Although nowadays there are a large number of traders, hodlers, and investors who rely heavily on centralized exchanges – something contrary to the original philosophy of the crypto world – when it comes to security and privacy, there is nothing like Peer-to-Peer (P2P) exchanges.
P2Ps are the best way to make exchanges anonymously, person to person, while maintaining full control of your money, and even paying lower fees, some of the reasons why they’ve grown so much in recent years. Today, we’ll discuss the 5 best peer to peer crypto exchanges in 2021.
Local Bitcoins
Local Bitcoins is one of the oldest P2P platforms in the industry. This site was created in 2012 by Nikolaus Kangas in Finland and since then, it has remained one of the most popular platforms for the Bitcoins exchange, with a presence in around 250 countries.
It’s a fairly secure platform that offers a wide variety of payment methods, as well as a complete set of security measures to protect its users.
Note that, as its name implies, the platform only allows you to exchange Bitcoin, so here you won’t find other popular cryptocurrencies such as Monero, Ethereum, or Bitcoin Cash. However, it’s possible to find similar options that offer other types of assets, such as Local Monero.
One of the main reasons why Local Bitcoins stands out at this time is due to the wide variety of payment methods it supports, among which we can find:
- Paypal
- Neteller
- Skrill
- Payoneer
- Payza
- MoneyGram
- Wire transfer
- SEPA
- Cash deposits
And even altcoins like Ethereum and Litecoin.
Unfortunately and due to certain regulations around the platform, it doesn’t support payments in fiat currency.
Regarding fees, Local Bitcoins is a platform in which you can operate 100% free, and it’s the traders who actively promote their services, who must pay a 1% fee to the platform.
An important point to bear in mind is that, although it’s a P2P exchange where you should be able to buy and sell anonymously, the large number of laws that have emerged in many countries to regulate cryptocurrencies, has forced the exchange to apply AML and KYC measures.
Regarding security, Local Bitcoins is a very secure platform that tries to protect its users with different measures, but as it’s a P2P site, we recommend that you do your due diligence to avoid any kind of problems with malicious users.
In short, Local Bitcoins is an excellent option for those who need to use alternative payment methods to buy Bitcoin.
Bitcoin.com Local
Bitcoin.com Local is one of the easiest and fastest platforms to make exchanges with Bitcoin Cash. This platform started operations in 2015 as a means for the exchange of Bitcoin, but recently it renewed its platform and at the moment only works with Bitcoin Cash (BCH).
The first thing that catches the attention of Bitcoin.com Local is the simplicity of its interface. It’s really difficult to get lost here, since everything is designed to make the experience as easy as possible for the user.
You register by indicating a username, password and email address, and you can start operating on the website immediately. Of course, as it’s a P2P platform, you won’t have to provide all your personal data or go through tedious KYC verification processes.
The next positive aspect of the platform is undoubtedly the large number of payment methods it accepts, including some of the most popular wallets such as PayPal or Payoneer, but it also accepts bank transfers, payments in cryptocurrency, in cash with fiat currency, and even using goods and services.
This last aspect, the market, is undoubtedly one of the most interesting on the platform. Not only do you have the ability to buy and sell Bitcoin Cash directly, but you can also participate in an online marketplace where you can buy and sell all kinds of items – as long as they are accepted by the platform.
Notice that the market is divided into two sections:
- A market for buying and selling physical and digital items similar to Ebay
- And a market for buying and selling Steam items
Regarding fees, these are based on a maker/taker scheme with a “maker” fee of 0.25% and a “taker” fee of 0.75%. The website is quite safe to use thanks to its blind escrow system and other additional security measures.
In summary: Bitcoin.com Local is a simple, fast and direct platform for Bitcoin Cash enthusiasts to carry out all kinds of operations with their favorite cryptocurrency.
Bisq
Formerly known as Bitsquare, Bisq is a fully decentralized crypto exchange that enables the buying and selling of Bitcoin with a great level of flexibility.
To begin with, although it is a platform only for the purchase and sale of Bitcoin, it has the advantage that it accepts both fiat currency, as well as a variety of altcoins – even privacy cryptos such as ZCash – for exchange operations. This factor, together with the fact that it’s a decentralized exchange (DEX), makes Bisq a unique option in the crypto ecosystem.
You should note that Bisq is a software that you must download to your PC. Once this is done, in a matter of a few steps, you can start making transactions, since you don’t need user registration, much less go through identity verification procedures.
The platform is very secure and private, since it doesn’t store user funds or other sensitive information – and it has never suffered any type of external attack.
The exchange system is also another point in favor, since it works through a multi-signature mechanism in which both buyer and seller have to make a deposit in BTC as a guarantee.
In addition to this, a moderator is in charge of verifying that the entire buying/selling process is carried out safely for both parties. It is at this point where users will have to pay either a maker fee of 0.10% or a taker fee of 0.70% as commission for the moderator.
All of the above makes Bisq undoubtedly shine with its own light as one of the best P2P exchanges today thanks to its unique flexibility and security features.
Local Coin Swap
Local Coin Swap is a relatively new exchange in the crypto space (since 2018), but nevertheless, it has been growing and performing very well at a constant pace.
This P2P exchange offers both a custodial and non-custodial exchange model to suit its users and allows the exchange not only of BTC but also of other cryptocurrencies as well as fiat currency.
Among the cryptocurrencies that you can exchange they have:
- Bitcoin
- Ether
- Dash
- Tether
- USDC
- DAI
- LCS
- Nexus
- Kusama
Another of the notable aspects of Local Coin Swap is that of security since it offers an escrow service and although it’s possible to carry out non-custodial trading, the platform also has a team of moderators who act as intermediaries in transactions if you opt for custodial trading.
Among some of the payment methods accepted on the platform we can find:
- Cash in person
- Transferwise
- Local bank transfer
- Cash deposit
- PayPal
- Skrill
- PayID
The case of fees is somewhat extreme because if you’re the one who responds to a trade offer placed by another user, you won’t pay any fee, but if you are the one who places a trade offer, you must pay a fee of 1%. Also, take into account that if you use non-custodial trading, you’ll have to pay the additional costs of the blockchain of the currency of your interest.
Also, the platform is easy to use, has an excellent level of security, and registering to use the platform is very fast since you only have to confirm your e-mail address, no complex identity verification procedures are required.
Without a doubt, Local Coin Swap is a very good option for those looking for an alternative to CEX and DEX platforms.
Local Monero
Local Monero is another of those platforms that allow the exchange of a specific cryptocurrency for local currencies. It’s a Hong Kong-based platform that works in a very simple and straightforward way: users post ads indicating that they want to buy or sell Monero, also indicating the payment method acceptable to them.
The platform accepts a good variety of payment methods – around 60 – and allows the exchange in local fiat currency and even cash payments, which gives a lot of flexibility in this sense.
Among the accepted payment methods, we can name some of the most popular:
- Bank transfer
- Cryptocurrency transfer
- Cash at ATM
- Credit cards
- Paypal
- Gift cards
- MoneyGram
- AdvCash
- Apple Pay
- Payoneer
- Moneybookers / Skrill
- SolidTrust Pay
- Neteller
- Payeer
- Xoom
- Western Union
- RIA Money Transfer
- WebMoney
- Transferwise
In the event that the payment is made online through the platform, there is an escrow and mediator system in which the platform retains the seller’s cryptocurrencies until verifying that the seller has already received the payment from the buyer and once this has been confirmed, the Monero is released.
Regarding fees, only users who publish ads on the platform will have to pay a 1% fee if the operation is successful.
Registration on the website is very fast and doesn’t require going through KYC and AML procedures, so it’s possible to carry out operations completely anonymously. For the latter, it’s recommended that you use a crypto privacy payment method, such as Dash or ZCash.
Local Monero is a fairly complete and robust platform, perfect for those who want to exchange this privacy cryptocurrency quickly, easily and safely.