Escrow Operations

Escrow holds VIZ tokens in a conditional transfer: funds are released only after approval by both the recipient and a neutral agent, or arbitrated by the agent in case of dispute.

Escrow flow:

escrow_transfer  →  escrow_approve (by both "to" and "agent")
                 →  escrow_release (by "from" or "to")
                 →  [escrow_dispute]  →  escrow_release (by "agent" only)
                 ↓
           (ratification deadline missed)
                 →  expire_escrow_ratification_operation [virtual — funds return]

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escrow_transfer_operation (ID 15)

Auth: active of from

Creates an escrow. Funds leave from immediately into escrow balance; both agent and to must approve before release is possible.

Field	Type	Description
from	account_name_type	Sender
to	account_name_type	Intended recipient
agent	account_name_type	Neutral escrow agent (arbitrator)
escrow_id	uint32_t	Unique ID chosen by sender (default 30)
token_amount	asset (VIZ)	Amount to hold in escrow
fee	asset (VIZ)	Agent fee — paid to agent upon approval
ratification_deadline	time_point_sec	Deadline for both parties to approve
escrow_expiration	time_point_sec	Expiry if escrow is never released
json_metadata	string	Optional terms / metadata

[15, {
  "from": "alice",
  "to": "bob",
  "agent": "charlie",
  "escrow_id": 1001,
  "token_amount": "100.000 VIZ",
  "fee": "1.000 VIZ",
  "ratification_deadline": "2024-06-01T00:00:00",
  "escrow_expiration": "2024-07-01T00:00:00",
  "json_metadata": "{\"description\":\"payment for work\"}"
}]

• ratification_deadline must be before escrow_expiration.
• Both timestamps must be in the future at broadcast time.
• escrow_id must be unique per from account.
• If not approved before ratification_deadline, the virtual expire_escrow_ratification_operation fires and funds return to from.

---

escrow_approve_operation (ID 18)

Auth: active of who

Approves or rejects the escrow. Both to and agent must approve for the escrow to become active.

Field	Type	Description
from	account_name_type	Original escrow sender
to	account_name_type	Original escrow recipient
agent	account_name_type	Escrow agent
who	account_name_type	Who is approving: must be to or agent
escrow_id	uint32_t	Escrow ID
approve	bool	true to approve, false to reject

[18, {
  "from": "alice",
  "to": "bob",
  "agent": "charlie",
  "who": "bob",
  "escrow_id": 1001,
  "approve": true
}]

• who must be either to or agent.
• Once approved, cannot be revoked.
• If approve: false — escrow is cancelled and funds return to from.
• Must be broadcast before ratification_deadline.

---

escrow_dispute_operation (ID 16)

Auth: active of who

Raises a dispute on an approved escrow. After a dispute, only the agent can release funds.

Field	Type	Description
from	account_name_type	Original escrow sender
to	account_name_type	Original escrow recipient
agent	account_name_type	Escrow agent
who	account_name_type	Who is disputing: must be from or to
escrow_id	uint32_t	Escrow ID

[16, {
  "from": "alice",
  "to": "bob",
  "agent": "charlie",
  "who": "alice",
  "escrow_id": 1001
}]

• Can only be raised on an approved escrow (both to and agent have approved).
• Must be raised before escrow_expiration.

---

escrow_release_operation (ID 17)

Auth: active of who

Releases escrow funds to receiver. Partial releases are allowed.

Field	Type	Description
from	account_name_type	Original escrow sender
to	account_name_type	Original escrow recipient
agent	account_name_type	Escrow agent
who	account_name_type	Account releasing the funds
receiver	account_name_type	Account receiving the funds (must be from or to)
escrow_id	uint32_t	Escrow ID
token_amount	asset (VIZ)	Amount to release (may be partial)

[17, {
  "from": "alice",
  "to": "bob",
  "agent": "charlie",
  "who": "alice",
  "receiver": "bob",
  "escrow_id": 1001,
  "token_amount": "100.000 VIZ"
}]

Release permission rules:

State	Who can release	To whom
No dispute, before expiration	from or to	The other party
No dispute, after expiration	from or to	Either party
Disputed	agent only	Either party

• Partial releases are allowed; the remainder stays in escrow.

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See also: Data Types, Operations Overview, Virtual Operations.