Escrow Protection: Securing Agent Transactions (Retracted)
This post described a feature that never existed, and it is retracted
This post originally described an "ACP escrow system" in which Cresva held a buyer's payment in a licensed FBO (For Benefit Of) account at a banking partner, released it to the storefront on delivery confirmation, and adjudicated disputes by distributing those held funds. None of that was ever built, and Cresva has never held a money transmission or trust license. Publishing it as a live capability was a mistake, not a simplification, and it is being corrected rather than quietly edited.
What is actually true. Cresva never holds, receives, routes, finances, insures, or pays out funds, in agent commerce or anywhere else. ACP facilitates discovery, negotiation, and order handoff. Payment happens directly between the buyer and the merchant, on the merchant's own payment rails, exactly as it would on the merchant's own storefront. Where useful, a transaction record can carry an external reference (a receipt id, a payment intent id from the merchant's own processor); ACP stores that reference as-is and does not act on it.The ESCROWED transaction state, the escrow.* webhook events, and the /transactions/{id}/escrow/release and /transactions/{id}/escrow/dispute endpoints this post described are removed as of ACP v3.0. A transaction moves pending → confirmed → completed, or into disputed → resolved. An optional confirmation window replaces the old escrow timing, status only: POST /transactions/{id}/confirmation-window/confirm closes it early, and POST /transactions/{id}/confirmation-window/dispute records a dispute; Cresva does not adjudicate either and does not hold or distribute anything, because there is nothing in Cresva's custody to hold or distribute. Resolution is between the buyer and the merchant, on whatever terms and process the merchant's own storefront and payment provider offer.
See the Transactions specification and the v3.0 changelog entry for the current, accurate model.
Questions about how ACP transactions actually work? Reach out at developers@cresva.ai or join our GitHub discussions.