# Introducing Pontmore: a Nostr-native protocol for agent discovery, escrow, and swaps

**URL:** <https://openbitcoin.africa/t/introducing-pontmore-a-nostr-native-protocol-for-agent-discovery-escrow-and-swaps/16>\
**Category:** Protocol\
**Tags:** protocol, nostr\
**Created:** [July 30, 2026, 5:20pm UTC](https://openbitcoin.africa/t/introducing-pontmore-a-nostr-native-protocol-for-agent-discovery-escrow-and-swaps/16 "2026-07-30T17:20:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 8

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**Author:** ![okjodom](https://openbitcoin.africa/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/o/9fc348/32.png) [@okjodom](https://openbitcoin.africa/u/okjodom)\
**Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 6:38pm UTC](https://openbitcoin.africa/t/introducing-pontmore-a-nostr-native-protocol-for-agent-discovery-escrow-and-swaps/16/8 "2026-08-05T18:38:37Z")

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> [@Denver](#):
>
> - **State Machine & Lifecycle:** Added strict state transition rules (`created` through to terminal states) to fix ambiguous states. Resolved the “funding limbo” by adding a `funding_timeout` that mandates full refunds for partially funded sides.

I was wondering if we need state machine declarations for the escrows. A strict state machine declaration would mean the protocol has an opinion on the internal implementation of the escrow.

Question: Is escrow variant and public interface definition declared via descriptor mechanism sufficient for interoperable pontmore escrows, or does the protocol also need to define the escrow implementation details to a degree ?

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_[View the full topic](https://openbitcoin.africa/t/introducing-pontmore-a-nostr-native-protocol-for-agent-discovery-escrow-and-swaps/16)._