Topic: Guides for using Bisq (Read 828 times)

You almost fooled me if not for the #21,000.

Given that Bisq doesn't use a full reputation system, then that would be difficult. Although nothing stopping you from only accepting cash trades from users you have already done non-cash trades with and have a good local reputation score.

In those cases, I just politely inform the merchant I'll take my bitcoin business elsewhere, and if they would like to secure my business in the future then to consider accepting bitcoin. Don't need to be pushy about it - just let them know a demand exists and move on.

Bad idea. Easy to fake and difficult to verify for the average person.

Not a bad idea; people could even buy a very specific product that the Bitcoin seller wants, for fiat money and exchange that for Bitcoin.
I just chose cigarette packs a bit as a joke, due to being used as currency in prisons.. ^^

I've got to disappoint; neither do I own the GitHub 'n0nce' username, nor could I open a GitHub issue with a custom number of #21000.. Just a bit of HTML trickery.

Silver sounds like a pretty good idea; it can even be bought (for cash or with card) and sold, in virtually any city easily. Need a way of shipping it though (more personal data?). Or face-to-face, of course.

You better start the process yourself if you want to preserve cash trading with Bitcoin.
There would be no chance any government would be able to remove cash if enough people didn't accept this change, and want to continue using cash payments.
More people should pay stuff with cash in every day life, so there would be more trading options for Bitcoin, and except Bisq you could try other P2P trading websites from kycnot.me website.

All we can do is ask more people if they want to accept payment in Bitcoin.
I am doing that all the time, but in best cases I am getting answers they lost all money in crypto investing in some shitcoins crap.
In worst cases they think it's all a scam or they never heard anything about Bitcoin.

So you actually sent a merge request for this (CIG) List Cigarettes? 
Instead of Gold I would rather think about grams of Silver, it is cheaper, easier to find/divide and it has longer history as being used for payments.

Ugh, I did sacrifice a little privacy for this post again, didn't I? 

Sure, but I'd rather go with trusted buyers only, and that worsens the occasion. (AFAIK, trading with newbie buyers does come with a risk, even if there's a mediator involved)

Fuck it. Let's just pull a request, and setup an entire decentralized marketplace right now. 

What about....


Historically, societies have been very creative in finding ways to transfer value, physically.
What about 'grams of gold' <> BTC as a trade pair for Bisq?

Great, do it! And if someone doesn't like your offer, they are free to create their own offer which under cuts you. And thus begins the start of an ecosystem of cash trading in your local area.

I've always disliked the argument "There is no liquidity in my area/currency/chosen payment method/etc." when it comes to talking about platforms like Bisq. You don't have to wait for someone else to create the liquidity for you. Such is the beauty of a true DEX - you can create the liquidity yourself, easily, and at no cost. The largest peer to peer trading ecosystems started with a single person posting a single offer.

Then we better get a lot more places to start accepting bitcoin directly before that happens.

I'm going to take advantage of it, if I do it. How much does 1 worth? $16,500? Well, how about $25,000? Less liquidity, less competition. If you don't want, go to the bank. 

What concerns me is that someday there won't be physical cash. You'll have to find another solution, if there will be one (to avoid a bank).

Nothing major, otherwise any time anyone made a bank transfer you would be at risk, since you reveal your name and account number. I'm just saying - if you don't want to reveal your account number, there are other methods you can choose.

Then you can be the first! Create an offer and see if anyone takes you up on it.

Well, the easiest way to avoid that is to avoid the bank altogether. If you can't spend bitcoin directly, then sell it for cash and spend the cash directly. Better for your privacy too.

What's bad with knowing an IBAN number, if you know the full name? I've sold some coins and used Revolut. I think the sender just knows your full name that way.

The main problem with cash trades is liquidity. None in my country who uses Bisq accepts F2F. Also, even if you've built some trust with traders, there's still concern of money laundering from your bank, especially if there's no corresponded tax framework.

Far less that a random person can do with your name and bank account number than a centralized exchange sharing data with blockchain analysis companies, governments, and bunch of other third parties can do with your full KYC data and scans of your important documents. And if even knowing your bank account number is too much for you, then there are other methods you can use which only reveal your name or indeed nothing at all.

When selling bitcoin, I tend to prefer cash trades with people I don't know for this reason, and stick to trades via bank accounts only with people I've traded with many times before and built up trust with. Bonus being that once you've traded with someone enough I don't even go through an exchange anymore for a handful of contacts - I can just send them a message privately and we can arrange a peer to peer trade in 60 seconds.

I've never been challenged when depositing cash at a bank, but the story I would use is that I simply sold a few of my possessions for cash, which is completely true.

Granted, I didn't feel comfortable knowing what my full name and IBAN would be given to the seller that may be gathering information regarding my purchases, but I guess that is something that I have to life with. I do prefer that scenario when compared to one where I have to trust a CEX to fully guard my information and not to sell my data to whoever pays more.

I think that this sums up the importance of Bisq and where it shines - a safer option to buy BTC in a world where almost all the big players in the market will try their best to profit from you and your BTC purchases. Between Bisq and Robosats[1] I can safely say that I won't use CEX any time soon ...

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[1]https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/review-robosats-bitcoin-lightning-on-off-ramp-no-kyc-p2p-tor-5405549

Yes. KYC in 2022 is inevitable, and it isn't the direct problem either. The thing I like about Bisq is this dedicated to bitcoin part of my life that it keeps private. If I had to sign up to every CEX here and there, I'd have revealed to both the bank and the CEX how much money I have in bitcoin.

But, that's probably what they do until you make a transaction with someone who launders some serious amounts of money, part of which you don't know when you exchange at Bisq (and it shouldn't concern you either, but it does concern the bank).

The only time my bank has called to ask me about a transaction is when I'm buying bitcoin with Zelle, but the funny thing it is when they did call it was because of a relatively small amount compared to other transactions.  I just tell them it's for "general transaction" and don't give them any more details about why I'm sending Joe Schmoe money.


Banks aren't going to give you an account without KYC, and I don't mind either.  If I'm selling bitcoin I will pay capitol gains tax on my proceeds, and likewise claim a loss if I have to sell for less than my purchase price.  So linking my KYC to deposits into my bank account doesn't bother me.

I don't know when / why they ask; as far as I know it's for large amounts relative to what you're usually transacting. So if you're ordering expensive stuff every month and add a similarly expensive Bitcoin buy, it won't probably 'trigger' anything.

I'm not sure whether you're allowed to just deny replying and what happens if you do; if they suspect money laundering, they don't question you to report you, but to safeguard themselves, so you be the judge about what you think makes sense to tell them..

Yes, exactly; I wanted to emphasize though, that opening bank and exchange accounts left and right, means you'll run a higher risk of getting your KYC data leaked and getting all sorts of problems (impersonation, deanonymization, ...) outside of Bitcoin, too.

With Bisq, you don't need to open one more KYC account of any kind, if you already have a SEPA bank account.

My only concern is if / when the bank asks me to justify what I bought / sold in a specific transaction. They already do it for large amounts, it's called bank secrecy act. I'm not going to sell over 10k in one transaction, but don't banks question the user a little bit arbitrarily? Who tells me they won't do it if I sell regularly small amounts, or that they won't lower the limit?

Just a note about KYC: I don't mind much to have KYC submitted to my national bank, as long as my Bitcoin identity is hidden. What I want is privacy regarding whom I send bitcoin, how much bitcoin I have, how much money I cash out for bitcoin, how much bitcoin I cash out for fiat etc., generally bitcoin activity must hold no connection with any institution.

Do keep in mind that 99.99% of people will never live a life without a bank account.
Since trades are P2P, the bank won't know what you bought with / sold for that bank transfer, and through mixing, the trading partner won't know what you did / will do with the coins.

Besides the fact that you still need to have a bank account and therefore share your KYC information with 1 bank, it's an almost perfectly private on- & off-ramp.

Also keep in mind that privacy protection laws in the EU (GDPR) mean that you may want to look into having bank accounts with established banks situated in the EU instead of sketchy startup banks located somewhere else.
These laws give you the legal right to both (1) get access to any of your data they store(d) and (2) have it deleted immediately. These rights aren't for granted and don't exist outside the EU (to my knowledge).

Correct - if you're using Bisq to avoid KYC, trading through a bank transfer, or a fintech who emulates that, kind of defeats the whole purpose of using Bisq as an onramp or offramp.

Too bad there's no foolproof way to determine each financial service's regulatory compliance, inasmuch as they don't sell out your documents to 3rd parties.

Privacy invasion is inevitable, unless you're willing to pay for the protection of a F2F trade (if there's F2F trade available at your region). Even if you do, with this minimum liquidity, you're going to be charged by hell of a lot. From a quick Bisq search, the only available F2F offer is made by someone in Spain, and he's charging ~€26,500 for a bitcoin, which means +50% than the market value. 

The best you can do, both effectively and practically, to gain some privacy on your peer-to-peer trades, is to mix.

I believe people can open bank accounts in other locations; it's offered by services like TransferWise. That would require to go through KYC though; one of the very things we want to avoid when using Bisq.
On the other hand, the bank you already have / use also has your KYC details.

If you want to go fully bank-less, make sure to receive your paycheck in BTC and / or cash and then do Bisq F2F (cash in hand) trades only.

One of the important things you have to keep in mind about Bisq is that the approved electronic payment methods are largely selected to enhance the safety of the seller.  I reckon privacy is also a prioritized consideration, but I believe safety is higher priority.  As you mentioned there will always be a trace of evidence that could link you to a transaction, even if that trace is purely circumstantial in nature.

I tend to agree that f2f cash trades are likely to provide the most privacy, but in this day and age it would be pretty darn difficult to ensure anonymity.  Unless you left all electronic devices at home, including your modern car, there will be some circumstantial evidence of your presence, potentially linking you to a trade that took place.

Personally I use Zelle to buy and sell using Bisq.  There is a leak of personal data, but in my case it's only my real name and the email address or phone number that's linked to my Zelle account.  No bank data is leaked to the trade partner.  Privacy is maintained by the fact that all the data required to conduct a trade on Bisq is stored on your local machine, and is only made available to your trade partner while a trade is active.  You don't have to worry about your data being leaked or hacked from a centralized server because none of your personal data is stored on any servers.  The only link to your "account" that exists on a Bisq server is the Tor address that you've been assigned by your local client.

The big disadvantage is that SEPA only works in European countries and there aren't so many other bank transfer trades on Bisq the last time I checked.

I wouldn't exchange gift cards for coins, especially since Amazon can block its own cards since using them as a form of currency is against their terms of use.

You do 'leak' your banking information to the trading partner if you choose an IBAN bank transfer, but it's not 'linked' in the sense that there is a dataset stored on some server connecting your name and bank account number to that trade or to a Bitcoin address of yours.
Someone could in theory start opening tons of buy and sell offers to gather people's names and bank accounts and then trace what they do with their bought or sold coins.
That could be partly circumvented by checking whether you've traded with that peer yet; that's an information Bisq provides by default. Or mixing.

That's correct. In Europe I use bank transfers, because they work in the whole SEPA region and I reduce the risk of trading partners spying on me by mixing before selling or after buying Bitcoins on Bisq.

This is an interesting question, at least for me regarding Bisq: What would you say is the most anonymous way of trading FIAT for BTC for example using the platform? I assume that using a traditional Bank or even a fintech one (such as Revolut) still links your real identity to some user (the vendor) whom you trust to not gather your information (at least real name and IBAN).

According to their payment methods[1] almost all of them leave some kind of trace to your real identity - even Amazon cards transactions. The best of them all would be F2F but even that depends on the availability within a country. I wonder, what is your way of buying BTC using Bisq @n0nce and @DireWolfm14?

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[1]https://docs.bisq.network/payment-methods

Again, my words should be taken in regards to one of the distros with a Desktop environment installed, and not the base OS alone.  Manually turning off the closed source components of Ubuntu also takes mere seconds, but uninstalling the bloat that gets installed with Debian/Gnome takes much longer.  Since Agbe is the target of my recommendation and he's been clear that he has very little experience with Linux, I'm assuming that he will be installing a Desktop environment via GUI features.

There is a way to install Debian and Gnome (or any DTE) without all the bloat by doing so manually from the command line using the --noinstallrecommends flag, but again I am assuming that is a bit advanced for him.

Considering his machine's lack of resources and his lack of experience I'm still convinced that installing Ubuntu Minimal is the best recommendation we can give him.


If we're talking about DTEs I totally agree.  Ubuntu is basically Debian under the hood, so stability isn't really an issue in either case if you only plan to use the CLI.  In fact I would say that Debian is probably a bit more stable since it's essentially just the nuts and bolts needed to run a PC.  If a DTE is to be installed Ubuntu is the most user friendly Linux OS I've used.

Average Windows user's Linux experience. 

As I see you're a Linux newbie: don't mess things up. If you don't know what you're doing, use a search engine. The fact that you tried to execute a .exe file on a Linux environment tells me that you shouldn't involve yourself in this fuss. Better check out what's wrong with Windows than setting up an unknown to you OS, just to use a program.

Still, the user-friendliest and stablest Linux distro I've ever used.

Ubuntu is totally giving me wInD0ws OS vibes, and I think they even have some kind of partnership with micr0soft.
Debian is much better because there is no crap added, it's just vanilla clean experience, but problem with Debian is very old supported software.
There are much better stable alternatives if someone wants to be more up to date with kernel and software updates.

There is a chance windows files would run in Ubuntu if Wine was installed, but I think Bisq exchange would not run that great.

The main thing that bothers me about Ubuntu is the closed-source components and telemetry that you have to manually turn off.
It reminds me of Windows and some of the main reasons to switch away from it.

Small packages like ufw can be installed in a few seconds with any package manager, so it doesn't outweigh the downsides for me.

My friend. Are you serious? You are trying to run Windows software on Linux; of course it doesn't work. You need to download the Linux version.
When you're on a download page and you have 3 options: 'Windows', 'MacOS', 'Linux' - just select Linux and you'll be set.
It's clear from your last screenshot that you downloaded an exe. A Windows executable.

Yeah; because you're trying to open random internal Bisq files, that you don't need and shouldn't try, to open.

If you actually downloaded the Linux version of it, it would run fine.
You obviously went here: https://bisq.network/downloads/ And clicked on 'Windows'. That's your mistake.

Click on the '.deb' (under Debian/Ubuntu section) and install that.

Ubuntu (Linux) version 20 does not accept most of the softwares used in other windows. Because of that I am planning to uninstall it again from my PC. Is it that Ubuntu (Linux) uses a specific or special softwares and drivers? Or Is it airgap issue? In fact after installing Linux I downloaded bisq to install but it is written . I have been trying to use Bisq in my PC but the windows couldn't display so I was recommended to used Ubuntu Linux yet, it's even worst than the windows OS.

The Debian base OS is lighter than Ubuntu's base OS, but only by a small margin.  Ubuntu comes with the Snap Package Manager pre-installed (which can be handy for newbies who plan to install a desktop environment,) and it also comes with a couple of tools pre-installed which I find handy, UFW for example.

For Linux newbies who want a Desktop environment I recommend Ubuntu, but only the minimal version.  I feel that's probably the most user-friendly Linux distro for those crossing over from Windows.  The Ubuntu Desktop ISO makes it really easy to install the minimal version.  I've been using Debian for my servers lately, but Debian plus Gnome Desktop includes far more bloat than Ubuntu Minimal.  Maybe I'm missing something during the install, but the last thing I want to do is install a new OS, then spend hours uninstalling bloatware.

As for Desktop Environments; I'm an unabashed Windows user (I have my reasons) and I've played with XFCE and KDE, as well Cinnamon, but I still find the Gnome Desktop the most practical for Linux.  YMMV.

Only problem I see with Fedora is the license stuff that is related with their main Red Hat linux parent distribution, recently there was a lot of fuss around this so cou would need to install RPM Fusion manually.
Regarding Bisq and LinuxOS, I found information from one of their team members that best supporting distribution currently is Debian and most of their derivates like Ubuntu, Linux Mint, etc.
Most people probably won't have any issues with other distributions, but you can't expect them to fix any potential probelms.

I'd just like to point out that Ubuntu is Linux. Just one of the dozens of popular Linux distributions available. Many share a very similar GUI, while you can actually even change the GUI (window manager) after you installed a distro. You could have the operating system of your second screenshot with the look you see in the first.
One of the many powerful features that you only get with Linux.

It is! Ubuntu = Debian + [bloat].
Fedora looks like a great daily driver to me. Makes sense that it's gaining popularity.

Maybe wiNd0ws Defender? I heard stories that it can protect and defend you from all ''attackers''  

Me neither, I stopped using all Ubuntu based distros.
I think that Debian is much lighter than Ubuntu, and Fedora is getting more users but I wouldn't exactly called it light distro.
Bisq works great there and can easily be installed with -rpm package.

Both of this are a bit heavy, so for people that want to use lighter DE I would recommend trying XFCE, or even lighter Lxqt or Lxde.

The beauty about Linux is this is not the only interface available (which is named GNOME by the way), you can use another interface called KDE that looks almost exactly like Windows.

Linux Mint is also a good choice as it uses an interface that's another clone of Windows (Cinnamon).

And there was a time when you couldn't use Windows either. "I can't use it yet" is not really a reason to never try anything new, since anything new will be, well, new. Linux is no more harder to "get the hang of" than Windows is.

Which is why I suggested Linux Mint. If you do an image search for Linux Mint, you will see the interface is very similar to that of Windows (as well as being completely customizable to your own personal taste).

Still, if you are dead set on Windows you should at least upgrade to a non-insecure version, since continuing to use a very outdated Windows 7 risks the security of your coins.

Since when I start using Computer, it is windows that I have been using so I can't use another operating system. I started using from windows X to windows. I am very good in windows x and windows 7, for windows 8 to 10 I have used them but I can't use it them the way I was windows x and 8.
But early last year I went for a computer seminar and I installed Ubuntu in my pc but I could not used so I had to format the system and changed it to windows 8 yet not satisfied then I changed it to windows 7 last month.

One thing I discovered from Linux and Ubuntu. They have the same interface, and since I have not use them I will prefer windows to them.

Ubuntu OS


Linux OS

I don't recommend using Ubuntu-based distros though, if performance is an issue.
Luckily, OpenSUSE is pretty light and I even have the perfect full node install guides for it..

I wouldn't recommend Wasabi as a desktop wallet (or any other use case). As others pointed out, the tried & tested 'classic' is Electrum, but you may also want to check out Sparrow.
Sparrow even still runs on Windows 7, actually! https://sparrowwallet.com/download/

Is there any reason you are absolutely tied to Windows? Any software you are using which only works on Windows?

If not, then I would strongly consider moving to good Linux distro. Not only will it be open source which Windows isn't, but it will be better in terms of security and privacy, it will be much lighter in terms of requirements, it will run faster, and you will easily be able to find and install any drivers or packages which you need. Even if you've never used Linux before, there are distros designed exactly for this purpose which are easy to install and use. Linux Mint is the closest to Windows in terms of look and feel.

A VM tends to give a false sense of security, no matter how good you secure the VM. If the host system / actual PC has malware, may record the screen and get the wallet seed, isn't it?
Imho a much better option is a Live OS on a stick to boot from.


Windows 10 can run very well without license. No time limit. And the only limitation you may actually feel will be that you won't be allowed to change the desktop image (and it may show the not registered watermark); imho neither of them would be a big deal.
The only problem is to see for yourself if Win10 doesn't make the PC unbearably slow, especially at booting (do you have SSD on that PC?).

That means I will prefer to upgrade my PC to the version of the windows that supports Electrum , I prefer using Electrum on PC and using Bisq for buying and selling. I hope windows 10 is good for the both softwares?
The problem we are facing at this part of the world is that we used pirated windows  and softwares. So when we installed softwares most of the drivers are missing from the windows so we have to look for it online and if we could not get it then we used the system like that. But I will try to upgrade my windows to Windows 10 and see what will happen. I have have bought new system but the inflation in my country as of right now is very high. A brand new system now is about $200+

There's also the option of running an airgapped Windows 11 Virtualbox VM just for Electrum - 32-bit VM with light memory requirements (believe it or not, 1GB will actually do just fine!) since you're not running any other programs on it.

That's too bad. Your hardware is probably not up to the task, that's why the computer is acting up. Your Windows 7 is also not genuine I assume.

Since you are still on Windows 7, you can't use the newest versions of Electrum. Since version 4.2.0, your Operating System is no longer supported. But if needed, you could still use version 4.1.5 as described in the official release notes.

https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/blob/master/RELEASE-NOTES

I have upgraded the system to windows 8 before but the system was malfunctioning, that made me to change it back to the previous windows which is the 7. And now I am comfortable with the windows 7 but there are some software that I want to use are not installing. Or if they installed I cannot used them. That is the issue I am facing.







Okay probably I misunderstood you, really the last time when I was trying to open a dollar account, I was not having one of the requirements in the bank and the stress was much so I suspended it.

As for the Wasabi. Yes I know that Wasabi and Bisq have no connection but I need a PC wallet that was why I was asking n0nce to send me the link.
Thanks you all.

I think you misunderstood me. I wasn't talking about opening EUR/USD accounts in Bisq, I meant open a foreign currency account in your local bank where you can accept foreign currencies to it instead of the local Nigerian fiat. After that, you can trade BTC for USD since Naira isn't supported.

I don't see the connection between Bisq and Wasabi, but nevertheless, you can get it from https://wasabiwallet.io/. The downloads page can be accessed from the button at the top right. I hope you have a 64-bit processor. I think that's a requirement for Wasabi, but I am not entirely sure. I would advice you to upgrade your OS to at least Windows 10. Win 7 is abandoned and doesn't receive security updates anymore. 

That's probably your issue then. Mainstream support for Windows 7 ended 7 years ago. It is an outdated and insecure OS. You should strongly considering upgrading at least to Windows 10, although obviously Linux would be a better choice all round for both security and privacy.

Why do you want to use Wasabi? In case you are unaware, they are pro-surveillance and pro-censorship and cooperate with blockchain analysis. I would steer well clear of their software.

I am using Windows 7 version. Though I just formatted the windows last month but I have installed all softwares, apps that are needed to operate in the system and also I have run drivers pack in the system both online and offline. I will try the Microsoft link you have provided to see if it can work. If there is any other way to fixed this errors for me to install the software please help me out. I really want to install the software.
n0nce please can you send me the link to download wasabi?

What version of Windows are you using, and is it up to date? A quick web search suggests this .dll is part of the Microsoft Visual Studio (Visual C++) package. Make sure this is installed and up to date. I don't use Windows, but I assume this can be done through some sort of package manager or update manager? If not, you can grab it from here apparently: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=52685

In terms of NGN, there is an open issue to support Paga, which you might be familiar with: https://github.com/bisq-network/growth/issues/268

I finally downloaded it from the link DireWolfM14 provide but I am still have some issues to open the software in my PC.




I don't know how to open dollar account or EUR account but if you can tell me the steps I will be very happy. Thanks

I am not familiar with how it works in Nigeria and what restrictions you guys have over there, but can you accept foreign currencies and open a US dollar account for example? After you get the USD, convert it to Naira with your bank or an exchange office.

Unrelated to Bisq but in situations where my local fiat currency is not supported by a site or service provider, I can always take EUR or USD. Having a stash of USD proved quite useful in recent times as the EUR lost a decent amount of value against the USD and I took advantage of a favorable exchange rate.   

I agree with n0nce, this sounds like an issue with local privileges of one form or another.  It could be you may not be logged into an account that has local admin privileges. 

There may also be restrictions from the local network; for example, some public wifis will restrict downloads of files over a certain size.  I don't know what OS you use, but the .deb file is over 210 megabytes, which isn't huge but it's worth considering.

Oh, that's a pity. Then I'm pretty sure it's not currently supported. You could try hopping into https://bisq.chat/ and ask them if it's planned and if so, when it will be added.
You could also try opening a thread about it on https://bisq.community/.

A quick search over there revealed the following, though:
No, this seems like a local issue of your PC or browser. I don't recognize the error message, but maybe try downloading from GitHub instead:
https://github.com/bisq-network/bisq/releases/tag/v1.9.5

Here you have all the steps for getting started: https://bisq.network/getting-started/

But Nigerian Currency (Naira) was not found in the list, so how am I sure that I can see the Nigerian Currency in the main software? And why Nigerian Currency is not among the listed ones? Because of this omission  in most of the sites and softwares I asked the question that if other currencies are also found in the software and now I did not see the currency I belong to. so what should I do now? And also the software is not downloading in my PC, it is written "Failed-Needs authorization". What should I do again? or is it that source you provided for me to download is not supported by my system?
When I clicked on the notification. This is what I got.
Does that mean I do not have the permission to download the software? or my country is not allowed?

Yeah, it's not like a lightning strike, lol.  I agree that thinking twice about "accounts" in general...  I think the best way to operate is to keep a minimal footprint.  The fewer organizations that have your personal data stored on their servers the more secure that data is likely to be.

They can pay your bills? I didn't know about that; only using gift cards without any account.

That's absolutely true!

After the fact, well if they get hacked once, probably will get hacked again, no? And as a general step of precaution / information to anyone reading and thinking about opening another bank account. Always think twice about this kind of stuff.

Even bitrefill collects personal data, as described in their privacy policy.  I haven't used them, nor do I have an account, but I suspect the data they require depends largely on the services you request.  I don't suspect they need much to for purchasing giftcards, but I imagine they would need your real name and address to pay bills, not to mention your account number for the service provider the payment is be made.

The ideal scenario would be for most service providers and retailers to start accepting bitcoin directly.


But what does that really provide if a breach has already happened?  I understand that banks are more likely to spend more on network security due to certain regulations, but that only goes so far.  Leaks can happen in so many different ways, getting hacked is only one of them.  I suspect like most laws and regulations, these are largely intended to punish those who are found violating them, but can't really do much to prevent breaches.

Sometimes there's sadly no way around using a bank, but if possible, I try to avoid exchanging for fiat altogether. For instance, if I can order something on Amazon or another website that has gift cards on https://www.bitrefill.com/, I use that. If there's a shop accepting BTC directly (even if the price may be slightly higher), I order there.

With regards to choosing a bank that won't be hacked, I can't give any advice, but I suspect that there are large differences in security budget allocation, jurisdictions (whether it's punished to get customer data leaked), credibility and such. It's possible that a European bank has much tighter guidelines in terms of privacy due to GDPR, but I'm not sure about that.

Funny side fact: Revolut was founded in the UK in 2015, when they were still in the EU. Now they're obviously not anymore, so GDPR doesn't apply to them anymore, either.

Wow, that is a troubling development.  Luckily I have plenty of offers in my national currency through other payment methods, but I do have a mostly dormant Revolut account.  Unfortunately this kind of thing is getting so common, even big banks have had leaks, Wells Fargo has had three in the last 5 years alone.  Obviously it's possible to do all one's transactions without a bank account, but being able to pay my mortgage with bitcoin sure would be nice.

Do note that there is no registration. There are no accounts, no KYC, no servers. It's just a program running on your (and other people's) computers. If I place a Bitcoin buy offer on my PC, your software will pick it up after a while and display it to you. Then you can decide to take that offer and we do this trade person-to-person / peer-to-peer.

Do keep in mind that Revolut was recently hacked and massive amounts of customer data was leaked. If you can use a different payment method, I'd recommend that.

The current markets can be viewed on this webpage (and in the application):
https://bisq.markets/markets

It includes lots of currencies like Japanese Yen, New Zealand Dollars, Hong Kong Dollars, Indian Rupees, or South African Rand.

The software is free! Official URL is always https://bisq.network/ and the downloads can be found either on https://bisq.network/downloads/ or on their GitHub page where the full open-source code is released, as well: https://github.com/bisq-network/bisq/releases/

1. The software can be installed offline (after downloading) but it needs to be connected to the internet to see offers or have your offers visible to others.  It's worth noting that the software connects to peers over Tor network.

2. You can trade almost any Fiat currency for BTC, not just USD.  There are plenty of digital payment methods that work well with Euros.  One in particular, Revolut can be used to convert many Fiat currencies to Euro, which may give you more flexibility if your national currency only has a few offers.

3. The software is free to download and install.  Fees are charged when you take an offer or create an offer.

4. Below I've listed a couple of links, one to the projects official site, their github page, and the ann thread here on the forum:

https://bisq.network/
https://github.com/bisq-network/bisq
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/ann-bisq-exchange-decentralized-5230289

I have been seen Bisq in the forum for sometime but was not having the mindset to go through it but today I decided to glance through "what is Bisq all about before thinking of using it. And when I read Bisq, it is nice to try. But before I start to try or using it, I will like to know some vital things about the software.
1. is the installation and the registration in the software require internet or it can be run and register on offline?
2. does Bisq software accept other currencies apart from USD? Because from my research I saw only usd with btc exchange
3. will I buy the software key before the registration? and finally
3. can you please provide the link to download the software because  I don't want to download the fake one and be scammed.

It's actually relatively simple.

[1] Start it up; it connects to the Bisq network (P2P through Tor) and the Bitcoin network.
[2] Set up a fiat payment method under Accounts. This is kept solely on your own machine and this account 'ages' over time to get higher trade limits.
[3] Go to the Buy or Sell tab, depending on whatever you want to do. (buy or sell BTC, that is)
[4] Take an offer that you like and follow the steps.

Basically, whenever someone takes an offer, a multisig transaction is created between buyer and seller with the security deposits and trade amount (so the trade amount is 'locked in') and then the buyer is instructed to pay with fiat.
When they've done it, they signal it to the seller who shall check if they got the payment. If it got through, they must confirm, which broadcasts a spending transaction that sends back the security deposits and gives the buyer the trade amount.

You can find almost anything you need related with Bisq exchange on their Wiki page, and they released additional videos on their official Bisq youtube channel.
Starting with new version 2.0 Bisq is going to make major redesign, so we can expect to see major changes in guides and tutorial.
This changes suppose to make navigation and everything in Bisq much easier for newbies, and I already posted some early screenshots before.
If you don't find answers on wiki, you can try asking them on Bisq community channels, official forum, reddit or matricx:
https://bisq.wiki/Main_Page
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDrHtlIlYfdRx4Gr-MV8NrA

I have Bisq running on my system now, but the interface is slightly intimidating so I haven't done much besides making a wallet backup and setting a password (and of course I will write down the seed phrase as well).

I was wondering if there are any tutorials out there for operating Bisq like you would operate an crypto exchange account. Assuming you only want to trade BTC for other stuff. And how to cash out to banks via P2P trades. And also perhaps best practices for advertising your trades, so that the trade reaches as many potential Bisq traders as possible.