Love the idea, and I've been talking about this with other cryptos as well. Maybe once I get to be a little more "trustworthy" in this community, I'll contact you for some steem! I actually just was asking someone else if it was possible (or already in existence) for there to be some sort of automated third party for transactions such as this so that both parties don't have to really "trust" each other. I'm no tech wizard, but couldn't one design a way so the transaction wouldn't go through until both parties had submitted their payment to their respective, secure, and refundable (in case of something going wrong) digital deposit boxes, one for each. The program sees the payments in the correct amounts and initiates the actual transaction.
Can this exist? What are the limitations?
Warm Welcome to Steemit! :DGreetings, @factionless, and I wish you a
How warm? Well, I'm now one of your early followers, based simply on your fine comment here and on your intro post... :D
Indeed escrow is possible, and I have been told, and have seen hints that the mechanisms already exist within the Steemit blockchain.
While I'm not aware offhand of a "working tool" for escrow, one should be "doable" at least on the Steemit side of a transaction. When fiat is involved, the trouble always arises if there is a dispute of some sort, in which case some sort of arbitrator needs to be available to step in.
I suppose a mechanism could be created (may already exist?) on the fiat side as well, something involving debit cards? But in any case, a large part of my motivation here is to completely get away from the existing banking system.
Thanks so much for your comprehensive comments, and for reading and visiting my blog.
BTW, the thought of @creatr exchanging with @factionless right now is not entirely out of the question... Please see Bullet Points (4) and (8) above, and get back to me if you're interested. ;)
Hey thanks for the welcome and the offer which I will mull over more. If you remember, let me know if you hear more about this magical tool we're imagining, because I would love to know more, and I'm not as literate with programming or cryptos as I'd like to be.
It really shouldn't be too hard to implement, at least on the Steem side. Here's how it would work:
Three parties involved:
A has Steem to exchange.
B has fiat to exchange.
C is an arbitrator, needed ONLY in the case of a problem.
A and B agree on an exchange of a specified amount of Steem and fiat.
A deposits Steem to an automatic/programmatic interface along with B's designated receiving address. A cannot remove the Steem, but can enable it's release to B.
When B transmits the agreed amount of fiat to A, A then releases the Steem to B.
There are two failure cases, requiring the involvement of C.
First case is that B does not transmit fiat to A.
A then goes to C to seek the return of his Steem.
Second case, A does not release the Steem to B.
B then goes to C to seek release of the Steem.
The ideal setup would be a fully automated system that could see and control both transactions. "Mailboxes" if you will, for both Steem and fiat, headed in opposite directions. The system would note when both mailboxes were full of the agreed amount, and would then release both to the exchangers.
If both mailboxes were not properly filled within some specified time window, whatever was put there would be returned to sender...
The time window thing was what I imagined would be a big factor in making a program like this successful. Shapeshift.io uses a time window for precise transactions and this seems critical for cryptos.