What you need
- The price in USDC or USDT on Arbitrum, in your wallet or at an exchange (on testnet: test USDC from Circle's faucet). You don't need ETH to buy. Paying from a bank? See Paying by bank transfer.
- An account at the registrar where you want the domain to end up.
- The seller's wallet address, or the deal link the seller sends you.
Steps
- Lock the price. Start a deal as the buyer, or open the seller's link and accept. Either sign a token authorization (the relayer submits it and pays the gas, and the signature names the exact deal, so it can't fund anything else), or send the price from an exchange or another wallet to the deal's own deposit address, on Arbitrum One only. yescrow goes ahead once the full price has arrived.
- Receive the domain. When the seller sends the transfer code, start an incoming transfer at your registrar and approve it. For a push within one registrar, the seller sets your nameservers and pushes the domain to your account; accept the push if your registrar asks.
- Check your account. When the deal page says “Transfer proven”, the challenge window starts. This is the step only you can do.
- Done. If the domain is in your account, you can pay the seller straight away, or do nothing and the seller is paid when the window ends.
The account check, and when to challenge
The registry proof shows that the domain arrived at your registrar. It can't show that it is in your account: a seller could move it into an account of their own at the same registrar. So log in and look.
- It's in your account: pay the seller, or let the window run out.
- It isn't: challenge before the window ends. That opens a Kleros dispute; you pay the arbitration fee in ETH and get it back if you win.
- Same-registrar push: the proof only shows the nameservers changed to yours. It can pass before the seller pushes anything, so the check matters even more. The challenge window is longer for this reason.
Challenge only when the domain really isn't yours: jurors decide on the evidence, and the side that loses also loses its fee. Turn on reminders on the deal page, or add the deadline to your calendar, so you don't miss the window.
After you have the domain
Change the owner details only once the domain is in your account. Your registrar may then lock transfers for 60 days, which is normal. Withdraw anything you are owed, such as a refund, from My deals.
What yescrow can't protect
- Reversals after payout: a transfer dispute (TDRP) can be filed up to 12 months after a sale, and UDRP cases or court orders can also take a domain back.
- Circle, USDC's issuer, and Tether, USDT's, can each freeze their token at any address, including the escrow.