How a trade works
Four steps. Your counterparty's crypto is locked before you part with any money, and it stays locked until you both agree the payment landed.
The four steps
- 01
You pick an offer
Offers show the rate, the payment methods accepted, the limits, and how the other side has performed on past trades. Nothing is committed yet.
- 02
Their crypto goes into escrow
Before any money moves, the seller's stablecoins are locked in an on-chain escrow. The seller cannot take them back and the buyer cannot take them early. This is the step that makes the rest safe.
- 03
You pay the way you normally pay
Bank transfer, mobile money, an instant payment network, or cash. The payment happens on your usual rails, not on a blockchain, and you mark it as sent when it is done.
- 04
Escrow releases
The seller confirms the money arrived and the escrow releases automatically. If they do not confirm, or something is wrong, either side can open a dispute.
What you need
- 01A wallet you control — no account, no sign-up, no KYC
- 02Stablecoins to sell, or local currency to buy with
- 03A payment method you already use
Ways to pay
The fiat side moves on the rails you already use. OpenFiat standardizes how a payment method is described and confirmed, not how it operates.
- Bank transfer
- Mobile money
- ACH
- SEPA
- Faster Payments
- PIX
- Cash deposit
- Regional instant payment networks
If something goes wrong
Either side can open a dispute, and independent arbitrators decide it with their own stake at risk.
Either side opens a case
Raising a dispute costs the buyer nothing. The arbitration deposit is posted by the merchant from their liquidity vault whichever side opened the case, and they forfeit it only if the outcome goes against them. Both sides submit evidence: receipts, payment confirmations, the trade conversation. The deposit is specified and not yet charged.
Arbitrators stake to take the case
Qualified arbitrators choose cases rather than being assigned, and must commit their own OPEN before they are allowed to see the evidence. Because the evidence is hidden until they commit, there is nothing to bribe them over in advance.
Your money, your currency, no middleman.
Start with a five-minute overview, or read the whole thing.