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StampDEX docs

Where your funds are

Source and verification
Owning repository
bitcoinuniverseio/stampdex (private application source)
Source path
orders module, settlement worker, OrderStatus enum, legal/custodyClaims
Applicable release
continuous deployment, verify with GET /api/version
Chain and network
bitcoin / mainnet
Lifecycle
stable
Last verified
2026-09-01
This page
Edit on GitHub · Bitcoin Universe platform

This is the page to read before you sign anything. A Bitcoin trade is not instant, and during the gap your money is somewhere. Somewhere specific, with an address, not “in the system”.

  • Buyer side: held by the buyer, or delivered to the buyer
  • Seller side: held by the seller, or delivered to the seller
  • Held by StampDEX for the length of one trade
  • Settled on Bitcoin, final

SRC-20: your BTC passes through StampDEX

Section titled “SRC-20: your BTC passes through StampDEX”

An SRC-20 trade uses the three-transaction listing flow. The seller signs the tokens into escrow addresses created for that one listing. The buyer pays the exact total to that listing’s payment address. When the payment confirms and the token balance checks out, the settlement worker broadcasts the transfer that delivers the tokens, and the seller is paid.

That design means there is a window where your BTC has left your wallet and has not reached the seller. StampDEX says so on the buy panel before you sign, not afterwards.

Custody at every stage of an SRC-20 trade on StampDEX A grid with one column per order state and two rows. The first row says where the tokens are, the second says where the BTC is, and a strip underneath says who the trade is waiting on. From Open to Settling the tokens sit in the per-listing escrow that StampDEX controls. The buyer BTC stays in the buyer own wallet until the payment is broadcast, and then it too sits in the listing escrow. At Awaiting confirmation the tokens are in a broadcast Bitcoin transaction waiting for two blocks of depth. Only at Filled do the tokens reach the buyer wallet and the proceeds reach the seller wallet. In the last column, separated by a dashed rule, the Failed state shows both the tokens and the BTC still in the listing escrow, held and recoverable, waiting on an operator. THE TOKENS the listed amount THE BTC the payment WAITING ON OPEN Listing escrow signed into escrow Buyer's wallet nothing committed A buyer PENDING Listing escrow locked to a buyer Buyer's wallet not yet signed The buyer to pay AWAITING TRANSFER Listing escrow still held Listing escrow payment broadcast Bitcoin confirmations SETTLING Listing escrow balance verified Listing escrow not yet released The settlement worker AWAITING CONF. In the transfer tx broadcast to chain Listing escrow held until 2 conf. Two confirmations FILLED Buyer's wallet delivered Seller's wallet less the seller fee Nobody. Done FAILED Listing escrow never transferred Listing escrow held, not lost An operator
Read down a column to see the whole picture at one moment. The line that matters: between Awaiting transfer and Filled, the BTC has left the buyer and has not reached the seller. It is in the escrow addresses StampDEX created for that one listing. That is not a loss and it is not a queue. It is a named on-chain address you can look up in any block explorer.

Who holds the escrow keys

Section titled “Who holds the escrow keys”

StampDEX generates the per-listing escrow keys server side and holds them encrypted for the length of that trade. They are never sent to a browser. Those escrow addresses are the only funds StampDEX ever operates, and they exist for one listing at a time.

Your own wallet keys never leave your wallet. Every transaction that spends from your address is a PSBT your wallet displays and signs. See Review a PSBT before signing.

What each side risks, plainly

Section titled “What each side risks, plainly”
The buyerThe seller
Before paymentNothing committedTokens are in escrow and cannot be spent elsewhere
Payment broadcast, not confirmedBTC is in the listing escrow, tokens not yet receivedTokens still in escrow, no proceeds yet
Settlement broadcastTokens are in a Bitcoin transactionBTC is in escrow, released on confirmation
FilledHolds the tokensHolds the proceeds, less the seller fee
FailedBTC held in escrow, recoverableTokens held in escrow, recoverable

Neither side is ever holding both. That is the point of the escrow: the tokens are committed before a buyer is asked for money, and the money is committed before the tokens are released.

Bitcoin Stamps: your BTC never passes through StampDEX

Section titled “Bitcoin Stamps: your BTC never passes through StampDEX”

A stamp sale is a Counterparty dispenser. The seller opens a dispenser holding the stamp. The buyer sends the asking price to the dispenser address in a Bitcoin transaction StampDEX composes and the buyer’s wallet signs. When that transaction confirms, the dispense and the payment happen together.

Custody at every stage of a Bitcoin Stamps purchase on StampDEX A grid with four columns and two rows. The first row says where the stamp is, the second says where the BTC is, and a strip underneath says who the purchase is waiting on. While the dispenser is open, the stamp is held by Counterparty at the seller address and the BTC is in the buyer own wallet. After the buyer signs, the BTC is in a broadcast Bitcoin transaction and the stamp has not moved. When that transaction confirms, the stamp reaches the buyer and the BTC reaches the seller in the same transaction. At no stage does a StampDEX-controlled address appear. THE STAMP the listed asset THE BTC the payment WAITING ON DISPENSER OPEN Seller's dispenser escrowed on chain Buyer's wallet nothing committed A buyer COMPOSED Seller's dispenser unchanged Buyer's wallet built, not signed The buyer to sign BROADCAST Seller's dispenser unchanged In the payment tx in the mempool A block CONFIRMED Buyer's wallet dispensed Seller's address same transaction Nobody. Done
Compare this with the SRC-20 ledger. There is no purple column here, because a stamp purchase never passes through a StampDEX-controlled address. The stamp moves and the payment lands in one confirmed Bitcoin transaction, so there is no state in which your money has left you and not reached the seller.

The registry records this directly: for Bitcoin Stamps, StampDEX has no settle authority and no reconcile authority on the marketplace surface. There is nothing to settle, because the Bitcoin transaction is the settlement. See What you can and cannot do.

The sentence that stops the panic

Section titled “The sentence that stops the panic”

If an SRC-20 order shows Awaiting transfer, Settling, Awaiting confirmation, or Failed, your BTC is in the listing’s escrow address. Not spent, not swept, not in a queue. You can open the order page, copy the address and the transaction ids, and look at them in any block explorer without asking anybody.

Failed means the payment confirmed but the expected token balance could not be verified in time. The order stops there deliberately rather than releasing money against an unverified balance. An operator resolves it. See Recovery.

What StampDEX cannot do to your funds

Section titled “What StampDEX cannot do to your funds”
  • It cannot spend from your wallet. It has no key of yours.
  • It cannot change a transaction after your wallet signed it. Change one byte and the signature is void.
  • It cannot move a stamp you own. A stamp only moves when a transaction you signed, or a dispenser you opened, moves it.
  • It cannot make a Bitcoin transaction confirm faster than the fee rate you chose buys.
Section titled “Related”

StampDEX · Bitcoin Universe documentation · This repository · Report a security problem

Documentation for a live trading venue. It describes what works today. Nothing here is financial advice.