TOP: P2P cryptocurrency exchanges or the most popular cryptocurrency peer-to-peer platforms

Hello readers. Today's cryptocurrency market can offer about three hundred registered trading platforms and countless unregistered ones. This industry is characterized by the highest level of competition, because the first positions in the user ratings provide multi-million dollar profits. However, new companies enter the market almost every day. And the most pressing question is what such a variety of exchanges can offer traders. Today we will talk about the peer-to-peer segment.

What does Peer-to-peer (P2P) Exchanges mean?

Peer-to-peer is one of the oldest forms of cryptocurrency exchange on famous exchanges. A buyer and seller in a P2P network publish a trade ad to complete a transaction within a specific price range at a specific location. There is direct interaction between the buyer and the seller. Thus, if a seller wants to buy Bitcoin at a specified location, then locally the P2P exchange will connect with the person who wants to sell Bitcoin. This method allows both parties to complete the transaction at the right time and place at an agreed price with a payment mode that is easy for both parties.

CI check

Most platforms in the P2P segment build a rating, thus making a selection. This reduces the risks of creditors and demonstrates the activity of the service. In this case, credit history does not have a significant impact on the decision to issue a loan.

Borrower liability occurs when an individual is forced to sell debt within the service or to a third party entity. The interests of the lender are also protected in court.

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We can conclude that the private lender receives interest on the transaction in an amount that exceeds the benefits from participation in the MFO, and therefore is ready to reduce it for the borrower. As access to banking products declines, P2P will continue to grow in popularity. The primary task in this segment is to increase the transparency of the loan issuance mechanism. Raising capital will become a “trigger” for the popularization of online resources.

Features of P2P platforms

Below are the characteristics that form the P2P exchange model.

1. Very low trading costs. Since most of the process is completed by the parties involved in the transaction, the exchange platform will not charge high trading fees.
2. Safe mode. Since there is no third party involved in the process, the exchange does not hold any funds and only supports user pairing, making it secure.
3. Increased privacy. Unlike CEX, which requires identification information during the registration process on the platform, P2P does not ask for any personal information.
4. No government intervention. The non-involvement of a third party makes the exchange free from any government interference.
5. Large selection of currencies. If necessary, users can exchange a wide range of cryptocurrencies among themselves.
6. Global market. Exchanges can provide services both globally and locally.
7. There are no withdrawal or deposit restrictions. This gives the user the ability to add or withdraw funds as needed
8. Using fiat currencies for purchases. Unlike DEXs, fiat assets can be used to purchase cryptocurrency.

Advantages and disadvantages

The advantages of P2P exchanges include:

• Lack of a central governing body that can be influenced (including at the legislative level).
• Relatively small commissions for transactions.
• Lack of AML and KYC requirements, which allows you to remain anonymous.
• The ability to independently choose the course and methods of purchase.

At the same time, P2P exchanges usually have a less user-friendly interface and less liquidity. The key disadvantage is the presence of some loopholes for fraud.

P2P exchanges have already become a worthy alternative to centralized trading platforms and can offer more favorable conditions for transactions, including the complete absence of commissions. If we also manage to overcome the problems with low volumes of liquidity, direct exchange platforms may even become a key engine for trading digital assets. After all, they better reflect the basic concept of cryptocurrencies and eliminate the need to trust your savings to an intermediary. In addition, P2P exchanges do not store user savings in their wallets, which means they are not of interest to hackers.

Best Peer-to-peer (p2p) exchanges

Now let's move directly to the ranking of the most popular p2p platforms.

The best of the best

AgoraDesk is the best platform that allows its users to buy Bitcoin anonymously and without identity verification. The essence of this platform, like any other P2P exchange, is the exchange of cryptocurrencies between users directly. Essentially, AgoraDesk is an improved version of the famous p2p platform LocalBitcoins.

Using this resource you can exchange 10 cryptocurrencies: BTC, XMR, ETH, BCH, AEON, SC, XRP, DOGE, LTC, DASH and ZEC. For the convenience of users, the resource developers have created special step-by-step instructions that will make it easy to buy or sell digital currencies.

In addition to trading coins, you can exchange options on AgoraDesk.

We would also like to note that AgoraDesk does not require identity verification to use the platform, as it respects user privacy and offers fair fees for withdrawals. Read more about the platform in the FAQ section on the official website agoradesk.com.

1. LocalBitcoins

LocalBitcoins started in 2012, making it one of the first P2P exchanges. It provides all the features you can expect from P2P trading, such as worldwide offers and several different payment methods. The exchange also provides escrow, which ensures that both parties fulfill their obligations. The exchange charges 1% of the transaction for services. LocalBitcoins is still one of the most popular exchanges of its kind, with over 500 open offerings now in the United States alone.

True, LocalBitcoins began gradually introducing KYC in April 2018, and now they are actively lobbying for this policy. LocalBitcoins now requires identity verification from all of its customers. This policy will mainly target sellers and large buyers. Those purchasing currency worth less than €1,000 per year are allowed to provide minimal information.

Official website of the p2p exchange – https://localbitcoins.com

Paxful

Paxful is another popular P2P exchange. Like LocalBitcoins, it offers trading for a wide variety of countries, and also provides escrow and many different payment methods. As of this writing, there are at least 150 open offers in the United States and many more worldwide. Paxful has been around since 2015, but it also gained significant attention in 2022 as a KYC-free alternative to LocalBitcoins.

However, Paxful followed the lead of LocalBitcoin and implemented KYC after all. Recently, Paxful requires users who trade more than $1,500 to identify themselves. Paxful also forces all of its sellers to reveal their identity. All transactions involving bank deposits also require verification. However, Paxful does leave room for KYC-free trading, such as gift cards, cash in the mail, and other options available on the site.

Official website of the p2p exchange – https://paxful.com

Hodl Hodl

Hodl Hodl went live in February 2022, making it a fairly new P2P exchange. It tries to separate itself from its competitors with additional features. For example, it provides support for the Bitcoin Lightning Network and also offers a prediction market similar to other alternatives. However, Hodl Hodl is a P2P exchange at its core, and it works the same as LocalBitcoins and Paxful in most cases.

Hodl Hodl aims to provide KYC-free exchanges. However, the site provides user verification as an additional feature. Hodl Hodl is not very active - it only has a few hundred listings worldwide. This is probably due to the short period of work. Main advantages:

• security - P2SH contracts with multi-signature;
• low commission - 0.6% per transaction;
• TESTNET - an opportunity to learn trading with real assets without risk;
• Segwit - support for native Bech32 SegWit addresses.

Official website of the p2p exchange – https://hodlhodl.com

Bisq

Like other P2P exchanges, Bisq allows individual users to create or find trade offers. However, Bisq is significantly more decentralized than its competitors. First, Bisq is a community-developed app and not a company-run website. This means that Bisq is more resistant to external pressure than other P2P exchanges. As a result, Bisq does not rely on KYC or identity verification, and likely never will.

Since Bisq requires a fairly large load, it faces serious challenges in terms of visibility and adaptation. Bisq has few users and offers despite being active since 2014. It trades many cryptocurrencies, which gives it an edge over its Bitcoin-only competitors.

To be a truly anonymous peer-to-peer network, the platform uses Tor and does not hold fiat or crypto on its servers. Every aspect of this exchange, from order placement to matching or fulfillment, is decentralized. It currently supports 126 cryptocurrencies (including BTC) and is available on Windows, Mac and Linux platforms.

Official website of the p2p exchange – https://bisq.network

5. LocalCoinSwap

LocalCoinSwap is a secure, simple and fast peer-to-peer (P2P) trading platform that allows any trader to trade without unnecessary verification processes or wait time.

LocalCoinSwap offers huge benefits to its users, allowing them to trade all popular cryptocurrencies and digital assets. This is a platform focused on development as well as a selection of a wide range of popular coins. The exchange also implements escrow and multisig as a guarantee of secure transactions.

LocalCoinSwap also gives users ownership of the exchange itself through tokenization in the ICO using the Cryptoshare system. In addition, regular airdrops of new coins are carried out for currency holders. The exchange provides an impressive selection of currencies (including more than 20 fiat) and supports almost all types of payment, for example:

• bank transfer;
• network transactions;
• cash exchange;
• fiat deposit;
• international wire;
• PayPal;
• cash by mail;
• exchange of assets such as gold.

The official website of the p2p exchange is https://localcoinswap.com

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