Crypto escrow glossary
Every term you will meet on a Vaultion escrow page, defined the way the product actually uses it. If a word here does not match what you see on screen, the screen is wrong and we want to know.
Start an escrowThe escrow itself
EscrowFunds locked by a neutral party until an agreed condition is met. In Vaultion the neutral party is a smart contract, not a company.
Non-custodialNo company holds the funds. They sit in a public contract that can only pay the buyer or the seller. Vaultion has no key that can move them anywhere else.
Escrow contractThe published, verified program on each network that holds the funds and enforces the rules. Its address is listed on the security page and linked to its explorer.
BuyerThe party who funds the escrow. On the create form the buyer is always the connected wallet.
SellerThe party who delivers and is paid on release. Named by address at creation.
Deal descriptionThe terms agreed at creation. Locked in with the escrow, and the standard any ruling is measured against.
FundThe transaction that moves the escrow amount, plus the fee, from the buyer’s wallet into the contract.
ReleaseThe buyer’s confirmation that the deal is done. Sends the funds to the seller. Final.
RefundReturns the escrowed funds to the buyer, by agreement or by ruling.
Clocks
Buyer review periodHow long the buyer has after delivery to check and raise a dispute. Chosen at creation. On EVM networks, when it ends without a dispute the funds can be released to the seller.
Challenge windowEVM networks: the pause between a ruling and its finalization, 12, 24 or 72 hours, chosen at creation.
Correction windowSolana: the same pause, fixed at 48 hours by the program.
Silence timeoutSolana: a disputed escrow with no ruling for 30 days can be settled by timeout. Undisputed Solana escrows have no timer.
Fee windowKleros path: the time the other party has to pay their share of the arbitration fee. If they never do, the paying party can claim by default.
Disputes
DisputeA formal disagreement opened by either party from the escrow page. Freezes the escrow until settled.
EvidenceEach side’s account and attachments, recorded against the escrow on-chain so neither side can quietly change it.
RulingThe decision: release to the seller, refund to the buyer, or a split.
Kleros arbitrationThe decentralized dispute path on Ethereum. Randomly drawn, staked jurors vote; the outcome is appealable; the disputing party pays a Kleros fee. Vaultion cannot pick jurors or reverse the result.
Vaultion-assisted reviewThe dispute path on every other network, and an option on Ethereum. A Vaultion reviewer rules. Fee-less, and not decentralized: you are trusting Vaultion’s reviewer.
GuardianA freeze-only key on the EVM assisted path that can pause a ruling. It can never redirect funds. There is no guardian on Solana.
FinalizeThe step after the window closes that executes the ruling on-chain. Credits the winner inside the contract.
CollectThe winner’s own transaction to take credited funds out of the contract. Credited is not sent; collecting is what sends.
Claim by defaultKleros path: taking the escrow when the other side never paid their arbitration fee within the fee window.
Money and chains
StablecoinA token designed to track the US dollar. Vaultion escrows USDC, USDT, DAI and PYUSD, depending on the network.
Platform feeVaultion’s charge, 4%, 3% or 2% by tier, paid once at creation on top of the escrow amount. Never taken from the escrowed funds.
GasThe network’s own transaction fee, paid in its native coin to the network, not to Vaultion.
ApprovalEVM networks: the wallet transaction that lets the escrow contract move a set amount of your token. Vaultion asks for the escrow amount, not unlimited.
Token allowlistThe set of stablecoin contracts an escrow contract accepts, fixed at deployment. A look-alike token cannot be used.
Block explorerA public website that shows every transaction and contract on a network: Etherscan, Arbiscan, Basescan, BscScan, Tronscan, Solscan.
Verified sourceThe explorer has matched a contract’s deployed code to readable source. It is how you read what a contract does before trusting it.
Payment linkA URL that pre-fills the escrow form for a buyer with the seller’s address, amount, token and terms. Holds nothing; proves nothing by itself.
Missing a term you met on the site? Tell us on the contact page and we will add it.
Frequently asked
Why does Vaultion say "collect" instead of "receive" after a ruling?
Because a ruling credits the winner inside the contract; it does not send. The winner then collects with their own wallet. Saying "sent" would describe something that has not happened yet.
What is the difference between a challenge window and a correction window?
They are the same idea on two rails: the pause between a ruling and its finalization, so a mistaken ruling can be caught before money moves. EVM networks call it the challenge window and let you choose 12, 24 or 72 hours. Solana calls it the correction window and fixes it at 48 hours.
Does "non-custodial" mean nobody can ever touch the funds?
It means no company holds them. The contract holds them, and the contract can only move them to the buyer or the seller, on release, refund, timeout or ruling. Vaultion has no key that moves funds to itself or to anyone else.
Keep reading
See the terms in action
The create flow explains each setting where you make it. Nothing here is hidden behind jargon on the form.
