The terms, in plain English.

1. What these terms cover

They govern your use of bmescrow.com and the escrow service it provides. By creating an account, opening a deal or joining one, you accept them. If you do not, do not use the service.

2. What the service is

BM Escrow holds a buyer's crypto assets in custody and releases them to the seller or returns them to the buyer according to the rules in these terms and the deal the two parties agreed.

We are not a party to the underlying transaction. We do not verify, inspect, value or guarantee whatever is being bought or sold. We are not a bank, an exchange, a broker, a lender or an investment service, and we do not give legal, tax or financial advice.

3. Eligibility

• You must be at least 18 and able to enter a binding contract.
• You must not be subject to sanctions, or resident in a sanctioned jurisdiction.
• You must use the service for yourself, not on behalf of an undisclosed person.
• One account per person. Accounts are not transferable.

4. Your account

You are responsible for keeping your credentials secure, and for everything done with your account. We strongly recommend a second authentication factor. Tell us at once if you think your account is compromised.

5. How a deal runs

1. Creation. One party sets the title, description, value, settlement asset and fee payer, and receives a share link and deal code.
2. Acceptance. The other party joins and accepts those terms. On acceptance the fee percentage is fixed, a settlement rate is locked, and a deposit address and an exact amount are issued.
3. Funding. The buyer sends the exact amount within the payment window (currently 120 minutes). The deal becomes funded once the full amount reaches the required confirmation depth.
4. Delivery. The seller delivers and marks the deal delivered.
5. Completion. The buyer marks the deal complete, and the funds are released to the seller.

Funds are held until the buyer completes the deal. There is no automatic release after a period of time. If the buyer does not complete a deal after delivery, the seller may open a dispute, and we will decide where the held funds go under clause 7.

6. Amounts, rates and fees

• Each deal is issued an exact amount unique among live deals on its deposit address. You must send that amount. Sending a different amount may delay funding or require manual review.
• Underpayments can be topped up from the same sending wallet. Overpayments are recorded on the deal; contact support to arrange the return of the surplus.
• A payment we cannot attribute to a live deal is held for review and attached by a person if it can be identified.
• For non-stablecoin assets, the USD value is converted at a rate quoted when the terms are accepted. That rate governs the deal. Neither party may reopen it because the market moved during the hold.
• Our fee is the published percentage for the deal's value, fixed at creation. It is retained on a refund.
• Network fees are paid by whoever sends a transaction and are not part of our fee.
• Deal values are limited to between $25 and $250,000 unless we agree otherwise in writing.

7. Disputes

Either party may open a dispute while funds are held — that is, after the deposit is confirmed and before the funds are released. Doing so freezes the deal. A dispute cannot be opened once funds have been released.

• The parties have 3 days to resolve it directly on the deal. The party who opened it may withdraw it in that period.
• If that period lapses, or either party escalates, we decide from the agreed terms, the deal timeline and the submitted evidence.
• We may release to the seller, refund the buyer, or split the held amount in a stated proportion. Our decision is final as to where the held funds go.
• We may ask either party for information or verification, and may decide against a party who does not respond.

Our decision determines the distribution of the funds we hold. It is not a judicial determination of the underlying dispute and does not remove any legal right either party has against the other.

8. Finality, refunds and support

A completed deal is final. Funds are released when the buyer marks the deal complete, or when we decide a dispute in the seller's favour. Once released, the payout is sent on-chain and cannot be recalled.

• We do not offer returns, refunds, reversals or chargebacks on a deal once its funds have been released, whatever the reason given afterwards.
• A refund is only possible while funds are held, and only as the outcome of a dispute. A refund is the held amount less our fee.
• Our involvement in a deal, including support for it, ends when its payout or refund is confirmed on-chain. Any later claim about the goods or services is between the buyer and the seller.
• By completing a deal, the buyer confirms they have received and checked the delivery and accept it as matching the agreed terms.

Nothing in this clause excludes a right you have under the law of your country of residence that cannot lawfully be excluded.

9. Custody and risk

• We hold funds in custody wallets we control. We do not pay interest and do not lend, stake or otherwise employ held funds.
• Blockchain transactions are irreversible. We cannot recover funds sent to a wrong address, on a wrong network, or to a destination you supplied incorrectly.
• We are not liable for losses caused by network congestion, chain reorganisation, forks, failures of a third-party node, price-source or explorer, or any other matter outside our reasonable control.

10. Acceptable use

The acceptable use and AML page forms part of these terms. We may refuse, suspend or close a deal or an account where we reasonably believe it is breached, and we may be legally prevented from telling you why.

You must not:

• use the service for a transaction in a prohibited category;
• attempt to claim a deposit belonging to a deal that is not yours;
• probe, scan or test the service's security against live deals;
• open disputes without a genuine basis;
• impersonate another person or misrepresent who you are acting for.

11. Suspension and closure

We may suspend or close an account for a breach of these terms, a legal requirement, or a reasonable suspicion of fraud. Where we close an account holding funds, we return them to the address they came from once we are satisfied doing so is lawful. You may close your account at any time once your deals have settled.

12. Liability

To the extent the law allows, our total liability to you arising from a deal is limited to the amount we held for that deal, plus the fee we charged on it. We are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, lost profit, lost opportunity or loss of data.

Nothing here excludes liability for fraud, for our wilful misconduct, or for anything that cannot lawfully be excluded.

13. No warranty

The service is provided as it is. We do not warrant that it will be uninterrupted or error-free, or that a deal will settle within any particular time.

14. Changes

We may change these terms. Material changes will be announced on the site. A deal that is already open continues under the terms in force when it was accepted.

15. Governing law

These terms are governed by the law of the operator's jurisdiction, and its courts have exclusive jurisdiction over any claim. Nothing affects a mandatory right you have under the law of your own country of residence.

16. Contact

Reach us through the contact page. Notices to you are sent to the email address on your account.