<p>The standard way to set up an escrow relationship like this is by creating a 2-of-3 multisig address with keys of the two parties and the escrow. As long as the two parties agree, they can pay out the money any way. If there is any dispute, the escrow can move the funds together with the justified party. Often the output script for the 2-of-3 multisig address contains a timeout condition that returns the funds appropriately in absence of other transactions. I know that this pattern is used by marketplaces that sell bitcoins for other currencies to coordinate the release of funds from seller to buyer, IIRC there is also a decentralized marketplace that uses a similar pattern for arbitrary transactions. It might have been BISQ or OpenBazaar.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-03-29T07:27:42.357Z
Ok thanks who offers such a escrow service (standard setup you describe)?
gatinueta
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-03-29T15:13:17.320Z
I don’t have a recommendation for you from the top of my head.
Murch
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-03-27T11:54:29.510Z
2024-03-27T11:54:29.510Z
Murch
<p>Me and a person I met on the internet have agreed to a sequence of two btc transactions, but neither of us trusts the other party. We would like to hire a person to monitor the sequence on the blockchain for a fee. The idea is we both deposit an amount in this person's wallet. After the transactions have completed, this deposit is paid back to both parties. Is this a good idea to resolve the &quot;trust stalemate&quot;. Could it be resolved automatically using a smart contract? How do we find a trusted third party that would do this for us for about 50$ ?</p>

<transaction-verification><escrow><monitoring>
Monitoring a sequence of bitcoin transactions
gatinueta
# Monitoring a sequence of bitcoin transactions

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-03-26)

Me and a person I met on the internet have agreed to a sequence of two btc transactions, but neither of us trusts the other party. We would like to hire a person to monitor the sequence on the blockchain for a fee. The idea is we both deposit an amount in this person's wallet. After the transactions have completed, this deposit is paid back to both parties. Is this a good idea to resolve the "trust stalemate". Could it be resolved automatically using a smart contract? How do we find a trusted third party that would do this for us for about 50$ ?

**Tags:** transaction-verification, escrow, monitoring


---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2024-03-27. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

The standard way to set up an escrow relationship like this is by creating a 2-of-3 multisig address with keys of the two parties and the escrow. As long as the two parties agree, they can pay out the money any way. If there is any dispute, the escrow can move the funds together with the justified party. Often the output script for the 2-of-3 multisig address contains a timeout condition that returns the funds appropriately in absence of other transactions. I know that this pattern is used by marketplaces that sell bitcoins for other currencies to coordinate the release of funds from seller to buyer, IIRC there is also a decentralized marketplace that uses a similar pattern for arbitrary transactions. It might have been BISQ or OpenBazaar.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Ok thanks who offers such a escrow service (standard setup you describe)?  
> **username_1**: I don’t have a recommendation for you from the top of my head.  

---

