Crowdfunding fraud costs donors billions every year. Campaign creators disappear after raising funds, or deliver nothing close to what was promised. ChainFunder solves this with milestone-based escrow.
When a creator enables milestone-based funding, they define 2–5 milestones with percentage allocations that must sum to 100%. For example: 25% at prototype completion, 50% at beta launch, 100% at full delivery.
Funds are locked in the campaign smart contract. The creator cannot withdraw everything at once. When they believe a milestone is complete, they submit a claim. Backers then have a 48-hour voting window to approve or reject the claim.
If the majority approves, the corresponding percentage of funds is released to the creator. If rejected, backers can vote to cancel the campaign entirely and trigger full refunds.
This system creates accountability without requiring trust. The creator is incentivised to deliver because funds are held hostage to real progress. Backers have direct control over their money without relying on a platform team to investigate complaints.
Combined with the creator reputation registry — which records every campaign outcome on-chain — donors can evaluate creators before backing them.