Escrow for business transactions
Paying a new supplier or closing a deal with a business you have not worked with before carries the same first-time-trust problem as any deal — scaled up. Vaultion is an escrow service for business transactions paid in stablecoins: it locks the payment in a smart contract so the buyer's funds are committed and the supplier is paid once the goods or services are delivered, with a dispute ruling to settle disagreements — Kleros jurors or a Vaultion reviewer on Ethereum, a Vaultion reviewer elsewhere.
Start an escrowFirst-time deals, lower risk
Pay new suppliers safely
Funds lock in the contract before delivery, so a supplier can fulfil knowing payment is committed and the buyer is not paying upfront into thin air.
Release on acceptance
When goods or services are delivered and accepted, the buyer releases the funds in one on-chain transaction — a clean, verifiable settlement.
Resolved on evidence
If delivery is contested, either party opens a dispute and it is ruled on by independent Kleros jurors or a Vaultion reviewer on Ethereum, or a Vaultion reviewer on every other network. The contract enforces the decision automatically.
What a new-supplier deal should pin down
Paying a supplier you have not worked with before is a first-mover problem. Escrow removes it — but the terms still need to make “delivered as agreed” concrete.
Purchase-order terms
Put the PO specifics — quantity, spec, incoterms, lead time — into the escrow terms so “delivered as agreed” has a clear reference.
Delivery & acceptance
Tie release to acceptance on delivery — goods received, inspection passed — not simply to a shipment having been sent.
Milestone tranches
For staged deliveries or long lead times, split the order into per-milestone escrows so payment tracks progress rather than going out up front.
Counterparty due diligence
Escrow removes the who-pays-first risk with a new supplier, but you still vet who they are. It secures the payment, not their reliability.
Escrow for business: the payer’s side and the supplier’s side
A business deal with a new counterparty has the same shape on both sides: someone has to go first. The escrow takes that step away from both of you.
If you are paying a supplier
No deposit wired to a company you found last month. Your USDC or USDT sits in the contract, visible on the block explorer, until the goods or the work arrive and pass the acceptance you wrote into the terms. Then you release in one transaction. If what arrives is not what was ordered, you open a dispute instead, and the money stays locked until it is ruled on.
If you are the supplier
You see the payment committed on-chain before you produce or ship, so there is no net-60 invoice to chase and no bounced payment after the goods have gone. Send the buyer a payment link with the price filled in, deliver, and if the buyer accepts and goes quiet you claim the payment when the review period ends. A confirmed stablecoin payment cannot be reversed.
Why businesses have stopped paying first
In the 2026 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey, 76% of US organizations said they experienced attempted or actual payments fraud in 2025, and 74% were affected by business email compromise. Paper checks were the most targeted method at 58%, then ACH debits at 30% and wire transfers at 25%. Escrow removes the pay-first exposure: nothing leaves the contract until delivery is accepted. It does not stop an attacker swapping a wallet address in an email, so confirm the counterparty’s address on a second channel before you fund, the same way you would a new bank account.
Where businesses use it
Overseas suppliers and international trade
A stablecoin escrow settles in minutes on any supported network with no correspondent bank, no wire cut-off and no FX hold on the escrow itself. Tie release to tracking, an inspection report or a bill of lading, and set a review period that covers the voyage.
Wholesale orders and inventory
Put the purchase order into the terms: quantity, spec, lead time. Release on receipt and inspection, not on dispatch, and split a large order into per-shipment escrows.
Equipment, vehicles and hardware
A single high-value item from a seller you will deal with once. Agree the hand-off and the acceptance test up front; the money moves only when the buyer confirms.
Agencies, contractors and retainers
One escrow per milestone so each deliverable has its own locked payment and its own acceptance. The client releases as work lands; the supplier claims after the review period if the client goes quiet.
Buying a domain, a site or a business asset
List what transfers, fund the escrow, hand over, release on confirmation. See the domain and website escrow page for the hand-off checklist.
B2B marketplaces and platforms
Add the same escrow to your own platform with one server-side call per order: the buyer funds, the seller is paid on acceptance, nothing passes through your balance. See the escrow API.
Check the contract before you commit
Vaultion runs on a published, open-source contract that holds the funds — not Vaultion. You can read it and the locked balance on the block explorer before you send anything.
Frequently asked
Is there an escrow service for business transactions in crypto?
Yes. The paying business’s USDC or USDT is held in an open-source smart contract until the receiving business delivers and the payer accepts, then releases it. It is non-custodial: the contract holds the funds, not Vaultion. Each deal is its own escrow with an on-chain record of when funds were locked and released.
Can escrow be used for international trade payments?
Yes, and cross-border is where it helps most: a stablecoin escrow settles in minutes on any of the supported networks, with no correspondent bank, no wire cut-off and no chargeback. Agree the delivery evidence, such as tracking or an inspection report, before funding, and set a review period long enough for the goods to arrive.
Does escrow protect a business against invoice fraud or business email compromise?
Partly. Escrow removes the pay-first exposure: nothing leaves the contract until delivery is accepted, so a supplier who never delivers is never paid. It does not stop an attacker swapping the wallet address in an invoice email. Confirm the counterparty’s address on a second channel before you fund, as you would a new bank account.
Can a business pay a supplier deposit through escrow?
Yes. Create one escrow for the deposit with its own acceptance condition, such as production started or samples approved, and a second for the balance on delivery. Each tranche is released on its own evidence, so the deposit is never a blind prepayment.
How does this fit a business workflow?
Each deal is its own escrow with a verifiable on-chain record of when funds were locked, released, or refunded — useful for reconciliation. Settlement is in stablecoins, with a tiered platform fee paid once at creation.
What about cross-border suppliers?
Stablecoins settle the same way regardless of country, and the escrow logic is identical — no correspondent banks and no FX hold-ups on the escrow itself.
Is Vaultion a payment processor or custodian?
No. Vaultion is non-custodial software: the funds sit in an open-source smart contract, not with Vaultion, and release only by the contract’s rules or by a ruling — from independent Kleros jurors or a Vaultion reviewer on Ethereum, or a Vaultion reviewer on every other network.
What does it cost?
A tiered platform fee — 4% on smaller deals down to 2% on larger ones — is paid once when the escrow is created. What a dispute costs depends on the network. On Ethereum you choose at creation: Kleros charges a fee, paid in ETH by the party that raises the dispute, while a Vaultion reviewer costs nothing. On every other network a Vaultion reviewer handles it and there is no charge. Either way, no dispute means nothing extra to pay.
Lock a business payment
Set up an escrow in a few steps. Funds stay locked in the contract until the deal is done or arbitration decides.
Create an escrow