Fiat in / out

Decentralized escrow is possible only in crypto and you first need to convert your fiat money (such as USD, EUR) to cryptocurrencies. We recommend using stablecoins pegged to fiat currencies in order to protect against volatility common for other cryptocurrencies. One popular stablecoin is USDC, which is supported by Coinbase and pegged to USD.

1. To convert your fiat to USDC, use any cryptocurrency exchange. Depending on your jurisdiction, different exchanges might be available to you. Popular choices are Coinbase, Binance, Kraken, Crypto.com, and many others.

You need to deposit USD (or another currency) to the exchange, then buy the necessary amount of USDC on the exchange. You also need to acquire a small (about $50 worth) amount of ETH since ETH is required to pay for transaction fees on Ethereum.

As an alternative to cryptocurrency exchanges, you can also use an OTC desk. A good list of OTC desks working with crypto is available here. They offer more personalized service that might be more suitable for newcomers, however they work only with large amounts with typical minimums at $50K-100K.

2. Set up your MetaMask wallet. See the guide How to get USDC into Obyte wallet to pay the contract.

3. Withdraw both USDC and ETH from the exchange (or OTC provider) to your MetaMask wallet.

4. Download and set up your Obyte wallet. See the first steps of the User guide for details.

5. Transfer your USDC from MetaMask to your Obyte wallet using Counterstake Bridge. See the guide How to get USDC into Obyte wallet to pay the contract for details. You'll use this money to pay the contract amount.

6. Use Get Me In to transfer and convert a small (under $1 worth) amount of USDC to GBYTE in your Obyte wallet. You'll need this small amount of GBYTE to pay for transaction fees on Obyte, even if you are a seller.

7. Now you are ready to pay for contracts with arbitration.

If you are a seller and have received stablecoins from a smart contract, you need to do the reverse operations to get fiat money: transfer the coins from Obyte to Ethereum using Counterstake Bridge, then sell them for fiat on any cryptocurrency exchange (or OTC desk), and withdraw fiat to your bank account.

If you are both a buyer and a seller in different contracts (with suppliers and customers), you don't need to go to fiat all too often and can save on conversion costs.

This process might seem complicated to those who are new to cryptocurrencies, feel free to reach out to us at support@arbstore.org and we'll be happy to provide additional guidance.