# Why Black Pearl Market

Black Pearl Market uses contract-based USDC escrow, Pearl-side verification, indexed lifecycle state, and two user-facing order modes. The goal is a clear OTC experience that users can verify on-chain.

## Escrow First

Buyer USDC is deposited into the OTC smart contract, not sent directly to the seller wallet. This gives every swap a contract-level lifecycle: bid, acceptance, claim, cancellation, or refund.

## No User-Facing Co-Sign Flow

Black Pearl Market does not require users to coordinate a co-sign flow for every trade. The USDC side settles through the escrow contract with explicit claim and refund paths.

## HTLC-Style PEARL Settlement

Black Pearl Market does not only rely on off-chain promises. The PEARL side uses a Taproot lock/release model, while the EVM side uses contract-based USDC escrow.

The buyer is known before the seller signs the Taproot release transaction. That means the pre-signed release targets the intended buyer, amount, and trade context instead of acting as a generic permission to move PEARL.

Together, PEARL-side settlement and EVM escrow create a clear cross-chain lifecycle with user-verifiable steps: USDC lock, PEARL lock, PEARL release, USDC claim, or refund when the lifecycle expires.

## Buyer Pays 0% Protocol Fee

Buyers pay 0% Black Pearl Market protocol fee. Network gas still applies when submitting transactions.

The protocol fee is seller-side. In the current production deployment it is 200 bps, equal to 2%. For a 100 USDC order, the buyer locks 100 USDC and the seller receives 98 USDC on successful claim, plus any returned seller bond where applicable.

## Two Order Experiences, One Protocol

Bot-Assisted Orders can automate eligible Telegram session steps. Human-Confirmed Orders require more direct user or counterparty confirmation. Both use the same escrow contract and settlement lifecycle.

## Direct Contract Access

The web app, Telegram bot, indexer, and APIs are tooling layers. The verified escrow contract remains accessible on Arbiscan for advanced users who have the correct wallet, network, order data, and action details.

Verified contract: [PearlUsdcEscrow on Arbiscan](https://arbiscan.io/address/0xE0651f6E900a2DbB5FEc01e84d5eA082D83576EE#code)

## Comparison

| Design Area        | Black Pearl Market                              |
| ------------------ | ----------------------------------------------- |
| Buyer USDC         | Locked in escrow contract                       |
| Buyer protocol fee | 0%                                              |
| Seller fee         | Seller-side protocol fee                        |
| PEARL settlement   | Taproot lock/release with known buyer           |
| Co-sign flow       | Not required as the primary user model          |
| Recovery           | Contract claim, cancel, and refund paths        |
| Automation         | Bot-Assisted Orders where eligible              |
| Transparency       | Contract events, explorer links, indexed status |


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