Help guides

To buy Bitcoin, you need your own Bitcoin wallet.

1. In the header section of the website, on the left side, click “Buy BTC”.
2. Use filters to sort the offers according to your preferences, such as: country, currency, payment type, payment method, and amount (all fields are optional).
3. In the offer list below, click the offer you prefer.
4. Enter the amount of Bitcoin, or the fiat currency equivalent, that you want to buy. Then you may enter your release address and select your preferred payment method (some offers have more than one payment method). Also, you have the option to leave a comment for your counterparty.
5. After the contract has been created, press the “Generate escrow” button and enter your payment password that generates a unique escrow address. Then wait until the seller deposits Bitcoin into the multisig escrow.
6. When you see that funds are locked in escrow and the contract status has changed to "In progress", it is safe to pay the seller by sending money according to the payment details the seller specified. After you have sent the payment, click the button "I've sent the payment".
7. When the seller verifies the funds have arrived, the Seller then releases the Bitcoin from escrow directly into the Bitcoin address specified in your dashboard settings, or to the one you provided when creating the contract.
8. Your contract is now complete!

Pay special attention to the following, on the offer and contract pages:

• IMPORTANT: Never send the payment until the funds are safely locked in escrow!
• Note the "Payment window" - which is the time within which you are obligated to complete the payment and finish the contract.
• Note the number of confirmations required - this is the number of Bitcoin network confirmations that affect the length of the contract. The higher the number of confirmations required, the longer you have to wait for the Bitcoins to be safely locked in escrow, which allows you to proceed with your contract. Contracts with 1 or more confirmations are considered safe.
• Don’t forget, you can always contact your counterparty in the contract’s chat.
• If the contract status has changed to "Paid" and you’ve sent the funds, but your counterparty does not want to release the Bitcoin – you can start a dispute after the “Payment window” expires.

To sell Bitcoin you need to have your own Bitcoin wallet.

1. In the header section of the website, on the left side, click ‘Sell BTC'.
2. Use filters to sort the offers according to your preferences, such as: country, currency, payment type, payment method, and amount (all fields are optional).
3. In the offer list below, click the offer you prefer.
4. Enter the amount of Bitcoin, or fiat currency equivalent, that you want to sell. Next, you may enter your release address and select your preferred payment method (some offers have more than one payment method). You also have the option to leave a comment for your counterparty.
5. After the contract has been created, click the “Generate escrow” button and enter your payment password, this generates a unique escrow address, then wait for the seller to do the same.
6. After the contract has been created, you deposit into escrow the exact amount of bitcoins specified in your contract, or simply scan the QR code, then click “I’ve sent the funds”.
7. When the Bitcoin is locked in escrow, wait until the buyer sends you the payment according to your contract’s payment method.
8. When the contract status has changed to "Paid", it means the buyer has sent you the payment. You now need to make sure the funds actually arrived. After you verify you received the payment in full, click the "Release deposit" button, and enter your payment password to release the Bitcoin to the buyer.
9. Your contract is now complete.

Pay special attention to the following on the offer and contract pages:

• IMPORTANT: Never release the funds from escrow unless you have received the payment from the buyer!
• Note the number of confirmations required - this is the number of Bitcoin network confirmations required that affect the length of the contract, the more confirmations, the longer you have to wait for the bitcoins to be safely locked in escrow so that you may proceed with the contract. Contracts with 1 or more confirmations are considered safe.
• Don’t forget, you can always contact your counterparty in the contract’s chat.
• If you have sent the funds to escrow, but have not received the payment from the buyer (and the contract status has not been marked “Paid”) you are able to cancel the contract and release your funds as soon as the payment window expires.

Multisig escrow

Hodl Hodl ensures every trader’s safety by providing unique multisig escrow for every contract created on our trading platform. During the trade, the bitcoins remain locked in the multisig escrow (P2SH) address on the blockchain.

In order to release the Bitcoin from escrow, two (out of three) keys are needed - one belongs to the seller, one belongs to the buyer, and the other belongs to Hodl Hodl. This system ensures that both buyer and seller are protected from scams, since no transaction can happen without a signature from two parties.

The seller is not able to refund Bitcoin from escrow without the approval of a second party, and the buyer is not able to receive the Bitcoin unless the contract is successfully completed. Hodl Hodl uses its key if there is a dispute.

Reputation system

Every active trader on Hodl Hodl has a reputation and public trading history, so before you engage in a contract – you can protect yourself by understanding the information available about your counterparty. You can read more about the reputation system in the "Ratings & Reviews" guide.

Limits system

Every user has a limit level that increases after successfully completing contracts. We apply limits to users for the sake of improving each user's overall experience, safety, and comfort level when using our trading platform.

Hodl Hodl offers many features, and some of them could potentially be targeted by any of the well known spam & scam cases in the crypto-community, so we have taken the necessary steps to reduce this possibility so that unfair users cannot harm you. Also, user limits are a safety measure to protect users.

You can find more information about limitations in the "Limits" guide.

Two-Factor Authentication

The Hodl Hodl trading platform gives you the option to use an advanced level of security - Two-Factor authentication (2FA).

In addition to your email address and password, if you have 2FA enabled, in order to log in, you are required to enter a 6-digit code, this code is generated in the application (e.g. Authy, or Google Authenticator) on your device. This makes it impossible to log into your account without having access to your 2FA code.

More information is available in the "What is Two-Factor Authentication?" section.

Trusted devices

The trusted devices feature at Hodl Hodl is an additional level of security. After turning it on, every time a new device attempts to access your account, you are immediately asked to confirm it through your email. Otherwise your account cannot be accessed from the new device.

More information is available in the "What are Trusted Devices?" section.

Dispute resolution system

Whenever there is a problem during a contract, both parties are able to start a dispute if they cannot resolve the issue on their own. Once a dispute has been started, the support manager will study the case, and give you further instructions in order to resolve the dispute.

What is multisig escrow?

Escrow is a P2SH Bitcoin multisignature address, which requires n out of m keys to sign the transaction. Hodl Hodl requires 2-out-of-3 keys to sign the release transaction. Everytime a contract is created between two parties, Hodl Hodl generates a unique multisig escrow Bitcoin address. Then the seller sends Bitcoin from his wallet to this escrow, and while the Bitcoin is locked in escrow, the buyer sends fiat to the seller. Then the seller releases the Bitcoin from escrow using his payment password, and the buyer receives the Bitcoin into his wallet.

How are the keys to escrow generated and stored?

Hodl Hodl generates the private keys for the contract’s buyer and seller on the client side (in the browser, with javascript). These private keys are used to create the escrow address and to release the bitcoins from that escrow address.

A user’s private keys are created using both a random number generator and a user-created payment password. They are then encrypted with the same password and sent to the Hodl Hodl server encrypted. Hodl Hodl cannot decrypt its users’ private keys without knowing the payment passwords — and payment passwords are not known to Hodl Hodl and are not stored anywhere (not even on the client side!). This means that Hodl Hodl doesn’t store any of its users private keys and cannot release bitcoins from any particular contract’s escrow address without the buyer's or seller’s approval.

An approval, in this case, means sending the encrypted private key back from the server side to the client side (user’s browsers), prompting the user to enter their payment password to decrypt the key, and then partially signing the release transaction. Only after the transaction is partially signed with the user’s private key, it is sent back to the server where Hodl Hodl signs it with its own key and broadcasts it.

When are the keys to escrow used?

Escrow keys are required in the following situations:

• Contract is cancelled. In case the contract has been cancelled, and the Bitcoin has already been sent to escrow, the seller can refund the Bitcoin back to himself by entering his payment password - Hodl Hodl will automatically sign the transaction with it’s key. However, the buyer would not be able to make a release from the escrow - as Hodl Hodl will not sign such a transaction.
• Contract is completed. If everything goes well in the contract, the seller releases the Bitcoin from escrow to the buyer’s Bitcoin wallet by entering his payment password - and Hodl Hodl will automatically sign the transaction with it’s key. However, the buyer alone would not be able to make a release from the escrow - as Hodl Hodl will not sign such a transaction.
• Contract is disputed and the administrator has not taken sides yet. In this case, the parties still have the option to resolve the issue on their own. The seller is able to release the Bitcoin from the escrow to the buyer’s Bitcoin wallet by entering the payment password - Hodl Hodl will automatically sign the transaction with it’s key. However, neither buyer nor seller will be able to release the Bitcoin from escrow to themselves - Hodl Hodl will not sign such a transaction.
• Dispute is resolved in favor of one of the parties. The winning party can release the Bitcoin from escrow to his own Bitcoin address by entering the payment password - Hodl Hodl will automatically sign the transaction with it’s key. However, the other party will not be able to release the Bitcoin from escrow - as Hodl Hodl will not sign such a transaction.