Domain escrow
Buying or selling a domain name means coordinating a hand-off between strangers: the buyer does not want to pay before the transfer, the seller does not want to transfer before payment. Vaultion locks the funds while the transfer happens, releasing them once the buyer confirms the domain is theirs — or letting a ruling decide if it stalls — from independent Kleros jurors or a Vaultion reviewer on Ethereum, or a Vaultion reviewer on every other network.
Start an escrowPayment and transfer, coordinated
Payment locked during transfer
Funds are committed in the contract before the seller starts the transfer, so the seller knows the money is real and the buyer’s payment is not released until the domain is in hand.
Release on confirmation
Once the buyer confirms control of the domain, they release the funds in a single on-chain transaction.
Kleros if the hand-off fails
If the transfer does not complete or the asset is not as described, either party opens a dispute and jurors rule on the evidence.
What a clean domain hand-off needs
Vaultion escrows the payment, not the domain — the transfer itself happens at the registrar. These are the steps that make delivery verifiable so the release is straightforward.
Registrar transfer lock
Confirm the domain is unlocked and past any 60-day post-registration lock before funding. A locked domain cannot move regardless of the escrow.
Authorization (EPP) code
The seller provides the auth / EPP code to start the transfer. Release once the domain is actually in the buyer's account, not when the code changes hands.
WHOIS & account handoff
For account-based or marketplace sales, agree exactly what transfers — the domain, the registrar account, any linked email — and how the buyer verifies it.
What counts as delivered
“Delivered” is the buyer confirming control at their own registrar. Both sides can point to that as the release condition if a dispute is opened.
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
Does Vaultion handle the domain transfer itself?
No — Vaultion escrows the payment, not the asset. You complete the domain transfer through the registrar as usual; the escrow holds the money until the buyer confirms the transfer is done, with Kleros as the fallback.
What if the seller never transfers the domain?
The buyer can open a dispute rather than release the funds; the evidence is reviewed by independent Kleros jurors or a Vaultion reviewer on Ethereum, or a Vaultion reviewer on every other network, and the contract enforces the ruling. Funds cannot be released to the seller without the buyer’s action or a ruling.
Can I escrow other digital assets this way?
Yes — any deal where a payment and a separate off-chain hand-off need to be coordinated works the same way. Vaultion holds the stablecoin payment while you handle the asset transfer.
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 domain sale
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