Topic: Getting around KYC (Read 721 times)

This is a good idea to buy coins more seamlessly. But this cannot be followed in countries where Bitcoins are not legalised or banned. So yes if these types of events are held, don’t go there and expose yourself as a Bitcoin investor, as government might take unnecessary action against you. Moreover if you check carefully, then these are not safe practice as well, as it’s always advised that never share your investment plan with anyone, don’t tell how much Btc you own and don’t tell you are into cryptocurrency. I would suggest you to buy through paxul p2p or binance p2p to get the coins.

Two issues with that approach.

First of all, such non-KYC centralized exchanges can freeze your account and demand KYC from you at any time and without warning. If you don't comply, then they simply seize everything in your account. This has happened plenty of times in the past with a variety of exchanges. Hoping you simply don't get asked for KYC is not a safe move. Secondly, these exchanges absolutely still track everything you do. You might not have completed KYC, but you will almost certainly link your bank account, which is more than enough information for the exchange to identify exactly who you are, gather data on your activities, and share that data with third parties.

A better approach is to use a real DEX such as Bisq, where it is impossible for them to freeze accounts, cannot ask for KYC whatsoever, and keep no record of your bank details or other fiat payment method.

Having a third party access to personal details in the form of KYC and this has given the wrong packages., unlike having a p2p transaction is risky when you meet face-face for the transaction but if it is done on a third-party exchange it's no longer decentralized.

But on the contrary, we have a few such exchanges that don't require any form of identity verification for doing trades.

If you intend buying Bitcoin probably you want to sell them or keep them somewhere save, there are many exchange you can use that do not require you to drop your identity or use KYC but although it has a limit to that. I it clear that many of us don't like a KYC exchange because we think that our information may not be safe there which is very clear but we still have different alternative to choose from random exchanges we can make use of.

The problem is that the US are making life more difficult for there citizens with some many crackdown of exchanges and businesses because of strict laws that are never friendly making cryptocurrency firms to seek for a better alternative else where.

It's a trade-off these people are willing to take. They know the risks very well and have been made aware of it a long time ago, considering they are specifically looking for sites like these which leaves me to presume they've done this type of transaction all to avoid paper trail and remain anonymous. P2P platforms wouldn't really cut it as most of them leave transaction IDs which can be backtracked to you. So no can't do sir.

In any case, these types of exchanges are long gone no thanks to Government crackdowns from left and right. But the closest (I think) to an anonymous transaction could be made with KuCoin or PDAX if you're living in the Philippines. These two aren't big on KYCs and as long as you verify an email and a mobile number, you're basically set to go with whatever transaction you want to do.

This mainly depends on the evaluations of the people who dealt with that person. I personally worked in managing a group on Facebook to exchange cryptocurrencies between members, and there were trusted members to deal with them, whether by buying or selling, and in the most extreme cases, I was resorted to as a group supervisor to provide guarantee services, most of which are free, since most of the transfers were small and did not exceed 1000 dollars maximum. And honestly, there were no problems, especially since members are required to use their real profiles on Facebook, and I sometimes ask some of us to video chat to make sure of it.

That's fine, and if that is the best option available to you given your risk model, then obviously use that. But saying that face to face trading is worse for privacy than a CEX is just factually incorrect.

Well I said it because Bitcoin is banned in our country. You could go to jail just by owning bitcoin/other cryptocurrency. So there's always a chance that the law enforcement could set up a trap if you go for a face to face transaction. It is hard to tell who is doing what when it comes to a random stranger. There was a local site here that was used to buy sell crypto without KYC but it was taken down after 3 months.
I don't have experience on face to face deals but that scares me a bit. So it's a personal opinion. That's why I prefer CEX here. If I can get a good buyer/seller, then I will definitely choose that over CEX. But as that's not available here, I am forced to use CEX in order for a safe transaction.

If I trade with someone face to face for cash, the most they find out about me is the address I sent the bitcoin from. Since that bitcoin will have been mixed or otherwise anonymized, that tells them exactly nothing about me.

Centralized exchanges, on the other hand, track everything that you do. They know your name, address, phone number, email, occupation, income, SSN, tax details, and so on. They know your bank accounts and credit cards. Every deposit you make is analyzed via blockchain analysis companies. Every withdrawal you make is tracked to see where it goes. They use that information to link all your addresses and wallets together, and see how and when you spend your money. They link all of that to your real identity. They keep track of every trade you've made, every IP address you've used, every device you access their platform with. They use your IP addresses and device fingerprints to track your movements across the internet and other websites. They build an enormous profile on you, and then sell and share that information to a variety of third parties.

The two are not even comparable. To say a physical trade is worse for privacy than a centralized exchange is insanity.

Well that's a concern too. But where your life is in question, I guess CEX are better than this. If you can find a good buyer who will buy from you face to face, then that's a good thing. But the chances are very low. You have to sell to one person or some cases 3–4 people whom you can trust. In Centralized exchange you can sell to random people and I don't think they can track you like what can be done in physical trades.
I am not saying that Centralized exchanges are any good. But when it comes to this, from POV I will choose CEX. It's a necessary evil. You win some you lose some.

Just do opposite things between thinking and practice.  

If it is a person who is ready to show their face on Youtube, publicly make Facebook status about his investment in bitcoin, join cryptocurrency meetings like an influencer, KOL, no problem to care about showing face to trade in person. If no issue with tax, no issue to trade in person with those influencers if they think they won't be robbed.

Personally I don't want to trade in person, have never traded like this.

About privacy, don't join referral programs. It's not true for all platforms, but in some platforms, they will give details of your account total trading volume to your referrals. If you don't want other people know about total volume you traded, do join those programs. If you need money from commission, go ahead.

Maybe he's trade with an alien, not a human

You only can use face-2-face trading method to cash out your cryptocurrency if you have no other choices and only use it with people you know as a good person for a long time. Don't trade this with strangers as you can be killed physically.

Very fortunately, you have exchanges that don't require KYC like Bisq, AgoraDesk to do Peer-to-Peer trading.

https://kycnot.me/?cash=on

Kucoin is a centralized exchange does not require KYC but they will not maintain this policy forever. In future, governmental authorities will come and knock Kucoin doors, "Do KYC on your customers for us. Else, let's close your business" and Kucoin will choose the first option.

What are you even talking about? Trading peer to peer is the very essence of decentralization and not involving centralized third parties in your trades.

And what do you think happens to your privacy when you sign up for a centralized exchange, hand over your real name, address, email address, phone number, complete KYC, upload scans of your passport and other documents, upload a photo of your face, let them track your every trade, every click, every page view, and then sell and share that data with a bunch of third parties?

Meeting in person to complete buy/sell transactions for cryptocurrency is a very bad choice. This really violates your privacy concern. Not only you are just showing your face, you are letting them know that you own cryptocurrency. And if they can track you to your house somehow, it's game over for you. This puts your life at risk.
And if cryptocurrency is illegal in your country, then good luck, mate. The law enforcement can always put up a trap in order to just catch you. I know KYC is a bad thing and this also expose your identity to the public if there's ever a data breach. But at least you are safe in your house. Many shady things could happen in face to face transaction, this has to be the number one reason for you to not use it. At least I won't use it.

Trust is truly an important aspect of any transaction, and establishing trust when dealing with unidentified individuals in the digital realm can be challenging. That's why we need KYC to verify the identity of legitimate traders as well as ensure your rights. While it may come with its own security risks and cases of hacking or data breaches, it is at least safer than selling on the black market or to strangers who have a purchasing base.

Actually this is my first time of coming across something like this... The problem with this method of transaction is that it goes against everything decentralization stands for, as you are no more anonymous. You get to see each other faces and what each other looks like. Also, it poses security threat as one of the parties can connive with criminals, to physically rob the other party of his/her digital assets at the place of exchange or transaction.

Everyone will definitely choose the option that is best for them, but in most countries where crypto is banned, I guess there are still a few P2P platforms where they can find somewhere and get crypto with the government detecting it, and that's that. About the face-to-face buying, I have learned to agree that it's also part of the best.

But talking about "realizability history," like you said, how do you justify that? Is it by recommendations from people who have traded with the person, or do you have some kind of platform where someone is highly rated by a few traders with whom he or she might have traded? If it's just from a mere platform rating, I can assure you that those kinds of ratings can also be manipulated.

The only thing here is that one should always be careful with whatever option you choose to trade with, either P2P or F2F. There are a lot of scammers out there, and you never know who is who. You just have to exercise caution when dealing with any and at the same time try as much as you can to protect yourself (your  identity), as it's very vital.

For countries where crypto is prohibited it is still not safe having a face-2-face crypto transaction reasons been that there are even higher chances of set-ups to steal your coin or key it could even result to plots to hand you over to the regulatory authorities.

Instead have a fix vendor who you can trust preferably someone who travels often to do crypto transactions outside your country that is only if you can't afford to leave your country for transactions, else you can always wait when you visit countries where crypto is legal or not strictly banned then you search for where you can carry out your p2p transaction on a reputable exchange. Privacy really matters a lot same as your security

This is very sound logic from the theoretical level, but reality has other things.  In countries where the use of crypto is prohibited, which is almost most of the countries in the world, especially those that cannot use peer-to-peer platforms for one reason or another (the most important reason is that he does not find many offers that he can benefit from), they are forced to carry out dangerous buying and selling operations as well.  You described it in your quote.  Personally i live in one of those countries and the only factor in reliability is that the person you are dealing with has a proven reliability history.  I have been working in the same way for a long time, despite its dangers, and I thank God that I did not encounter any problems.

KYC is the trend which becomes more popular among all the crypto business initiatives. IMHO the aim of all the KYC procedures is the legal stability for companies in this new field of digital business. I don't think it has much to do with data and funds security.

And it shows that there is user concern about the future of Paxful, and other possible closures. I think that if the conditions are as you say, this state of affairs will lead to speculation about the longevity of Paxful and Only time will tell how the platform overcomes this challenge and whether they can regain the trust of their users.

There are those whom had done face to face trade for quite sometime so there is no need to get around KYC at all.  Many trade contact from past just needs to be updated and passed on to an fair and firm OG when you are ready to retire from trading due to age and health.

While some advocate for non F2F E-payment and other screening mechanism citing safety concerns are valid, keep in mind good member of bitcoin community are human too and we live in an age that should go back to simpler time and meet everyone and exchange on cyberspace.  Freedom of association is a right, not a privilege.  Exchanging stories and ideas are what made f2f trade enduring in my opinion.

judging by what I've read thus far one must assume KYC is increasing an issue for new bitcoin users and it can slow but unable to stop ongoing bitcoin adoption.  KYC is very expensive and it is financed by drafting ALL depositor's fund in the current centralized financial system to make it into an reality.

To stop bitcoin an nation state or monetary authority may declare Bitcoin illegal just like making it an into national currency actually this helps its adoption, so this is where KYC and lacks of firm regulatory framework comes in.  Uncertainty in national and regulatory policy makes it easy to make arbitrary decisions against members of the bitcoin community, and it will not change until we are the majority.  KYC buys valuable time to introduce centralized digital payment framework similar to Union Pay, wechat pay, TaoBao, AliPay, WeiShin and countless other centralized platforms. 

See the bolded part. I was talking about a real P2P. But, in the 2nd phase, I wasn't talking about real P2P. I am aware that Uniswap is not a real P2P platform. But, It's still better than Centralized exchanges. I was surprised to see that stats. Uniswap growth is eye-catching. Competing with a well-established Exchange for a free month in a row isn't easy. At the same time, I believe the category of user base is different. People will use coinbase no matter what benefit Uniswap offers and Uniswap users won't use coinbase.

As I've said in many other threads before, I am looking for a real P2P platform where i can find my locals to trade with them. I've checked a bunch of platforms where i was not able to find my locals. Maybe because i am from a tiny country with a very little number of Bitcoiners. I prefer real P2P Platform without KYC requirements. I am still using Centralized exchanges 

If I have to get around KYC, trading with someone here in the forum will also be my first option to take. As long as someone accepts USDT or Paypal, there is a way to get around KYC.  You just have to trade with someone who has been in this business for a long time and has built their reputation through it. P2P platforms still will need you to put in bank information.

This situation was difficult before or some of those years of beginning, but today there are so many ways that it is only a matter of common sense. You can even get one of the first ways here on the forum.

It's probably just a matter of time until they shut down again. If you check their site, you can see the lack of offers, or at least the lack of serious ones (there are some unrealistic offers)

Gift card offers (which is what Paxful is really known for) are almost nowhere to be found either.

I imagine that most people already went somewhere else and Paxful freezing some user's accounts definitely didn't help.

Only localbitcoins is completely shutdown, paxful was announced they would shutdown their service, but it turn paxful is now controlled by new CEO and paxful is fully launched back. The old paxful CEO pointed out in his tweet where he advice people to not deal on paxful anymore.

There are many other good P2P sites, so it's completely pointless why someone need to trade in Paxful.

As you've said before, you're talking about a real P2P trade, Uniswap isn't because Uniswap is using a smart contract, so when you swap your token, you're involved with the exchange smart contract, not P2P with other people.

Paxful has shut down their operation, localbitcoins too, there was a time these exchanges were recommended as good p2p exchanges, but some years ago they changed into KYC exchanges and they were no longer an option for true p2p traders who want their privacy and security, they have both shut down now and cannot be recommended anymore. There are good enough p2p exchanges that have been recommended in this topic, and some of them support F2F trade for traders who want this.

Aren't Paxful also Requiring KYC to start trading? I am not a Paxful user, but as far as I know, You have to do KYC there. I am sorry if I am wrong. Moreover, I heard that Paxful is going to suspend their service. I am not sure if that was for some specific region or maybe they are suspending some particular features. I haven't tried bisq yet, which o_e_l_e_o suggested. I have not found my locals in any of Real P2P Platforms yet, which is frustrating. But Bisq might be a good option for Americans.

This might be an off-topic here. I just found an article on Coindesk that its 4th consecutive month Decentralized Exchange Uniswap Trading Volume Outpaces Coinbase. Isn't it great? Let's see how long they can continue this performance. Of course it depend on users.

You can find out if there are "Bitcoin" meetups in your area and then you build a trust relationship with some of those people and start trading with them. I have bought a lot of coins in that way and I never had any problems.

Yes, it is not the safest way to do that, but you use social skills to protect yourself. Example : Tell the buyer that you are buying small amounts to buy food every day, so they will think that you are not a hoarder. People will not go out of their way to follow you, if you buy a few hundred dollars worth of coins every week.  

The best alternative of localbitcoins.com is paxful. It has similar features and payment methods, and now this is used widely for the P2P deals. I remember localbitcoins had that payment option to pay through cash in order to buy the coins, but personally speaking it’s not at all safe. As who knows what may happen during the meet, and yes you should completely avoid to meet the strangers anywhere physically and especially when there is financial thing involved in it. Go to Paxful and try the alternate ways. I am sure that you will find something useful through which you can buy.

That's right and I was familiar with Binance before my country decided to no longer provide operational licenses for this centralized trading, there are many drawbacks that people should think about when dealing with centralized exchanges, KYC and other security issues standardize why we should avoid centralized exchanges. Even the owner himself has said not to store assets on Binance and the risk will be borne by each, then what other considerations should be made besides avoiding centralized exchanges.

I agree it is more appropriate to use Bisq than binance and standard precautions can be taken using the built-in escrow service, so the level of security is more reliable and also less worrying. Essentially what the OP wants is about security and actually ourselves being able to do that regardless of which exchange to use.

Binance is centralized trash and not really peer to peer at all, as already discussed. Bisq does indeed offer cash trades. Using Bisq is much safer than a centralized exchange provided you take standard precautions and use their in built escrow.

OP it is not recommended to do peer to peer exchanges in person there are many factors you need to be careful of take into consideration that someone will surely be a scammer and could attack to take possession of your Bitcoins.  There are many software that work well and that do not need kyc for example Bisq or robosats or here in Europe Pocket App is also going strong which lets you buy Bitcoins by bank transfer.  While if your intention is to swap for Fiat then Bisq is fine.  I also want to tell you about Peach and how I had my bitcoinbeer.events inserted into the app to be a place of physical exchange between two people but with the security of having a community nearby to guarantee your safety.

If an exchange requires KYC, then it is not a p2p exchange, so what you should say is that exchanges that require KYC aren't p2p exchanges, and there are very legitimate p2p exchanges like Bisq, AgoraDesk and the rest of them you can get here: https://kycnot.me/.
If you go out to trade F2F with someone, you shouldn't tell them how much BTC's you have, it is no business of theirs and has no business in the trade you want to carry out. If going out to trade BTC F2F makes you a target to be robbed or killed, then you are a target everyday, because you go out everyday for various reasons, any harm that can happen in your BTC trade can also happen on every other day. Meet the other peer in a very open area, go well prepared and follow other basic safety methods you use in your everyday life for your everyday dealings, and you'll be fine.

No, they don't. I also posted a similar thread a while ago, trying to find out if there are any alternatives to avoiding the usual way of going through banking services in order to exchange for fiat. Unfortunately, the only options I see as possible are P2P transactions in person, which doesn't sound like a very safe option and, if used, are only advised for small amounts of money, and cryptocurrency ATMs, which usually charge high fees and some of which even require KYC.

Thus, unfortunately, going through exchanges is almost a must, and personally, when the time comes, I will withdraw small portions, and for the rest, I might consider an ATM or a P2P transaction.

It is incomprehensible to you to think that bitcoin direct transactions are really safe. Because such transactions often have many potential risks, including fraud or becoming entangled in criminal activities, So it is better to use debit cards or online platforms. It's easy to convert crypto to fiat at the point of sale, just like a regular purchase. So it's a safer alternative to managing and using your cryptocurrency in daily life.

Engaging in a meeting with someone to sell your Bitcoin for cash carries significant risks. There have been numerous cases of such transactions leading to criminal activities in my country. In these instances, buyers arrange a meeting with the seller, take possession of the Bitcoin, and then disappear without making the payment. These buyers are often well-prepared to blackmail the seller, who is usually alone during the transaction, resulting in the loss of their coins. Considering these dangers, I strongly advise against taking such risks.

Moreover, if you are located in the USA, evading taxes becomes difficult as most peer-to-peer (p2p) exchanges require Know Your Customer (KYC) verification, with only a few exceptions. Although I am not aware of any legitimate p2p exchanges without KYC, you can explore the exchange section on forums to find reputable buyers or sellers. However, for security reasons, it is crucial to utilize an escrow service from the forum, even though it may involve paying a small fee. This added layer of protection can help ensure a secure transaction.

I am using mycelium app but I can't find that marketplace OP said. There is lo link going  to that marketplace either.

But I'm sure he knows its scary also to meet face to face with someone who agrees to see you to sell his BTC. Those guys may see it as an opportunity to rob you. They definitely won't be coming if you are just buying a fraction of BTC so he will assume you got a bag of money if you buy at least more than 1BTC. Its the kind of money they see worth killing.

@OP: I haven't used that service myself (p2p) but I know people that have done so very successfully. I think it depends on where you live, how big the exchange-amount is, and if you can find a secure location and maybe someone to come along with you.

Great resource. Glad to see Bisq as #1 in regards of DEX.
Would have been my first recommendation.


AgoraDesk was recommended to me several times, probably worth for you to check it out, too.

Localcryptos have also closed down their services. Another two options are Bisq and Binance P2P. I don't think they offer cash transactions though. But please note that these kind of transactions are quite risky.

There is another website called Noones which is a copied version of paxful. It's very new so not recommended either. The only feasible way I found is through Bitrefil. Where I am purchasing Amazon vouchers or redeemable codes from other eCommerce websites. That won't give you cash but at least you can utilise your cryptos.

Me too. But I think one of the upsides is also the fact you can charge 3-5% higher than the market price, just due to the fact that F2F is the preferred fashion of most anonymous method to buy Bitcoin/other cryptocurrency with cold hard cash. Its also a bit cumbersome, scary and awkward. But the extra money you can demand is more than enough of a fee for your troubles.

I think if you live in a first world country then you do not have to worry about being robbed for a small/moderate amount of coin. But one should never let down their guard. Constant vigilance and preparedness is always smart.

One should never be naive when it comes to money/valuables.

If you know what's good for you OP, you will never go out and meet stranger for any Bitcoin transactions, do you know why I like Bitcoin more? You can't know how much of Bitcoin I have, unless I tell you myself, so going out to meet someone makes you a target automatically,  if those you go out and meet are good people then it's good for you, but if those people are the bad ones you are going to get robbed or even get yourself killed.

Sorry to say, if Mycelium wallet is really doing this they are the poorest crypto business organization that ever existed in this space, I expected them to know much better as a company that's into crypto wallets, they should know how important privacy should be in crypto space.

You can't trust an absolute stranger to carry out a P2P Bitcoin transaction to the extent that you have to meet them face-to-face. That's because scammers or fraudsters operate in different ways; you don't know how trustworthy the person you are going to meet is; you don't even know if the person is a thief or a rubber who is just using cryptocurrency transactions as bait or a plot to forcefully steal from clients when they come face-to-face to carry out transactions.

The right way to do it is unless you fully know the person and also have the trust in the person; otherwise, carry out your transactions online with the person, which will limit the possibility of the person truly knowing your identity.
In the crypto space, your privacy should be your priority.

The two platforms @Nwada001 recommends are good.

Binance peer to peer is not peer to peer at all. It is peer to Binance. It is completely centralized, and owned and operated by Binance. As such, you have absolutely zero security since you hand your coins over to Binance like you do with any other centralized exchange, and you have absolutely zero privacy, since Binance track and record every trade and transaction that you make. It is the worst possible choice for peer to peer trading.

What about the literally billions of physical trades which happen every single day around the world without issue? Why is trading bitcoin any more risky than buying some piece of electronics or taking money out of an ATM?

You don't need to. Use a platform like Bisq which has a built in escrow.

What nonsense is this? Trading peer to peer is the very essence of decentralization and avoiding centralized third parties.

What has any of that got to do with trading peer to peer?

Before using Binance for "fake" p2p, they must have farmed your data and personal information, this data can be requested by the government, Binance can be breached and there will be a data leak, this way you personal data will be selling in the dark web; so Binance is not a better option, centralized exchanges are data farms and isn't recommended for people that want to trade and still have their privacy.
In p2p exchanges there is also a method of resolving disputes, everything is open and the parties will be involved in it. E.G in Bisq all the funds in the trade are kept in a 2-of-2 multi-sig wallet controlled by trading peers, and there is also a time-locked transaction set, this will send all the funds to another address that is controlled by Bisq, but this will happen many days after, if disputes isn't still resolved. So it is either trading peers reach a resolution, or the matter moves over to a mediator for settlement, if a middle ground cannot be reached, the arbitrator would have the final say, but that is when the time-locked transaction has been published and the funds is now with Bisq.

If there was a way that trust could be earned without having to do a KYC verification on any app, it would be scary, because in this case of decentralization, money is interchanged between people who may never see themselves or have known themselves from Adam.

I wonder how it would even look like waiting on someone I know to trade my BTC with. It defeats the idea of what decentralization stands for.

If you OP, are not new to online services and apps, you should know what it feels like or have friends who should have expressed how it feels like having your Facebook or twitter or Instagram or any other social accounts hacked.
Unless you have ulterior motives with your coins, then seeking physical persons to trade with or trying out other means to bypass KYC is a big NO.

I doubt there would be any service legally providing (the Americans) what you want. Any institution that provides such financia services must collect information from the users or they will be fined and sued. Its becoming more and more strict now. The only way you can do this right now is by looking for someone near you through the internet or forums wanting to buy bitcoin and pay in cash (fishy...). I wouldn't recommend this though. You don't know who you might meet.

The only risk that I see there, is if bitcoin is not legalized or is banned in that country. This is when you might get caught of breaking the law when trading with FBI or SEC. Apart from this,I don't think it is a problem. All one needs to do is a play safe by using those ways in which @ o_e_l_e_o said.
I guess OP wants a decentralized exchange where you will remain anonymous for the best privacy. If you use Binance it is a centralized exchange and you are not safe because they gat your information.

I will not even engage in P2p in any public place. This option will be good for a country that has adequate security. In a country where there is a high rate of criminal activities this option will not be ideal. You can be robbed even in a market and the police will just be watching.

People are not well informed about Bitcoin in my country so each time they hear that you owned Bitcoin they think you own one and above of the currency. They are not aware that the currency can be owned in less than one unit. This means there is a public perception that any Bitcoin holder is a millionaire. The consequence is that you become a target to criminals. I check Agoradesk and I was pleased that they offer deals in my local currency and it is not compulsory to register by email. I might use their service in the future.

Isn't this weird enough because mycelium is not an exchange but a wallet, there are many things unfolding about all this decentralized wallet or exchanges this day that need more attention to.


Same also is with my ecpe here, I don't think this kind of features and functions is what I've been used to seeing, well as for me, it is better to go for the ones we know to be the real exchanges and engage their services while making use of secured cold storage wallet like electrum is more advisable in times of uncertainties like this, better to play safe.

When it comes to Bitcoin transactions and privacy, trust is an issue because your privacy is very important; therefore, going to see someone face-to-face in the name of achieving a secure transaction or avoiding being scammed is not safe, and it also bridges your privacy because that same person can report you to the government in a country where Bitcoin is not legalized, and the government can also groom such teams in order to get all Bitcoin users.

It is not a bad idea to meet someone face-to-face for a secure transaction, but how can you establish trust at the first stage?

No one can be trusted when it comes to personal security and privacy.

How far you're want to become anonymous?

Did you never creating a facebook account using your real name and your real face?
Did you not creating ID card or driving license?
Did you not creating a bank account?
Did you not attend any school?
Did your parent not giving any identity when your mom give birth to you?

Actually in person transaction can be used to evade taxes or illegal things, it's more effective rather than you receive the money in your bank account since the banks will know how much money you get in a month or year.

This is both unsafe and can be stressful meeting up with local buyer's and sellers around you for transactions that can easily be carried out safely with the help of third party apps that function like escrow services.

It is possible to always meet people that want to defraud you, that is receive your bitcoins without paying you for it when you use some applications, but good applications that offer P2P services always try to ensure that the occurrence of this is reduced. They hold the coins after you have sent it to a buyer, until you receive payment for it and then they release it to the buyer.

Doing a physical buying or selling of bitcoin is not advisable with strangers, that is people you just meet. If you must transact physically, it has to be with someone that you are familiar with and can trust.

If the transaction of bitcoins was mainly physical, we will record a very high number of theft.

I doubt FBI and SEC will have a resources to hunt down all this kind of small fish trade 1 by 1 unless the OP is a most wanted money launderer.  

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The thought of meeting someone that you didn’t know is already frightful than sending your KYC online. You literally risking your life dealing with someone that will agree on meeting up while he knows that you are loaded with cash when you show up. The meet up place doesn’t matter because he can always track you after the deal in case you made a deal with a psycho which is popular in your country.

Although I have not used the F2F cash option I have used other cash options from https://localcoinswap.com

You do have to give them an email and phone # when you register there are enough ways out there of doing it privately that it really is not that big of a privacy issue.

Don't know where you are in the US but when I used other services for F2F cash I usually met at a casino if possible. Because nobody pays any attention to someone handing someone else cash and it's easy to pick out a few bills and put them into a slot machine or similar to make sure they are real. And there is security.
not know if that is an option for you.

There are a lot of of cameras in casinos so you loose on that side, but these days even if you do it at your local cat cafe https://tuxedocatscoffeellc.us/ there are enough cameras on everything anyway to see who you are.

-Dave

I have never encountered any form of problem when doing p2p trades. Of course you don't know who the buyer/seller is but you can meet in a safe environment and maybe even go with a friend if you have concerns about the safety. There are easy ways to spot fake money if you are selling and obviously if you have seconds thought about the btc (or other currency) you are receiving there are plenty of mixers such as Yo!mix and sinbad and others out there which are highly trustable to mix your coins.

Of course there is always a little bit of a risk involved, but what's risk free. At some site you can also get scammed by the site or whatever.

That's a crap platform for buying and selling Bitcoin, the app which is a crypto wallet allow you to meet other people in the zip code your provided just for trading? How come I am the only one thinking how dangerous this is? , it a not even safe because location can one way or other be revealed, since this app is using Zipcode it's a red flag.

I have been using Binance Exchange peer-to-peer feature for a very long time now and there's no need for anyone to know the location for the zip code of seller, all you have to do is provide your bank details where you will receive your payment and Binance will release your crypto asset to the buyer after you have confirmed that you received the fund.

It is not recommended to buy bitcoin directly with people, anonymous is important when you are trying to trust investment in crypto and especially bitcoin, the worst case that you will experience will actually be fatal when you come face to face to buy bitcoin in large or small quantities and we never know how people -The people around have been monitoring for a long time to commit crimes.

The anonymous nature actually makes it easier for us, there is no KYC and you don't need to leave your house to buy bitcoins, you can use the buying platform and transfer the bitcoins to a secure wallet that you have. If there is something easier why look for something difficult.

I think what you are looking for is security not a matter of using a site that has the functionality you want, P2P and platforms that don't require KYC are enough for you to use. When you want to keep your bitcoins safer, then transfer them to the recommended wallet on the forum, so there is nothing to worry about anymore because there are many solutions that we can find.

The only problem with that in-person transaction is that we won't be able to remain anonymous, but if someone doesn't care about that, in-person trading is perfectly legal in most countries. He's not a big thinker, but I think he's using bitcoin to evade taxes or illegal things, so he's afraid to do it.

Agree with many of the suggestions above. Kycnot.me, Bisq, and AgoraDesk are my go to solutions at the moment.

Absolutely, but I'm also a big fan of cash trades since they leave no paper trail for the government/banks/exchanges to use to spy on you. I've done many cash trades in my life, and I've written before on why I don't think they are high risk and how to keep yourself safe when doing them:


There is also a useful guide from Bisq here: https://bisq.wiki/Face-to-face_(payment_method)

Is there any problem if you trade Bitcoin with someone who work at the SEC or FBI? you're not a criminal and you're just trade Bitcoin for cash which mean you used Bitcoin as a commodities, there's no problem at all. Most of countries are allow to buy and sell Bitcoin as a commodities, you will have a problem if you live on a country where Bitcoin is completely banned.

I see you're an overthinking person, face to face to trade Bitcoin for cash isn't really a huge problem like on your thought.

Not sure why you think going face-to-face to trade Bitcoin for actual cash is safe. I mean they could be someone from SEC or FBI waiting for you to do the P2P trade and boom, you are gone.
Just trade it online and if you are from the US, or UK, you should get a crypto debit card that allows you to do payments with Crypto in your regular/daily life. That's what I use and find logical to do instead of cashing it out.

+1 for kycnot.me


+1 for AgoraDesk

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Where possible, use Decentralized exchanges and Bridges that utilize Bitcoin and EVMs. When not possible, Trocador is a great, insured option for swapping.
Dexes, Bridges and Trocador are your key to be able to use blockchains without having to sacrifice your identity.

From here, you can then go to AgoraDesk or a similar P2P marketplace and transact freely. Do P2P trading for cash, or use anonymous ways of receiving funds. I'd avoid getting funds transferred directly to your bank account because you can never be sure where it has come from.

If you are going anonymous, I would recommend working on your cybersecurity & privacy strategy to ensure that your identity is separate to your on-chain footprint.

Once you master the usage of all of the above, you'll have eluded KYC successfully!

What people are discuss about privacy matter is about submitting KYC on untrustworthy site and they show everyone if they have Bitcoin. Direct P2P with a stranger is safe as long as you meet in a crowd place and trade for little amount. It's more safer if Bitcoin adoption on that's country is already big, so it's already normal if someone have Bitcoin, not like people already think you're rich because you have Bitcoin.

Even you've used it and have no problem, it doesn't mean there's no problem for other people. You need to check hodlhodl terms of service where they don't accept citizens who live on United States, so the @OP can't use it.


@OP you can choose Agoradesk because it's offer direct P2P with cash, there's a good DEX named Bisq, but it's not possible to trade direct P2P.

The first thing I want to say is that it is important to be careful in carrying out due diligence especially in choosing a buyer or seller and ensuring the security and integrity of transactions in order to avoid the risk of failure, especially Bitcoin (BTC). In executing we need a safe and convenient exchange platform.

Usually many platforms require users to do KYC. Why is this important, because this is one of the rules in force, The Government and regulatory agencies have increasingly tightened regulations to combat illegal activity and maintain KYC compliance but if you are looking for a simple and uncomplicated Platform it is also available and you can find it in the link sent by brother @TravelMug. But, My question is if one thing or another happens in the transaction process, are we ready?

Perhaps you may want to check this website: https://kycnot.me/


https://kycnot.me/about#why-this

So you might want to explore that site and hopefully you can find a trusted individual that you can buy crypto.

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Or go to this board:  Currency exchange!.

Best of luck.

I don't think it's actually safe to go about meeting people one-on-one to complete a peer-to-peer trade, especially when you don't know the person. If there is one thing I have learned and read from @o_e_l_e_o, it is that privacy matters a lot in this crypto community. Going into a trade with someone completely stranger and wanting to meet them physically is, to some point, dangerous because you don't know who the person actually is.

Right now, there are better options than those that your friend might have used in the past, and these are the p2p platforms that regulate and peer you with your local buyer or seller without requesting any form of identity verification, which is what you are afraid of. All you need to do is agree with the seller on how you want to make your payment, and that's all.

You can check out . Hodlhodl and Agoradesk I always recommend these two sites because I have used them before. I believe there are also better ones out there, which other members will recommend for you soon enough.

 A friend was telling me about: "The mycelium app
has a marketplace section where you type your zip code and you can meet up with local buyer/sellers of BTC to
do a cash transaction in person. Back in the day localbitcoins.com was perfect for this, but after the gov't put
pressure on them, they are no longer usable. Another venue you can use to find local cash/buyers and sellers
LocalCryptos.com. This way you avoid leaving a paper trail."

I live in America. Can any of you recommend  a site that has this type of function as the ones my friend
described above, and what were your experiences? I do worry about possibly you making a transfer and the
buyer, for example doesn't fulfill their agreement? Its not as if you could reverse the transfer. I realize I may
be a little paranoid, but this process is new to me!

I hope to hear from you reasonably soon!!!