OTC Trading Without Trusting a Stranger

The problem

OTC crypto trading requires trust. You want to sell 1 BTC for USDT via bank transfer. The buyer wants to receive BTC before sending payment. You want to receive payment before releasing BTC. One of you has to go first — and whoever goes first is exposed.

Escrow services exist but they are custodial, they charge fees, and they require both parties to trust the escrow operator. Telegram escrow bots get hacked or exit scam. P2P platform escrow is slow and expensive.

Irium OTC escrow is non-custodial. The contract is enforced by the chain, not by a human operator.

How it works

• Seller creates an OTC agreement, specifying the IRM amount, the asset reference (e.g. "50 USDT"), the payment reference (e.g. SEPA transfer details), and a refund timeout
• Seller funds the escrow — IRM is locked on-chain
• Buyer confirms the on-chain funding and sends the agreed payment (fiat or another asset) via the agreed method
• Seller confirms receipt and releases the IRM to the buyer
• If the buyer sends payment but seller refuses to release — buyer can submit proof of payment; the chain policy can force release
• If the buyer never pays — seller reclaims the IRM automatically after the timeout

Reputation system

Irium includes an on-chain reputation layer. Every settled agreement records an outcome against the involved addresses. Buyers and sellers can check a counterparty's reputation before agreeing to a trade:

irium-wallet reputation-show <SELLER_ADDRESS>

A history of successful settlements with no disputes or timeouts is verifiable proof of a reliable trading partner.

What you need

An Irium wallet. Both parties need to agree on the terms before the seller funds. The wallet CLI has a dedicated OTC agreement command and an OTC status command for tracking the trade state.