyer, and whether it was delivered, is between you and your counterparty. The contract enforces custody of the funds, nothing else.

Despite the product's name, we are not an escrow agent in the traditional legal sense and owe you no fiduciary duties. A traditional escrow agent receives and holds deposits; we never do. Funds go from your wallet into the smart contract, and the contract's published code, not our judgment or discretion, controls custody. Nothing in these terms or in your use of the app creates an agency, trust, fiduciary, advisory, partnership, or employment relationship between you and us.

The platform fee rate is displayed in the app before you sign anything and is documented in the docs. The fee is locked into each escrow at creation: the contract records the fee amount when you create the escrow, and later rate changes apply only to escrows created after them. Nobody, including us, can raise the fee on an existing escrow.

The fee is charged only when funds go to the seller (release, or a dispute resolved for the seller). When funds return to the buyer, whether by refund, dispute resolution, or timeout recovery, the fee is returned to the buyer in full. In a split resolution, the fee is pro-rated the same way. Stacks network (gas) fees are separate, set by the network, and paid to miners, not to us.

Either participant can open a dispute on an active escrow. Disputes are resolved by the platform admin, whose powers are constrained by the contract itself:

• The admin can only act on escrows that are actually in dispute: release to the seller, refund to the buyer, or split. The admin cannot touch any other escrow or its funds.
• If the admin does not resolve a dispute within the on-chain timeout, the buyer can recover the funds directly from the contract, with no permission needed.
• If the seller had signaled delivery and the admin lets twice that window pass, the seller can claim the funds directly.
• Dispute resolutions execute on-chain and are final. There is no off-chain appeal through us.

A conflict we disclose: because the fee is charged on seller-favorable outcomes and returned to the buyer on buyer-favorable ones, we earn more when a dispute is resolved for the seller. The amount at stake for us is at most the escrow's locked fee, never more than 0.5% of the amount, and every resolution is public on-chain, so our record can be audited by anyone. By using the app you accept this structure.

This mechanism is the only remedy we provide for contested escrows. It does not limit any rights or claims you may have against your counterparty under the law that governs your underlying deal.

• Securing your wallet and keys. A signed transaction is yours; we cannot reverse it.
• Verifying the counterparty address before locking funds. Funds sent under a mistyped or fraudulent address follow the contract rules regardless.
• Doing your own diligence on who you transact with and what you are buying or selling.
• Your taxes and your compliance with the laws of your jurisdiction.

You agree to indemnify us against third-party claims arising from your breach of these terms or your unlawful use of the app.

You may not use the app for anything unlawful: trading in illegal goods or services, fraud, money laundering, financing prohibited activities, or evading sanctions. We may restrict the interface (though we cannot seize escrowed funds, by design) where required by law.

• Smart contract risk. The contract is open source and has passed multiple self-audit rounds with extensive invariant tests, but no audit eliminates the possibility of bugs.
• Blockchain finality. Confirmed transactions cannot be undone by anyone.
• Market risk. STX and sBTC prices are volatile. USD figures in the app are estimates from third-party feeds, not guarantees.
• Protocol risk. Stacks, the sBTC peg, and wallets are independent systems we do not control.
• Regulatory risk. The legal treatment of digital assets can change where you live.

The app and the contract are provided as is, without warranties of any kind, express or implied. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we are not liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential damages, or for losses arising from the risks in section 08, from your counterparty's conduct, or from your own errors. Where liability cannot be excluded, it is limited to the greater of US$100 or the platform fees you paid us in the twelve months before the claim. Nothing in these terms limits rights you have under mandatory consumer-protection law, or liability that cannot lawfully be limited.

We may update these terms; the effective date above will change and continued use after a change is acceptance. One thing cannot change retroactively: an escrow keeps the rules of the contract version it was created under, because those rules are on-chain. New contract versions apply only to escrows created after them.

These terms are governed by the laws of [JURISDICTION TO BE DETERMINED], and its courts have jurisdiction over disputes about these terms (as opposed to escrow disputes, which section 05 covers on-chain). If you use the app as a consumer, this choice does not deprive you of protections that the mandatory law of your home jurisdiction grants you.

If any part of these terms is found unenforceable, the rest stays in force. These terms are the entire agreement between you and us about the app. Our not enforcing a provision is not a waiver of it. You may not assign these terms; we may assign them to a successor operator of the service, and section 10 protects you either way: existing escrows keep their on-chain rules.

Questions about these terms: open an issue on GitHub or message @sbtcescrow.