This is pretty cool.

I made a really enjoyable purchase today on Particl Open Marketplace — an anonymous (prior to this post 😜) digital download that, tbh, I didn’t realize was so easy until I walked through it.

An anonymous vendor I still don’t know posted a handmade high-def wallpaper for computer monitors on the decentralized marketplace that caught my eye yesterday morning.

The Open Marketplace doesn’t have a direct modal to interact with digital asset purchases but it does have the pieces to support private digital downloads with nothing, nada, zip personal data transferred or even needed:

trust-less escrow

anonymous payments

one-way messages

It’s all a machine, partner. Live free, don’t join. — DJ, Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Like I said, I don’t know who made the HD wallpaper and they wouldn’t of known me without outing myself as the buyer in this post.

What made it so easy?

The vendor/creator clearly worked out all the steps to make a clean, anonymous sale ahead of time. Particl Open Marketplace has been a public POC since May 2017. Since Consensus and Magical Crypto Conference 2019 an intuitive and robust UI/UX has been tested in the community and vendors like my guy/gal.

Steps to acquire this digital purchase were clearly posted in the item description. Here is what they wrote:

High Resolution Wallpaper *** Title: Infinite Private Markets *** Size: 2560x1600 *** Digital Download via OnionShare *** Download link shared in shipping message *** Buyer will need OnionShare or Tor Browser to receive download link *** Get OnionShare here: https://onionshare.org/ *** Get Tor Browser here: https://www.torproject.org/

To summarize the vendor had a high-resolution wallpaper they would distribute anonymously via OnionShare. The buyer would need to use either OnionShare or Tor to access the private file. Directions to the required software was provided with official, unmasked links.

Ideally one or both of these opensource projects would be integrated into the Open Marketplace, but privacy-focused Particl users can still interact with the decentralized marketplace via Tor the same way we do for Bitcoin. Future privacy integrations will come, but, it was thoughtful of the vendor to protect both party’s identities with the conditions of the purchase.

Ok, everything made sense to me. Since I already work with Tor and OnionShare I was okay with the terms, okay with the anonymity I was maintaining and ready to buy that cool background.

A walk-thru of my private digital asset purchase and download from Anonymous

Step 1: I bid on the item.

only I see personal info until Step 4

Step 2: Anonymous accepted my bid.

Step 3: I sent my funds to the escrow contract.

Converted > Blind — bottom output*

Step 4: Anonymous accepted the escrow contract.

Blinded Escrow — middle output*

Step 5: Anonymous sent me the link to the private download.

Step 6: I received the link to the private file and downloaded it to confirm authenticity.

Step 8: I released the escrow contract.

Received — top output*

Step 9: Private digital purchase and download complete!

And there you have it! Easy, private, enjoyable! 👍

* Don’t Trust. Verify

Top Output: https://explorer.particl.io/tx/0e2077d662fbe9d40f224412178f8e7490541ce467034e4b6bd98cedb8557e08

Middle Output: https://explorer.particl.io/tx/c64762e64cda43cfe5c2e2a0b74d153c0b3592306ec19b4c7bc9f270431fe4ae

Bottom Output: https://explorer.particl.io/tx/46192323e7702c807e724a0e81643070856a39a23c9a629b6b2d8a852da912a1