Trade Finance

Replace your Letter of Credit with programmable escrow.

Letters of Credit cost 1.5-8% and take 5-10 business days to issue. Valescrow gives you the same buyer-seller protection with milestone-gated releases, automatic deadlines, and full audit trails — for 0.5%.

Get started freeSee how it works

0.5%

vs 1.5-8% LC fees

Minutes

Setup, not weeks

Auto

Deadline protection

$0

Amendment fees

The problem today

What you're dealing with.

1

Letters of Credit are expensive

Banks charge 1.5-8% of the shipment value for an LC. On a $500K container from Shenzhen, that's $7,500-$40,000 — just for the trust mechanism.

2

Amendments cost time and money

Shipping delays, port changes, quantity adjustments — each amendment costs $50-$500 and adds 2-5 business days. Real trade is unpredictable; LCs are rigid.

3

Sellers wait weeks for payment

Even after goods are delivered and documents accepted, LC payment processing takes 5-10 additional business days. Cash flow suffers.

4

Small exporters can't access LCs

Banks require credit history, collateral, and established relationships. First-time exporters and SMEs in emerging markets are locked out of international trade.

How Valescrow fixes it

What changes with Valescrow.

1

0.5% flat fee — no hidden charges

A $500K shipment costs $2,500 on Valescrow. No amendment fees, no confirmation fees, no advising bank fees. One transparent cost.

2

Milestone-gated staged payments

Set up staged releases: 30% on production start, 40% on customs clearance, 30% on delivery confirmation. Each milestone triggers automatically.

3

Automatic deadline protection

If the buyer doesn't reject within the agreed window, funds auto-release to the seller. No buyer holdout. Uses any_of(milestone, time_lock) composite conditions.

4

No bank relationship required

Any business can create an escrow allocation in 15 minutes. Fund in any of 15 stablecoin currencies. No credit checks, no collateral, no banking history needed.

Real-world example

$200K electronics — Shenzhen to Los Angeles

A US distributor buys LED panels from a Chinese manufacturer. Neither party fully trusts the other. Traditionally, this requires an LC through both banks.

1

Buyer creates a Buyer-Funded Trade Escrow on Valescrow

Uses the Buyer-Funded Escrow template. Sets 3 milestones: production complete, customs cleared (Port of Long Beach), delivery confirmed. Total: $200K in USDm. 60-day auto-release deadline.

2

Buyer funds escrow in full

$200K in USDm deposited to Valescrow escrow. Seller sees funds are locked and secured — production begins. Platform fee: $1,000 (0.5%).

3

Milestone 1: Production complete

Seller submits production photos and QC report. Inspector (third-party QC agent in Shenzhen) verifies via secure webhook. 30% ($60K) releases to seller.

4

Milestone 2: Customs cleared at Port of Long Beach

Freight forwarder confirms customs clearance. Buyer's agent triggers milestone. 40% ($80K) releases to seller.

5

Milestone 3: Delivery confirmed

Buyer inspects goods at warehouse. Confirms delivery. Final 30% ($60K) releases. If buyer doesn't respond within 7 days, auto-release kicks in.

Result

Total cost: $1,000 (Valescrow 0.5%). Equivalent LC would cost $3,000-$16,000 (1.5-8%) plus $150-$1,500 in amendment fees. Seller received payment within minutes of each milestone, not weeks. Buyer had automatic deadline protection against seller non-delivery.

Side-by-side comparison

How Valescrow compares.

Total fee

Valescrow

0.5% flat

Traditional

2-5%

LC

1.5-8%

Setup time

Valescrow

15 minutes

Traditional

1-2 weeks

LC

5-10 business days

Amendment fees

Valescrow

$0 (conditions are editable pre-funding)

Traditional

Varies

LC

$50-$500 each

Payment speed after milestone

Valescrow

Minutes

Traditional

1-2 weeks

LC

5-10 business days

Staged/milestone payments

Valescrow

Traditional

Manual only

LC

Partial shipment clauses (rigid)

Automatic deadline protection

Valescrow

any_of(milestone, time_lock)

Traditional

LC

Expiry date only

Bank relationship required

Valescrow

Traditional

Depends on provider

LC

Cross-border currencies

Valescrow

15 stablecoin currencies

Traditional

Wire transfer

LC

Bank FX rates (1-3% spread)

Immutable audit trail

Valescrow

On-chain, 7-year retention

Traditional

Paper/PDF

LC

Bank records

Inspector integration

Valescrow

Built-in webhook triggers

Traditional

Separate process

LC

Surveyor certificates (manual)

Minimum deal size

Valescrow

No minimum

Traditional

Varies ($10K+)

LC

Typically $50K+

SME / first-time exporter access

Valescrow

Traditional

Limited

LC

Cost comparison

Save up to 95% on escrow fees.

Letter of Credit typically charges 1.5-8% of the deal value. Valescrow charges a flat 0.5% with no minimums on deal size.

$50K deal

Letter of Credit$750 - $4,000
Valescrow$250
You save
$500 - $3,750(83-97%)

$200K deal

Letter of Credit$3,000 - $16,000
Valescrow$1,000
You save
$2,000 - $15,000(83-97%)

$1M deal

Letter of Credit$15,000 - $80,000
Valescrow$5,000
You save
$10,000 - $75,000(83-97%)

LC fees based on ICC Banking Commission survey data and Trade Finance Global reports. Rates vary by bank, country, and credit risk. Amendment, advising, and confirmation fees not included — these add further cost to LCs. Valescrow fee is 0.5% of total allocation amount.

Ready to build?

Create conditional escrow allocations in minutes. Fund with stablecoins across 15 currencies. Disburse automatically when conditions are met.

Create an allocationBrowse allocationsRead the API docs →