On June 1, cryptocurrency enthusiasts were shocked to
hear that the peer-to-peer exchange Localbitcoins has ceased offering
in-person cash trades. According to a few users, all pending fiat trades
have been canceled, leaving local traders who prefer cash high and dry
and forced to seek other avenues.
Also read: Bitcoin.com’s Local Bitcoin Cash Marketplace Gathers Thousands of Pre-Launch Signups
Localbitcoins Ends In-Person Trades Leaving Only Remote Options
One of the oldest over-the-counter BTC exchanges, Localbitcoins, has removed cash trades from its list of options. This means that people cannot use the platform to meet in person and sell BTC
for cash or vice versa. Localbitcoins hasn’t officially announced why
it removed the option, but a few traders have stated that all in-person
cash trades were suddenly canceled. “I logged in and found my
‘in-person’ sell offers were all deleted, and the ‘add new’ prompt now
has no ‘local’ options, only ‘online’ ones — Kind of defeats the purpose
of ‘local’ in the name,” one trader detailed on the Reddit forum r/bitcoin.
The news spread like wildfire across social media and bitcoiners
discussed new ways to trade in-person for cash. Ray Youseff, the founder
of the peer-to-peer platform Paxful, noted on Twitter that his platform has started seeing a great number of new registrations.
“Localbitcoins is now Remote Bitcoins — They took down all their cash
offers and the refugees are flooding to Paxful VIP support for all cash
vendors,” Youseff exclaimed. “We won’t let you down — Cash is still
king in the emerging world.”
Sure enough, after logging on to the Localbitcoins site, all local
in-person trades have been removed from the drop-down menu.
Localbitcoins’ reason for stopping in-person cash trades remains unclear
right now and a few other users complained
that their cash trades were canceled without any warnings. The removal
of cash trades follows the peer-to-peer platform’s recent addition of
more KYC requirements for large traders and the operation also ceased serving Iranians. The news also comes two days before the launch of Local.Bitcoin.com, a peer-to-peer marketplace that will allow individuals to trade bitcoin cash (BCH) privately with anyone in the world.
Local.Bitcoin.com Offers Local P2P Trades
Traders can use the peer-to-peer local bitcoin cash marketplace
with any payment method and the noncustodial platform also offers great
margins for both buyers and sellers. There is a wide variety of online
payment methods for people who are trading from a distance, but the BCH
marketplace also offers in-person cash trades so people can trade with
each other locally. If you are looking for an exchange that provides
cash trades in person or if you want to trade by using another form of
payment, you can create an account before it launches on June 4.
Creating an account today will allow people to get a feel for the
platform and users can start creating sell orders in advance for when
the marketplace launches. During the pre-launch over the next 48 hours,
users can add profile details like payment method, location, and local
currency. People can download a wallet backup to secure future funds and
be prepared to do over-the-counter trades effortlessly. Moreover, Local.Bitcoin.com traders can earn through referrals when they invite friends and family members to the BCH
marketplace. For instance, if a friend of yours signs up through a
referral then you will be rewarded with 20% of their lifetime trading
fees.
It’s a shame that Localbitcoins has chosen to stop offering in-person
cash trades and the recent changes are sure to leave some traders out
in the cold if they prefer to trade in person with cash. The decision
may create risk for traders who opt to forgo Localbitcoins’ escrow
system and try trading in an unsafe manner
either within the platform’s chat messenger or use methods like
Craigslist. Without an escrow system, traders can potentially be robbed
for their funds. For this reason, peer-to-peer trading platforms with
escrow solutions are far more secure and safer to use.When you use Local.Bitcoin.com’s BCH marketplace, the platform offers blind escrow
which creates onchain Bitcoin Cash transactions while the funds sit in
limbo. It is technically impossible for anyone (including Bitcoin.com)
outside of the deal to spend the BCH
held in escrow and only the two parties involved can complete the
settlement. With Localbitcoins removing in person cash trades, it
further emphasizes the need for noncustodial solutions within the
growing crypto community.
