Case study: yescrow.xyz

Timeline

The deal took 20 hours and 36 minutes, most of it waiting for the move to start. From the registry update to the payout took 1 hour and 33 seconds, almost all of it the challenge window. Times are UTC in October 2026, from the escrow's public record and the registry's own record.

The challenge window was 1 hour because the test version allows short windows. On real deals it defaults to 72 hours, with a 24-hour minimum, so the buyer has time to check their account.

What decided the payout

Two proofs of the registry's public record. Together they show the domain left Spaceship and arrived at Porkbun after the deal started.

• The source is the registry, not either side. The .xyz registry (CentralNic) publishes each domain's record in a public record, the successor to WHOIS. The record names the registrar by its IANA ID, which changes when the domain moves.
• The proof shows the record is genuine. A tamper-proof copy, confirmed by an independent proof service, shows the record came from rdap.centralnic.com over HTTPS, and when. Neither side can edit it, and the escrow checks it.
• Anyone can push it through. Anyone may submit the proof, and anyone may pay the seller once the challenge window ends. Yescrow's service does both automatically. It checks the registry every 10 minutes; this time it caught the move 16 seconds after the registry recorded it.

Old data fails. In an earlier test, the registry served a cached record from before the deal, and the escrow rejected the proof.

What Yescrow can't do with your money

Nobody, including Yescrow, can take or redirect money locked in a deal, and Yescrow can't freeze it. The escrow has no owner, so no key exists that could.

• No admin powers. The escrow has no owner, pause, upgrade or recovery switch. Every setting, including the 1% fee, is fixed when it is deployed.
• Fixed payees. Money can only go to the deal's buyer and seller, the fee address, a referrer if the deal names one, or the court's arbitration fees. Anyone can trigger a payout once its conditions are met, but no one can change where the money goes.
• Yescrow's service only submits. It sends what the parties approved, at its own cost. Its key can't move money.
• The money doesn't depend on Yescrow staying online. If this website and the API went offline, the deal would stay in the escrow. Either side could still concede or sign a settlement, and after the transfer window anyone could refund the buyer.
• The code that holds the money is public. The escrow and its proof checker are verified as an exact match to their source on Arbiscan and Sourcify. Links are below.

Every way a deal can end

Each ending is written into the escrow, and most have already run on the test version.

Until a ruling, either side can concede, or both can sign a settlement.

What this run doesn't prove yet

• Test version only. Test dollars, no real money. No stranger has trusted Yescrow with real money yet.
• We were on both sides. We controlled both wallets and both registrar accounts.
• No outside audit. Besides unit, fuzz, invariant and fork tests, a coverage gate and a Slither scan, AI agents we ran attacked the escrow, our servers and the launch in ten runs, and every finding was fixed (security review).
• The registry shows the registrar, not the account. A seller could move the domain into their own Porkbun account and every check would pass. The challenge window covers this: the buyer checks their account and challenges if the domain isn't there.
• A same-registrar push is weaker. It never shows in the registry record, so its proof is a nameserver change plus the buyer's own check, with a challenge window of at least 72 hours. This deal was a move to another registrar.
• The proof relied on an outside proof service. If it had confirmed a false record, the escrow would have accepted it. Proofs now also need Yescrow's own confirmation, and the buyer's challenge is the backstop.
• Like a bank, the company behind the dollars can freeze them at any address, including the escrow.
• Payment doesn't end every risk. A transfer dispute can be filed up to 12 months after a sale, and UDRP cases and court orders can take a domain back.

Next comes the live version with real money. The dispute court takes the escrow's cases through its own public intake, so no separate approval is needed.

Check it yourself

Every claim above can be checked on sources Yescrow doesn't control.

The escrow and the deal are on Arbitrum Sepolia, a test network. Checked on 21 Oct 2026.