PSA: Avoid any marketplace with on-site escrow or you will lose money.

Title pretty much says it all. Doesn't matter how many "temporary Bitcoin addresses" they generate or what fancy features they flash in your face (wow, such tumbler!).

Any marketplace with on-site escrow should be treated as compromised. There is no longer any excuse. We have the technology for easy multisig transaction integration and there are also legitimate clearnet BTC escrow services available. If you wouldn't store coins on site why keep them in escrow on site?

Normally I try to reserve this account for posting things of a much less obvious nature but I would have thought people would learn this after SR1, Atlantis, and Sheep. Going back to the same tired old paradigm isn't going to cut it anymore folks.

Edit: Right now this means Agora, Blue Sky, Pandora, FloMarket, Tortuga and probably others. Do not use these. Seriously. The last two times I challenged someone in this community on security related issues it was Sheep and Tor Market. I haven't looked into any of the markets I listed beyond their front pages but my initial opinion is that these are not well engineered or well put together projects. Vendors and buyers alike beware.

Edit 2: Added Tortuga to the list.


Comments


[6 Points] Nutsnbolts12345:

Thank you for being the one to say it. I've been shocked by the fact that people are willing to rush to these brand new sites knowing that more established markets that we thought we could trust have been dieing off left and right.

The only reason you should be using one of these sites is if you have a dependency to a drug that you can't get locally. Otherwise you have no excuse to be risking your money and freedom on these new sites. We are going through a rough patch here and the only way we are going to get through it is by adapting.

Be safe guys.


[8 Points] owockEznan:

https://www.bitrated.com/

There are no chargebacks in bitcoin. M of N transactions will become popular in the mainstream. This is for the same reason everybody will tell you to pay with a credit card and not a debit card online -- customers want protection. BIP_16 was adopted because the need for these types of complex transaction was clear, and even tho CHECKMULTISIGVERIFY had already existed, nobody would put those types of transactions into the blockchain because they were too big.

Yes, P2SH is not well supported, but since BIP_16 has become adopted wallets will start offering more and better support for them. BitcoinJ, the bitcoin client code that many popular wallets use, already has support in the main branch for payments to P2SH addresses and the next public release will include it.


[5 Points] None:

I'm guessing you're advocating the use of i2p, but TheMarketplace simply has no variety or namebrand vendors. Not to mention its hard to access. What do you mean by compromised anyways? Are you saying the markets you named are guaranteed to flip and take all the money in escrow? There's not one market we can put our trust in?

oh btw, what do you think about Tortuga market?


[2 Points] tmispissingmeoff:

http://makeameme.org/meme/everyones-out-taking

need to get some of my feels out there


[-7 Points] None:

So smarts. Very yes. Much info. Wow.