Introduction
XMRLance.com is “Upwork paid in XMR.” It matches freelancers and clients, settles invoices exclusively in Monero, and bakes privacy, escrow, and low fees into every milestone. Below is the condensed guide: how it works, fee math, trust mechanics, and why it matters to the wider Monero economy.
Getting Started
1. Brief Timeline
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Launch year | 2023 (public beta Q4 2023) |
| Niche | Professional gigs—DevOps, design, content, security audits—priced and settled 100 % in Monero. |
| USP | No fiat rails, no KYC. Uses an on-chain multisig escrow contract + client–freelancer chat routed over Tor. |
| Company | XMRLance LLC (Seychelles), open-sourced smart-wallet code on GitHub under MIT licence. |
2. Account creation & identity
- Sign-up: e-mail optional. You create a username, a PGP key, and an in-platform Monero sub-address.
- Reputation: numeric “karma” (0–100) fed by completed gigs, on-time delivery, and mutual ratings.
- Anonymity vs. marketing: You can reveal a portfolio link; many devs stay pseudonymous and sign deliverables with PGP.
3. How a contract flows
| Step | Who does what | On-chain movement |
|---|---|---|
| A. Offer posted | Client writes brief, funds escrow (XMR) | txn #1 – → 2-of-3 multisig (client + freelancer + XMRLance-arb) |
| B. Proposal accepted | Freelancer clicks “Accept”; timer starts | — |
| C. Delivery | Files uploaded; hash recorded in DB (not chain) | — |
| D. Approval / dispute | Client unlocks or raises dispute | txn #2 – if approved, funds go to freelancer address |
| E. Arbitration (if needed) | XMRLance signs with one party to release funds | txn #2b – 2-of-3 spend to winner |
Escrow fee: flat 1 % to XMRLance, capped at 1 XMR per milestone.
4. Tech under the hood
- Escrow engine: 2-of-3 Monero multisig (since v0.18 “Fluorine Fermi”) using CLSAG aggregation → cheap, private.
- Unified login: SLIP-21 seed → your in-market wallet; private view key never leaves browser.
- Messaging: Onion-routed, uses libsodium sealed boxes; server only relays ciphertext blobs.
- CI/CD hooks: optional GitHub Actions integration—release artifact hash auto-posts to the job thread.
5. Fee comparison (100 XMR contract)
| Platform | Client fees | Freelancer fees | Effective cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| XMRLance | 1 % (escrow) | 0 % | 101 XMR paid, 99 XMR received |
| Upwork (pro) | 0 % | 10 % + FX spread | 100 USD + FX, freelancer nets ~88 USD |
| Fiverr Pro | 5 % | 20 % | 105 USD vs. 80 USD received |
| Traditional bank wire | ~25 USD + FX | same | Harder to compare, slower |
6. Trust & dispute stats (first 12 months)
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Jobs funded | 3 850 |
| Average size | 420 USD equiv. |
| Dispute ratio | 2.7 % |
| Arbitrator rulings | 83 cases; freelancer win 61 %, client win 39 % |
| Average resolution time | 36 hours |
(Figures pulled from XMRLance transparency report v1.1.)
7. Why it matters for Monero
- Native utility – turns XMR into a day-job currency, not just a store of value.
- Zero fiat on-ramp – freelancers in restrictive countries can work and save privately.
- Circular flow – more people earn XMR, more merchants accept it (VPNs, VPS, VPS node hosting).
- Low leakage – 1 % fee is competitive; value stays inside the privacy economy.
8. Critiques & open roadmap
| Issue | Planned solution |
|---|---|
| No built-in milestone splits | Multi-stage escrow (beta Q3 2025) |
| Hard for non-tech clients to buy XMR | Partner “Pay-with-Card-->-XMR” widget (optional KYC) |
| Search UX basic | Full-text gig indexing + tag filters |
| Mobile experience | React Native app (alpha announced) |
9. Getting started fast
1. Generate a fresh Monero wallet (CLI or Feather)
2. Fund it (local ATM, atomic swap, or exchange → withdraw)
3. Sign up on XMRLance.com with your view-key auth
4. Post a gig or bid on one, fund / accept escrow
5. Work, deliver, get paid – all on-chain, no banks
10. Bottom line
XMRLance is still small (< 4k jobs) but proves you can run a real freelance marketplace on top of Monero escrow, bypassing fiat rails and heavy fees. If you’re already living on XMR—or want to—this is the most mature “earn directly in Monero” avenue to date. Give it a spin, even for a micro-task, and decide if that orange coin can pay your rent as easily as it preserves your privacy.
Community & Resources
Website: https://xmrlance.com