Trade Lifecycle
Every state a trade can be in, illustrated — from Open to Completed, Disputed, or Expired.
Every trade on Trustfy moves through a defined set of states, each visible on the trade screen in real time. Knowing what each one means — and what, if anything, you need to do — takes the guesswork out of trading.
Expected time
6 minutes
Difficulty
Intermediate
You'll need
Familiarity with Escrow and Payment helps, but isn't required
Two questions every state answers
The full lifecycle#
Nothing is locked yet for a taker at this point — the ad is just a public listing of price, limits, and terms. (The maker's own bond and fee were already reserved when they published it.)
This is a single wallet signature. Matching a sell ad reserves the taker's bond and fee; matching a buy ad bundles the trade amount together with the taker's bond and fee in one deposit.
The maker cancels the still-unmatched remainder of their ad — the only cancellation path there is; a taker can't cancel an already-matched trade. Their Ad Bond is refunded in full within their free cancellation allowance, then partially forfeited past it.
Nobody finishes funding within the window. The match automatically expires and deposits are returned.
Depending on who's buying vs. selling, this step may already be done as part of matching, or may require one more deposit from the maker.
This is the buyer's green light: the USDT is provably locked and can only go to them (on completion) or back per an arbitrator's ruling. It's now safe to send the fiat payment.
This happens entirely outside Trustfy — a real bank transfer or mobile money payment, using the details agreed in the trade chat.
The buyer never confirms payment before the window closes. The seller (or, once the window elapses, anyone) can claim buyer default: the seller reclaims their Trade Amount and their own bond in full — the buyer's Matching Bond is forfeited to the treasury as a penalty, never paid to the seller as a windfall.
This does not release the USDT by itself — it only notifies the seller that a payment claim has been made and starts the seller's review clock.
Only after independently confirming receipt should the seller move to release. Never release based on a screenshot alone.
Either side opens a dispute if something doesn't add up. An independent arbitrator reviews evidence and rules.
The ruling executes automatically on-chain — funds move exactly as the arbitrator decided, with no further appeal step.
→ rejoins the main path at Completed
Both bonds — the maker's Ad Bond, the taker's Matching Bond — plus the Dispute Bond are returned to both traders at this point — nothing is forfeited on a normal, successful trade.
Completed trades count toward both traders' reputation scores.
Tap any state to see what it means and what happens next.
Happy path vs. branches#
Most trades never leave the straight path down the middle: Open → Matched → Escrow Pending → Escrow Funded → Buyer Paying → Payment Sent → Seller Reviewing → Released → Completed. The branches — Cancelled, Expired, and Disputed — exist specifically for the minority of trades that need them, and each one still resolves to a clean, bond-protected outcome.
Related mechanics#
- Escrow — what actually happens during Escrow Pending / Funded.
- Payment — the mechanics of Buyer Paying / Payment Sent / Seller Reviewing.
- Disputes — what happens on the Disputed → Resolved branch.
- Bonds & Fees — what happens to bonds at Cancelled, Expired, or Resolved.
Can a trade skip states? No — the smart contract enforces this exact order; there's no way to release funds without passing through Funded and Paid first.
Who can see what state a trade is in? Both traders, live, on the trade screen — and it's also readable directly from the blockchain by anyone, since nothing is hidden.
What happens if I close the app mid-trade? Nothing is lost — trade state lives on the blockchain, not in your browser. Reconnect your wallet any time to pick back up exactly where you left off.
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