Freelance gigs
A client in the US locks the fee. A designer in Lagos starts work knowing it’s there.
Sisonke holds the money in a smart contract until the job is done. The payer releases it. The recipient can send it back. This website never holds your keys or your money.
Free on Stellar Testnet. Works with Varial (formerly Freighter), xBull, Lobstr, Albedo and Hana.
Megan in Atlanta
Kemi in LagosMoney locked inMegan’s payment is safe in the contract
LockedWork deliveredKemi sent the final logo
DeliveredPayment releasedKemi got paid in seconds
PaidPayment releasedKemi got paid in seconds
PaidWhy Sisonke
You found the perfect designer online, half a world away. You’ve never met. So who pays first?
With Sisonke, nobody has to guess. The money waits in a Stellar smart contract where you can both see it, and it only ever moves toward the other person.
The one rule
Money only moves toward the other person.
The payer can release it but can’t pull it back early. The recipient can refund it but can’t pay themselves. The contract checks every signature, so the rule holds even if someone skips this website.
Read the rulesFor every deal where trust is still new.
Online sales
Order from a stall you found on Instagram. Pay in, they ship, you release when it lands.
Group-chat trades
Swap with someone you met yesterday, without either of you going first.
How it works
Three steps from handshake to payout.
- 01CreateWho gets paid, how much, and a deadline. One signature saves it on-chain.
- 02DepositThe USDC moves into the contract. The other side can see it’s really there.
- 03Release or refundThe payer releases when the work is in. The recipient refunds if it falls apart. It’s final either way.
Escrow #0042Status: Funded
Megan’s payment for the café logo
Safe in the middle.
Neither of them can grab it. It moves when the work is done.PayerMeganCan release
RecipientKemiCan refund
The rules live in the contract, not on our servers.
If it isn’t in this table, the contract says no. Once an escrow is Released, Refunded, Split or Cancelled it’s closed for good, so nothing pays out twice.
| Action | Who signs | Allowed when |
|---|---|---|
| Create | Payer | Amount above zero, recipient isn’t the payer, deadline in the future and within 365 days |
| Deposit | Payer | Awaiting deposit, before the deadline, not paused |
| Cancel | Payer | Awaiting deposit, any time |
| Release | Payer only | Funded or in dispute |
| Refund | Recipient only | Funded or in dispute |
| Reclaim | Payer only | Funded, deadline passed, no dispute |
| Dispute | Payer or recipient | Funded, before the deadline, arbiter named |
| Resolve | Arbiter only | In dispute |
| View | Anyone | Always |
Don’t trust us. Check the receipts.
Every step is a public Stellar transaction. Open any of them on Stellar Expert to see who signed, what moved and when.
Contract CB65…K7MGExplorer
Questions, answered.
No. Your USDC sits in the escrow contract on Stellar, and this website has no keys. The contract’s admin can’t move, freeze or redirect an escrow. It can upgrade the code only after a public notice period (1 hour), and this site shows a warning on every page while one is pending.
Only the payer can release, and only to the recipient. Only the recipient can refund, and only to the payer. Nobody else’s signature works. If the payer named an arbiter, the arbiter can split the money, but only after one of you opens a dispute.
If the deadline passes and the money is still locked, the payer can take it back, unless a dispute was opened before it. Then the arbiter decides. Before the deadline, it stays exactly where it is.
No. Once an escrow is Released, Refunded or Split it’s closed, and the contract rejects any second attempt.
Not yet. Sisonke runs on Stellar Testnet with test USDC, so you can try every step for free.
Varial (formerly Freighter), xBull, Lobstr, Albedo and Hana. You approve every step in your own wallet.
For freelance gigs, marketplace sales and trades with someone from the group chat.
Start an escrow