How peer-to-peer escrow protects a buyer
On a peer-to-peer trade the risky moment is the one where you have paid a stranger and they still hold the crypto. Escrow is the lock on that moment. This is what it does on Koinzaar, and what it deliberately does not do.
What is locked, and when
When you open a trade, the seller’s crypto for that trade leaves their available balance and sits in escrow. They cannot spend it, cancel it away or withdraw it. You are shown that it is locked before you pay naira or shillings.
Koinzaar does not hold your cash. You pay the seller directly, by bank transfer, OPay, PalmPay, M-Pesa or whatever method the offer names.
What a timer does not do
If nobody marks the trade paid before the window ends, the trade is cancelled and the crypto returns to the seller. It is not sent to you because a clock ran out. A timer cannot see whether a bank transfer arrived, so it is not allowed to decide the trade.
If the seller does not release
- Open a dispute from the trade. The crypto stays in escrow, and neither side can move it.
- A moderator reads the trade chat and the evidence you each attach: a debit alert, an M-Pesa statement, a receipt.
- They release to you or return the crypto to the seller. A moderator decides every dispute; it is not a rule that fires on its own.
What escrow does not cover
- A payment you send to an account that is not the one in the trade.
- A payment from someone else’s bank or M-Pesa line.
- A deal you continue on WhatsApp after the trade has opened. The moderator can only read what is in the trade.
- The rate you agreed. Escrow locks the crypto; the price is the offer you chose.
Fees
The seller pays a fee when the crypto is released: 0.5% for bank transfer and mobile money, 0.75% for e-wallets, 1% for cash and 3% for gift cards. Buyers pay no Koinzaar fee.
Questions
Is the crypto locked before I pay?
Yes. Opening the trade moves the seller’s crypto into escrow first. You pay only after that, and you can see the lock on the trade.
Can the crypto be released to me automatically?
No. The seller releases after they see the money, or a moderator does after reading a dispute. An expired trade is cancelled and the crypto returns to the seller.
Who pays the fee?
The seller, when the crypto is released: 0.5% for bank transfer and mobile money, 0.75% for e-wallets, 1% for cash and 3% for gift cards. Buyers pay no Koinzaar fee.
Last checked 2026-10-27.
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