LocalBitcoins are gone – but these P2P Bitcoin exchanges are the next best thing

LocalBitcoins, one of the oldest and best-known Bitcoin exchanges, is shutting down after a decade of service, with the peer-to-peer platform cites the “ongoing very cold crypto winter” as the reason for halting operations.

Launched in 2012, the marketplace allows users from 189 countries to trade Bitcoin by matching buyers with sellers and holding the cryptocurrency in escrow until both parties confirm the transaction – guaranteeing no fun deals with dodgy traders.

But now with closing shop, what other P2P exchanges can you use? A P2P service means that the two parties interact directly with each other on their own terms without the need for third-party involvement.

Although LocalBitcoins is remarkably efficient and easy to use, there are other platforms. The following platforms offer a similar service that allows you to interact directly with buyers or sellers to get a good price for your stake (or other digital assets.)

Binance

The world’s largest crypto exchange has a P2P section where users can buy or sell a variety of cryptocurrencies – including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether and Binance Coin. Just like LocalBitcoins, the prices of the assets are marked lowest to highest, and users can interact directly with sellers from over 40 countries.

The service is very easy to use and fast – just like spot trading on the platform, and the service offers more payment methods than LocalBitcoins (although it lacks some of what LocalBitcoins offers, such as PayPal.)

Paxful

Paxful is one of the most popular P2P Bitcoin exchanges. The platform offers over 350 ways to buy and sell Bitcoin and offers users a Bitcoin wallet.

The exchange also allows buyers and sellers to choose the location where they want to trade, the amount they want to spend, and whether they want to make a transaction with another cryptocurrency (LocalBitcoins does not allow users to use cryptocurrency to buy Bitcoin.)

Paxful’s platform currently offers Bitcoin and stablecoins Tether and USD Coin, and registering on the site is quick and easy.

Huobi

Like Binance, Singapore-based Huobi is another giant cryptocurrency exchange that also offers a P2P service. And just like LocalBitcoins, it is not complicated for even beginners to use.

The platform lists an impressive number of payment methods – including, surprisingly, some banks that have said they do not allow customers to buy or sell crypto. But note that a trader using the P2P service must use the same details that match their Huobi account details.

bisque

Bisq is a private, open source P2P platform that allows users to buy and sell Bitcoin – and only Bitcoin – using fiat currency without knowing the customer (KYC) procedures. This means that you do not need to provide personally identifiable information, such as name and address, before making a trade.

For those who want complete decentralization, this is the platform: Most cryptocurrency trading platforms now require documentation to register, especially if fiat money is involved.

Deposits are held in multisig wallets – meaning the wallet is secured with different private keys, not just one – to protect buyers and sellers. User data is not stored anywhere, but traders must download the desktop app to use it.

OKX

Seychelles-based crypto exchange OKX also has a P2P service where users can buy and sell Bitcoin, Tether, Ethereum, USD Coin and some other digital assets in their local currency.

Like other services on this list, OKX offers many payment methods, and users can search through the long list of currencies to find the best deals.

But users can only use fiat currency to make or receive payments – not crypto.