Module reference · Economics & settlement
x/escrow — Escrow
Funds held on-chain against active leases, released only by settlement rules.
What it does
Inside x/escrow
The escrow module holds tenant funds against active leases. When a deployment is created, the tenant funds an escrow account; when leases form, payment obligations draw against that balance. Providers can verify collateral exists before committing capacity, and tenants know funds move only under settlement rules — not at a counterparty's discretion.
Escrow accounts track deposits, settlements, and withdrawals as auditable state transitions. If a balance runs dry, the associated leases close for non-payment; when a deployment closes, any unspent balance returns to the tenant.
Why it exists
The design rationale
Payment risk kills open marketplaces: providers won't serve strangers on the promise of a future invoice, and tenants won't prepay strangers either. On-chain escrow removes both counterparty risks at once — funds are provably committed but provably not yet transferred.
Interactions
How it connects to the rest of the chain
No module stands alone — these are the protocol surfaces this module depends on or serves.
- x/market
Every lease is backed by a funded escrow account from creation.
- x/settlement
Settled usage line items draw down escrow into provider payouts.
- x/take
Settlement keeps marketplace commission at zero as escrow releases to providers.
- x/deployment
Deployments fund and reclaim the escrow behind their leases.
Key concepts
Terms that matter here
- Escrow account
- The on-chain balance a tenant funds against a deployment's payment obligations.
- Drawdown
- The settlement-triggered transfer from escrow toward a provider's earned balance.
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