Question 1

What happens if the seller never delivers my item - do I actually get my money back?

Accepted Answer

Yes. If the seller doesn't deliver, you raise a dispute before the payout date by entering a comment explaining the issue and suggesting a refund amount. This immediately freezes the funds. The seller is notified by email and can respond with their own comments and refund suggestion through the dashboard. When both parties agree on the same refund amount, the dispute automatically resolves and pays out accordingly. If you can't agree, the funds remain frozen until you reach an agreement.

Question 2

How do I know the admin team won't just steal my money?

Accepted Answer

The smart contract code is verified and published on the blockchain. You can see that only the seller or admin can claim funds, and the admin can only allocate disputed funds to either the buyer or seller - never to themselves. The code prevents theft. Additionally, our auto-arbitration system means disputes can resolve automatically when both parties agree, without admin intervention.

Question 3

Who exactly makes dispute decisions and what are their qualifications?

Accepted Answer

Disputes use our auto-arbitration system. When you raise a dispute, you suggest a refund amount and explain your position. The other party can respond with their suggestion. You can both see the history of comments and suggestions in your dashboard. When you both enter the same refund amount, the dispute automatically resolves and distributes the funds accordingly. Full details at our arbitration policy page.

Question 4

How long do I have to receive my item before money goes to the seller?

Accepted Answer

The seller sets an expiry date when creating the contract, and you agree to it before funding. If you don't like the timeframe, ask them to create a new contract with a different expiry date. You control what you agree to.

Question 5

Can I cancel if I made a mistake or change my mind?

Accepted Answer

Once you've funded a contract, you can raise a dispute with a refund request. Enter your reason and suggest 100% refund if you made a mistake. The seller will be notified and can agree to your refund amount, allowing automatic resolution. This protects sellers who may have already shipped goods while giving buyers a path to resolution.

Question 6

What if I want to cancel before the buyer has put money in?

Accepted Answer

This feature is on our development list. Currently, just tell the buyer the contract is invalid - they'd be foolish to fund it after you've said that.

Question 7

What if the seller loses access to their email or wallet?

Accepted Answer

If someone's account is compromised, raise a dispute to prevent funds from being accessed by malicious parties.

Question 8

What happens if your website goes down or your company shuts down?

Accepted Answer

All contracts will continue to run their course since they're on the blockchain. We use Google Cloud for extremely reliable hosting. Our policy is to resolve any outstanding disputes before any potential shutdown.

Question 9

What if there's a dispute after your company is gone?

Accepted Answer

All outstanding disputes would be resolved before any shutdown. The contracts technically belong to the buyer - our service just makes it easy to create and administer programmable money.

Question 10

What does this actually cost me?

Accepted Answer

Our service charges a 1% transaction fee. The system works in USDC, and we provide tools to obtain USDC if needed, but we have no control over third-party conversion costs in your location. All blockchain gas fees are covered by us - the service is gasless for users.

Question 11

What if I want to make partial payments or installments?

Accepted Answer

Currently, you would create multiple separate contracts for different payment stages.

Question 12

How long do I have to wait for dispute resolution?

Accepted Answer

Once in dispute, funds are frozen so you're protected. Through the 'Manage Dispute' feature in your dashboard, you and the seller can exchange comments and refund proposals. The dispute automatically resolves as soon as you both agree on the same refund amount. There's no fixed timeline - resolution happens instantly when you reach agreement.

Question 13

What stops people from creating fake contracts to scam others?

Accepted Answer

If someone turns out to be a scammer and your goods don't arrive, you can dispute at any point up until the expiry date and get your money back for non-delivery.

Question 14

What if someone disputes in bad faith to get free stuff?

Accepted Answer

Sellers should keep evidence of packing and sending. When disputes are raised, investigation with courier companies will reveal the truth about delivery.

Question 15

What if the item arrives but is completely different from what was described?

Accepted Answer

The system provides trustless payment infrastructure. It's between buyer and seller to agree whether an item is 'as described' and what the resolution should be. A common resolution is for the seller to accept returned goods and refund the buyer once the item is back with the seller.

Question 16

What if I need to dispute but it's outside business hours?

Accepted Answer

Once in dispute, funds are frozen so you're safe. You can manage the dispute through your dashboard at any time - view the history of comments and refund suggestions, and add your own. The system works 24/7, and disputes auto-resolve the moment both parties agree on a refund amount.

Question 17

What if the seller goes silent after I pay but before expiry?

Accepted Answer

You can dispute at any time before expiry by clicking 'Raise Dispute' in your dashboard. Enter a comment explaining the lack of communication and suggest a full refund. The seller will be notified and can respond through their dashboard. If they agree to your refund amount, the dispute resolves automatically.

Question 18

What about international transactions and different countries' laws?

Accepted Answer

This is an escrow money transfer service, not an arbitration service. Legal arbitration is between buyer and seller. Once resolution has been agreed (with or without legal involvement), funds are allocated according to that agreement.

Question 19

What if expensive items need legal arbitration?

Accepted Answer

The contracts are technically owned by the buyer. If buyer and seller can't reach agreement, legal arbitration between them is their responsibility. The conclusion of that process informs our admin team how to allocate disputed funds.

Question 20

What information do you store about me?

Accepted Answer

Our privacy policy is at our privacy policy page. On the public blockchain: amount, buyer wallet ID, seller wallet ID, expiry date, and description. We store email addresses on secured servers as they're necessary to provide the service, but this data is not part of any public interface.

Question 21

What if there's a bug in the smart contract code?

Accepted Answer

Every contract uses the same verified code available on the blockchain. We have verified our code using established security services.

Question 22

How can I verify for myself that you can't steal my money?

Accepted Answer

Want to verify our code yourself? Copy the verified contract from the blockchain explorer and paste it into tools like MythX, ask ChatGPT 'can the admin steal funds from this contract?', or have any Solidity developer review it. We've used SolidityScan to audit our contracts - you can too. It'll ask you to select a blockchain (we are on Base) and then paste in a contract address. It'll give you a full audit report with a score of 94%: 'Great'.

Question 23

Is your code open source so I can review it myself?

Accepted Answer

Yes! The entire Conduit UCPI platform is open source and available at github.com/conduit-ucpi. This includes our smart contracts, backend services, and frontend applications. You can review every line of code, see our development history, and verify that the deployed contracts match the published source code. This transparency is core to our commitment to trustless, secure transactions.

Question 24

Is there any reputation tracking or feedback system?

Accepted Answer

No. This system exists to eliminate the need for trust in transactions because both parties are protected - no more 'pay and hope.'

Question 25

What if I need help with technical issues that aren't disputes?

Accepted Answer

Technical support is available by emailing info@conduit-ucpi.com

Question 26

Can I get proper receipts/invoices for business transactions?

Accepted Answer

That sounds like a great enhancement. Email us at info@conduit-ucpi.com to discuss your needs.

Question 27

What if my payment gets stuck and doesn't make it to the contract?

Accepted Answer

The system reads contract status directly from the blockchain where funds are held. Our contract code makes it impossible for a transaction to go from 'funds-deposited' back to 'awaiting payment.'

Question 28

What about time-sensitive purchases like concert tickets?

Accepted Answer

This system is ideal for time-sensitive purchases. You can set the expiry date when making the buyer/seller agreement to ensure delivery by your required date.

Question 29

What if I accidentally send money to the wrong contract or enter the wrong amount?

Accepted Answer

You're not stuck with mistakes - raise a dispute immediately with a comment explaining the error and request 100% refund. When the other party sees your explanation and agrees to the refund amount, the dispute will automatically resolve and return your funds.

Question 30

How long should I wait before disputing if I need time to inspect complex items?

Accepted Answer

This system provides escrow infrastructure to make transactions trustless. Agreements about inspection periods and acceptance criteria are for buyer and seller to negotiate between themselves.

Question 31

This sounds complicated with crypto and wallets - can you walk me through what I actually need to do?

Accepted Answer

1. Get USDC using the instructions on our wallet management screen. 2. Ask your seller to go to our website, authenticate, and click 'request payment' (they enter your email, amount, payout date, description). 3. You get an email, log in to see the pending payment, check details and accept. That's it!

Question 32

What is USDC and why can't I just pay with regular money?

Accepted Answer

USDC is a stablecoin cryptocurrency that's always 1:1 with USD. You need it to use blockchain smart contracts that make this service possible - giving you mathematical guarantees about payment protection that regular payment systems can't provide.

Question 33

I'm nervous about using cryptocurrency - isn't this risky and complicated?

Accepted Answer

You've been using electronic money for decades - your bank balance is just numbers in a computer, not physical cash. USDC works the same way, except it runs on public infrastructure instead of private bank systems. The main practical differences: 1) You can verify transactions yourself on the blockchain, 2) No one can freeze or reverse your payments without your consent, 3) It works 24/7 globally without bank business hours or international transfer delays. The 'crypto' part is just the technology that makes these guarantees possible - you don't need to understand blockchain any more than you need to understand SWIFT networks to use regular bank transfers.

Question 34

How do I authenticate - is this another username/password account?

Accepted Answer

Authentication is simple: either choose your Google account or enter your email address and receive a 6-digit code to enter on screen.

Question 35

What does it cost to get USDC?

Accepted Answer

We don't control crypto exchanges, so costs depend on which exchange you use and their terms. If you find this service useful, consider keeping some money in USDC for future transactions.

Question 36

What if I make a mistake during setup?

Accepted Answer

If the seller creates the wrong email, you won't get notifications. Wrong amount? Just ignore it and ask them to create a new request. If you somehow fund the wrong contract, raise a dispute and we'll sort it out.

Question 37

Why not just negotiate directly with the seller instead of using your service?

Accepted Answer

The key advantage is that sellers don't get the money until you're satisfied, so they're incentivized to resolve any problems. It also protects sellers by showing they're dealing with a buyer who has funds ready.

Question 38

What's the smallest purchase amount where this makes sense?

Accepted Answer

Consider the exchange fees to get USDC plus our 1% transaction fee. This works well for purchases where you can't meet in person or need extra protection. Also remember: if a seller refuses to use this system for spurious reasons, you probably just avoided a scam.

Question 39

Is this mainly for crypto-savvy people or can regular consumers use it?

Accepted Answer

It's designed for regular people. The biggest friction is getting USDC initially - we're working on easier onramps. If you can copy and paste addresses, you should be fine. Try our free $0.001 test option to see how it works risk-free.

Question 40

Can I use this for purchases from other cities or countries?

Accepted Answer

Yes! This enables safe transactions with sellers anywhere, since you're protected regardless of geographic location. You're not limited to local sellers you can meet in person.

Question 41

What if your website crashes or there are technical problems?

Accepted Answer

The system runs on Google Cloud with automated deployment and is built by experienced engineers (ex-Skyscanner principals with 50+ years combined experience). Most importantly, your transactions exist on the blockchain independently of our servers - you own them and could theoretically use other tools to access them if needed.

Question 42

What do I need to start accepting payments as a merchant?

Accepted Answer

An email address. That's it. No application, no bank statements, no business plan, no waiting period. You can process your first transaction in under 10 minutes.

Question 43

Why is there no approval process?

Accepted Answer

Traditional processors take custody of your money, so they need to assess your risk. We never touch your funds — they go from buyer to smart contract to you. No custody means no underwriting.

Question 44

Why is there no credit check or business verification?

Accepted Answer

Processors who hold funds need to know you won't disappear owing them money. We can't be left holding the bag because we never hold anything.

Question 45

Why no reserve requirements?

Accepted Answer

Reserves exist so processors can cover chargebacks if you can't. Our system doesn't have chargebacks — disputes are resolved before funds leave escrow. Nothing to reserve against.

Question 46

Why no monthly minimums or volume requirements?

Accepted Answer

Those exist to make small merchants worth the processor's underwriting cost. We have no underwriting cost.

Question 47

What if I sell CBD, supplements, adult content, firearms, or other high-risk categories?

Accepted Answer

We don't restrict product categories. Traditional processors reject high-risk merchants because they're afraid of chargebacks and regulatory scrutiny. Our system doesn't have chargebacks, and we don't make decisions about your funds, so we don't need to police what you sell.

Question 48

Can my merchant account be frozen or terminated?

Accepted Answer

We can't freeze funds that aren't in our custody. Your money is either in the escrow contract (where only you and the buyer can claim it) or in your wallet. There's no 'account' to terminate — each transaction is its own contract.

Question 49

What happens when a customer pays me as a merchant?

Accepted Answer

Funds go into a smart contract (not to you, not to us). At the agreed payout date, funds release to your wallet automatically. If there's a dispute before then, funds stay frozen until you and the buyer agree on a resolution.

Question 50

How is this different from a chargeback?

Accepted Answer

Chargebacks: Customer calls their bank, bank takes your money immediately, you pay $15-25 fee regardless of outcome, you have 7-10 days to gather evidence, bank decides, you can lose even with proof, customer has up to 180 days to dispute. This system: Customer raises dispute in the app, funds freeze (but aren't taken from you), you negotiate directly with the customer, when you both agree on a split funds release automatically, no fee, no third party deciding your fate.

Question 51

What if a buyer disputes in bad faith?

Accepted Answer

They can freeze the funds, but they can't get them without your agreement. A buyer who received goods and disputes anyway is stuck — they don't get money back, you don't get paid, until someone blinks. Keep your shipping receipts.

Question 52

What does my customer see during checkout?

Accepted Answer

Your customer authenticates with email or social login. If they don't have a wallet, one is created automatically — but they still own it (they can export their keys anytime). If they don't have USDC or USDT, we provide links to buy some. They confirm the payment, sign it on their device, done. No wallet setup, no gas fees, no crypto knowledge required.

Question 53

Which stablecoins can customers pay with?

Accepted Answer

USDC or USDT. Both are pegged 1:1 to USD. USDT has higher global circulation; USDC has cleaner off-ramp economics via Coinbase.

Question 54

What if my customer doesn't have USDC or USDT?

Accepted Answer

The checkout provides links to purchase stablecoins directly. Customers can buy with card or bank transfer through integrated on-ramps.

Question 55

Do my customers need a crypto wallet?

Accepted Answer

No. Customers who don't have a wallet get one created automatically during checkout. They still own it — they can export their private keys anytime. It's their wallet, we just make setup invisible.

Question 56

What if a customer already has a wallet?

Accepted Answer

They can connect it instead. Works either way.

Question 57

Who pays the blockchain transaction fees?

Accepted Answer

We do. Gas fees on Base are fractions of a cent, but users would normally need to hold ETH to pay them. We've eliminated that — your customers never need to touch ETH. They pay in USDC or USDT, that's it.

Question 58

What about price volatility with cryptocurrency?

Accepted Answer

USDC and USDT are stablecoins — they're pegged 1:1 to USD. $100 USDC is always worth $100. This isn't Bitcoin.

Question 59

How do I turn stablecoins into real money?

Accepted Answer

Coinbase converts USDC to USD at 1:1 with no fee for conversions under $5 million per month. For USDT, most exchanges charge a small fee (typically 0.1-0.5%) or you can swap USDT to USDC first. Either way, your effective cost is close to just the 1% transaction fee.

Question 60

How do I handle accounting for stablecoin payments?

Accepted Answer

USDC and USDT are 1:1 with USD, so the transaction value is straightforward. Each transaction has a blockchain record with timestamp, amount, and addresses. Treat the off-ramp (converting to fiat) as a separate event. Talk to your accountant about crypto income reporting in your jurisdiction.

Question 61

What about taxes on stablecoin payments?

Accepted Answer

In most jurisdictions, receiving stablecoins as payment is treated like receiving USD — it's income at the time of receipt. The off-ramp may have tax implications depending on timing and any value fluctuation. This isn't tax advice; consult a professional.

Question 62

Why is fraud lower with stablecoin payments?

Accepted Answer

Card payments are 'pull' — you hand over credentials that let the merchant's processor extract funds. Stablecoin payments are 'push' — the buyer actively sends funds. There's no shared secret to steal. A fraudster would need access to your customer's wallet, not just a number printed on a piece of plastic. No credentials are exchanged, nothing is stored, nothing can be skimmed or phished.

Question 63

What does lower fraud mean for me as a merchant?

Accepted Answer

Card-not-present fraud runs about 0.5% of transaction volume. You pay for that — either directly through losses, or indirectly through processor fees that price in fraud risk. With push payments, that category of fraud doesn't exist. Buyers must have the funds and actively authorize the transaction.

Question 64

Where does payment security actually happen?

Accepted Answer

With stablecoin payments, all security happens on the customer's device at the moment they connect their wallet and sign the transaction. There's no card number to store, no credentials database to breach, no sensitive data flowing through servers. We couldn't leak your customers' payment details if we wanted to — we never have them.

Frequently asked questions.

How the escrow system works.