Kaspa Deposit
A security deposit
that returns itself
A rental-style deposit in KAS without handing the money to the other side. The deposit sits in an on-chain Kaspa covenant, and its default destination is you, the depositor: when the term and the claim window pass, it flows back on its own. The holder can't quietly keep it — keeping any part takes a claim, your signature, or an arbiter's verdict.
A deposit in three steps
One side creates the deposit: amount, term (any length from 7 to 730 days) and the claim window (3 / 7 / 14 / 30 days). The other opens the invite link, sees exactly the same terms and joins. Each side's key is generated in their own browser and saved to your master key file (your Desk profile).
The depositor sends KAS to their own funding address and locks it into the covenant — the browser assembles the on-chain contract itself. The funding target is the deposit plus the service-fee reserve, shown exactly before you fund. The browser also re-computes the deposit address and refuses to fund if the server's parameters differ. From that moment nobody holds the money: the covenant does.
The term ends quietly? Once the claim window passes, the deposit returns to the depositor by itself — no button, no signature, no permission. Something went wrong? The holder files a claim — at any moment during the term, or in the claim window as a last chance. An AI mediator reads the case and your on-chain chat and proposes an outcome in minutes; if either side isn't satisfied, a human arbiter rules — full return, full payout, or a split. The holder can also hand the deposit back early with one signature, and a mutual settlement is available at any time. Arbiter never rules? The dead-man timeout returns everything to the depositor — with no fee.
The term is free-form — anything from 7 to 730 days. The claim window is a preset of 3, 7, 14 or 30 days after the term: the holder's last chance, not their only one — a claim can be filed at any moment while the term runs. The joining side sees both before joining. Once the claim window closes with no claim, the money flows back to the depositor on its own.
A claim starts a clock for the arbiter too. Each claim-window preset carries a contract deadline for arbitration — 10, 14, 21 or 45 days. If a dispute is open and the arbiter hasn't ruled by that deadline, the covenant's dead-man timeout pays the depositor everything, fee-free — the deposit can't hang, even if we vanish. More on the covenant in the docs ▸
Six things a cash deposit can't give you
The default path of the covenant points at the depositor. Nobody has to approve the return, remember it, stay reachable or even stay in business: if the holder does nothing, the deposit comes back — automatically, in full.
The covenant admits a fixed set of outcomes, and in every one the money goes to the depositor, the holder, or the visible service fee. There is no "send elsewhere" path in the script — the holder's honesty stops being a factor.
The holder can't just keep the money. A claim freezes the deposit and starts a visible dispute rail — and keeping any part of it requires the depositor's signature or an arbiter's verdict. A split is on the table, not all-or-nothing.
The deposit chat is on-chain messaging on the Kaspa BlockDAG, built on the Kasia protocol: every message is an end-to-end encrypted transaction in the ledger; photos and videos travel encrypted, their fingerprints anchored on-chain. Hand-over photos taken on day one can't be forged, edited or backdated — not even by us. In a claim, this chat is the case file.
If a dispute stalls and the arbiter misses the contract deadline, everything returns to the depositor by itself — no permission from us needed, and the timeout path carries no service fee. The deposit survives even our disappearance.
Kaspa Deposit reuses the escrow covenant that already runs live-mainnet deals in Kaspa Escrow — audited, adversarially tested, open source (GitHub). The deposit is watchable on any explorer and recoverable offline. Recovery & offline →
When something breaks, the process is a rail — not a shouting match
The holder files a claim and the deposit freezes in the covenant. From there, resolution runs on a visible track:
Want the protocol-level view first? Read the covenant security documentation and the guide to Kaspa covenant mechanics.
The arbiter can
- rule the full deposit back to the depositor
- rule the full deposit to the holder
- rule a split between the two
The arbiter cannot
- take any funds
- send funds to a third party
- change the fee address
- change the deposit amount
- move funds without a claim path
Try to keep the deposit
Pick a move. The outcome is decided by the covenant on Kaspa, not by our word — a payout it can't express is a transaction the network rejects.
Creating a deposit is free. The deposit itself returns in full
The normal ending: auto-return, early return or mutual settlement. The fee is added on top when you fund — the funding target is the deposit plus the fee reserve, shown exactly before you confirm — so what you locked is what comes back.
Only if a dispute reaches a verdict. The covenant enforces the service fee on every signed resolution. The one path with no service fee at all is the dead-man timeout — the arbiter never ruled, and everything returns to the depositor for free.
| Kaspa Deposit | Cash in the other side's hands | |
|---|---|---|
| Who holds the money | an on-chain covenant — nobody | the holder, and you hope for the best |
| Getting it back | returns by itself when the term passes | you ask, remind, chase and argue |
| Can they just keep it | no — keeping anything requires your signature or an arbiter's verdict | yes — possession is leverage |
| Partial disputes | the arbiter can split in any proportion | all-or-nothing standoff |
| Evidence | on-chain Kasia chat: E2E photo/video, anchored on-chain — can't be silently altered or backdated | word against word |
| If the middleman vanishes | the timeout returns the funds by itself, fee-free | there is no middleman — and no protection |
Fair questions
Do you hold the money?
No. The deposit sits in an on-chain Kaspa covenant. The contract admits a fixed set of outcomes, and in every one the money goes strictly to the depositor, the holder, or the service fee. Sending it anywhere else — including to the arbiter — is a transaction the network will not accept.
What happens if nobody does anything?
The deposit comes back to the depositor by itself. That's the default path of the covenant: once the term and the claim window pass with no claim filed, the auto-return fires — no button, no signature, no permission from us.
When can the holder file a claim?
At any moment during the term, and — as a last chance — during the claim window right after the term (a preset of 3, 7, 14 or 30 days). Once the claim window closes with no claim, the money flows back to the depositor on its own.
Can the deposit be split?
Yes. Disputes are not all-or-nothing: the sides can settle on a partial amount at any moment, and the arbiter's verdict can divide the deposit in any proportion (each share at least 1 KAS).
What if the arbiter never rules?
The dead-man timeout returns everything to the depositor by itself, with no service fee. The deposit is an on-chain contract — it can't hang, even if the website disappears. The contract and offline tools are open source.
What does it cost?
Creating a deposit is free. The happy path — auto-return, early return or mutual settlement — is 0.5% (min 1.2 KAS), added on top when you fund: the funding target is the deposit plus the fee reserve, and the released deposit returns in full. Arbitration is 2% (min 5 KAS). The only path with no service fee is the dead-man timeout. The exact fee is shown before you confirm.
Who sees our chat?
Only the two of you. The deposit chat is on-chain messaging on the Kaspa BlockDAG (Kasia protocol): every message is an end-to-end encrypted transaction, anchored on-chain — the thread can't be silently forged or backdated. The server relays only ciphertext. The arbiter can read it only if one side deliberately reveals it during a dispute — and the decrypted copy is wiped when the deposit closes. A chat key cannot move funds.
What do I need to keep safe?
Your master key file — the encrypted profile in your Desk. Your deposit key and service token are saved there automatically; back it up once (Desk → Export key file). Lose the master file and its password with no backup and you lose access to your side of the deposit (the funds themselves still follow the covenant's normal paths or the timeout). We never store or ask for private keys.
How tested is it?
Open beta. Kaspa Deposit runs on the same audited escrow covenant as Kaspa Escrow — pointed the other way. The contract passed a full on-chain cycle and adversarial attacks on our test range (52/52 in the VM), plus live mainnet runs. Deposits run from 50 to 10,000 KAS.
Lock the deposit — and stop chasing it
Runs in your browser, no downloads, no account. Your deposits live in the Desk next to your vaults, deals and listings.