I'm just going to cherrypick one point here: the crypto version of escrow services can't steal your funds. The idea is to use 2-of-3 signatures, in some kind of smart contract (even a really basic one that Bitcoin can support). If buyer and seller sign the transaction, the escrow service never sees it. If buyer and seller disagree, then the escrow service decides whether buyer or seller gets the money. The escrow service never holds the money, the contract does that.