sBTC Escrow

sBTC Escrow is a trustless, non-custodial escrow protocol built on the Stacks blockchain. It enables secure peer-to-peer payments using STX and sBTC (Bitcoin-backed) tokens, with on-chain dispute resolution, automatic expiry, and a 0.5% platform fee.

Quick Links

• Quickstart — Create your first escrow in under 5 minutes
• Smart Contract — Clarity contract reference and data structures
• TypeScript SDK — Integrate escrow into your application
• Frontend App — React + Stacks Connect application guide

What Is This?

sBTC Escrow is a complete escrow infrastructure for the Stacks ecosystem:

• Smart Contract — A Clarity v4 contract deployed on Stacks that holds funds in escrow until release, refund, or dispute resolution.
• TypeScript SDK — A developer-friendly client for interacting with the contract from any Node.js or browser environment.
• Frontend App — A production-ready React application with wallet integration, realtime updates, and admin controls.
• Indexer Backend — Supabase-powered event indexing via Chainhook webhooks for fast queries and realtime subscriptions.

Who Is This For?

Key Features

Dual-Token Support — Native support for both STX (Stacks native token) and sBTC (SIP-010 Bitcoin-backed token). Create escrows in either token with appropriate min/max limits.

Non-Custodial — Funds are held by the smart contract, not a third party. The contract enforces all rules on-chain — no one can move funds outside the defined flows.

Dispute Resolution — Either party can raise a dispute. The contract owner resolves it (full to buyer, full to seller, or a partial split). If no admin resolution lands within the dispute window, the buyer can self-recover. On v3+, a seller who already signaled delivery can self-rescue after 2× the timeout — prevents admin-griefing of legitimate work.

Beneficiary Delegation (v3+) — Optional third-party with the same release/refund/dispute rights as the buyer. Useful for marketplace platforms that need to act on behalf of buyers, or DAO-held escrows.

Automatic Expiry — Escrows have a deadline. After expiry, the buyer can claim a refund. Buyers can also extend the deadline before it passes.

Burn-Block-Anchored Timing (v3+) — All deadlines on v3+ contracts are anchored to Bitcoin block height, not Stacks block height. Bitcoin's ~10 min/block cadence is stable via difficulty retarget; Stacks block time post-Nakamoto varies (5s to 2min). A "30-day" v3 escrow expires in 30 days regardless of Stacks-side fluctuation.

Time-Bounded Admin Pause (v3+) — Emergency pause requires a duration. The contract auto-unpauses after that window and blocks re-pause for an equal cooldown — closes an indefinite-pause griefing vector.

Contract-Caller Authorization — All functions validate contract-caller == tx-sender, preventing phishing attacks through malicious intermediary contracts.

Realtime Indexing — Chainhook webhooks feed blockchain events into Supabase, enabling realtime frontend updates and fast querying without direct chain reads.

Protocol Numbers

Networks

Legacy contracts remain readable + actionable (release / refund / dispute / admin resolution) for existing escrows. New escrows target the active contract on each network.

Architecture at a Glance