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Topic: LocalBitcoins Cash-in-person trades removed? (Read 687 times)

legendary
Activity: 3472
Merit: 1721
Yes, probably a sizeable part of visitors' are Roger Ver's fans seeing how many subscribers /r/btc has which Roger Ver de facto owns (2.6k online, 256k subscribed), but the domain bitcoin.com is still very highly ranked, when I google/startpage 'buy bitcoin' in incognito bitcoin.com is the first result.

copper member
Activity: 2828
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Of course, this Roger Ver is taking advantage of the situation. He created the site the same week in hurry with a subdomain and an ugly user interface, looking like a website with a 2000' design, empty with a dozen of offers, and of course all newbies with no trade records.
If he wanted to make it in a serious way he would have created a proper TLD, with a custom script or at least something with a lot of more features than currently, and a proper theme. Even me I can do a lot better with a Wordpress, a free theme and free plugins.

For SEO purposes I think it's better to use subdomain of a popular domain than registering and ranking a new domain from scratch. It seems to be working because unfortunately most BTC-based P2P platforms have even less activity than local.bitcoin.com.

This method is so 2006' It doesn't work like that nowadays. It's like people who say .com domain names rank better in SERP compared to .info, .net, etc ... Maybe local.bitcoin.com has more traffic than others but without access to servers stats, it's something difficult to check. Sure there are websites like Alexa Rank, etc, which at a point can be simulated/faked easily, but they don't provide accurate data. (yes it can be used to get an idea). Also need to consider traffic coming from SERP and traffic coming from rogerver fans base


Edit: I counted the offers quickly and there are about 110.  Cheesy
legendary
Activity: 3472
Merit: 1721
Of course, this Roger Ver is taking advantage of the situation. He created the site the same week in hurry with a subdomain and an ugly user interface, looking like a website with a 2000' design, empty with a dozen of offers, and of course all newbies with no trade records.
If he wanted to make it in a serious way he would have created a proper TLD, with a custom script or at least something with a lot of more features than currently, and a proper theme. Even me I can do a lot better with a Wordpress, a free theme and free plugins.

For SEO purposes I think it's better to use subdomain of a popular domain than registering and ranking a new domain from scratch. It seems to be working because unfortunately most BTC-based P2P platforms have even less activity than local.bitcoin.com.
legendary
Activity: 2758
Merit: 3408
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Since I have created this thread, I have noticed many posts on r/btc promoting local.bitcoin.com, a website that allows people to buy and sell bitcoin cash in ways similar to LocalBitcoins, including in person cash trades.

I am not sure how I feel about this. I am not especially interested in trading my bitcoin to or from bitcoin cash every time I want to trade for cash. I think this is a fairly new service as most traders have nearly zero trades. The number of traders in my area is much less than on LocalBitcoins, and their prices compared to market prices are nowhere near as competitive.

I think Rodger Ver is taking advantage of the LocalBitcoins situation.

Not just that. I've been getting spam from Bitcoin.com (I don't even actually ever recall signing up for anything, but this must have been from my idiot days in 2016 signing up to stupid newsletters) telling me all kinds of bullshit about millions of Bitcoin.com wallet downloads, and then now supposedly all these new records of volume on P2P local.bitcoin.com -- so much irony in how BCH wants to get away from Bitcoin and yet insists on ripping off every known brand and thing ever associated with Bitcoin. I'm actually even just keeping all the spam out of curiosity.

He's just been doing his best to get people to use BCH... sending $5 to everyone at conferences he attends, and then telling them see, I can't do this because it takes $3 to send $5 BTC.

Actual P2P sellers on the actual platforms with actual volumes, they are so not doing BCH.
copper member
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Of course, this Roger Ver is taking advantage of the situation. He created the site the same week in hurry with a subdomain and an ugly user interface, looking like a website with a 2000' design, empty with a dozen of offers, and of course all newbies with no trade records.

If he wanted to make it in a serious way he would have created a proper TLD, with a custom script or at least something with a lot of more features than currently, and a proper theme. Even me I can do a lot better with a Wordpress, a free theme and free plugins.

Edit: I see they improved a little the homepage since last week, but still.
legendary
Activity: 1652
Merit: 1483
Since I have created this thread, I have noticed many posts on r/btc promoting local.bitcoin.com, a website that allows people to buy and sell bitcoin cash in ways similar to LocalBitcoins, including in person cash trades.

I am not sure how I feel about this. I am not especially interested in trading my bitcoin to or from bitcoin cash every time I want to trade for cash. I think this is a fairly new service as most traders have nearly zero trades. The number of traders in my area is much less than on LocalBitcoins, and their prices compared to market prices are nowhere near as competitive.

I think Rodger Ver is taking advantage of the LocalBitcoins situation.

this is a dead end. there will never be many traders for bcash. it's just a little used altcoin. unlike bitcoin, it's p2p and OTC markets are basically nonexistent. indeed, i think roger is just capitalizing on the localbitcoins situation to pump his shitcoin.
copper member
Activity: 1610
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Since I have created this thread, I have noticed many posts on r/btc promoting local.bitcoin.com, a website that allows people to buy and sell bitcoin cash in ways similar to LocalBitcoins, including in person cash trades.

I am not sure how I feel about this. I am not especially interested in trading my bitcoin to or from bitcoin cash every time I want to trade for cash. I think this is a fairly new service as most traders have nearly zero trades. The number of traders in my area is much less than on LocalBitcoins, and their prices compared to market prices are nowhere near as competitive.

I think Rodger Ver is taking advantage of the LocalBitcoins situation.
legendary
Activity: 2758
Merit: 3408
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You've got to ask yourself why you should use LBC instead of a big exchange like Binance or Kraken...
I don't see any reason to choose LBC.

Privacy? To get better rates than on an exchange if you decide to post your own ads?

This was the only reason I stayed on LBC to be honest. I started out needing LBC because I lived all around and most placed I was at simply couldn't be served by exchanges (OR, exchanges would refuse to serve me because I wasn't staying put).

I'm settled now more or less but I actually still find good rates as a seller on LBC/Bisq. And that's a huge plus for me really. People like paying fees? I still get a warm fuzzy feeling every time I snatch just $100 more on LBC than I would have elsewhere.
hero member
Activity: 2296
Merit: 755
Bitcoin = Financial freedom

Still other payment options available right?

As long as we are using fiat money there is no privacy here,we can be tracked through many things not only through banks transactions.
legendary
Activity: 3472
Merit: 1721
If you must pay by bank transfer, there's no privacy...
So better rates? I don't think so. The big exchanges are good at this.

So I guess everything will depend on the user's country, but I don't see much of a future for LBC in the EU.

Until cash trades were removed of course. Right now, there's no advantage. It's even worse than using an exchange where you go through KYC only once (ideally). On LBC whoever sends fiat money has to do some sort of KYC with every party they do business with, because the risk is too high someone uses a stolen/hijacked bank credentials to send money and disappears with BTC.
legendary
Activity: 3038
Merit: 1047
Your country may be your worst enemy
You've got to ask yourself why you should use LBC instead of a big exchange like Binance or Kraken...
I don't see any reason to choose LBC.

Privacy? To get better rates than on an exchange if you decide to post your own ads?

If you must pay by bank transfer, there's no privacy...
So better rates? I don't think so. The big exchanges are good at this.

So I guess everything will depend on the user's country, but I don't see much of a future for LBC in the EU.
legendary
Activity: 3472
Merit: 1721
You've got to ask yourself why you should use LBC instead of a big exchange like Binance or Kraken...
I don't see any reason to choose LBC.

Privacy? To get better rates than on an exchange if you decide to post your own ads?
legendary
Activity: 1212
Merit: 1037
You've got to ask yourself why you should use LBC instead of a big exchange like Binance or Kraken...
I don't see any reason to choose LBC.

Without cash trades, not many reasons. There is still the possibility of using other means of payment for people who don't have a bank account (as is the case on many 3rd world countries), or if they are in a country or have a bank that bans crypto transactions.
legendary
Activity: 2590
Merit: 3008
Welt Am Draht
You've got to ask yourself why you should use LBC instead of a big exchange like Binance or Kraken...
I don't see any reason to choose LBC.

It's all country dependent.

Up until recently in the UK LBC was the best option because whatever exchanges there were in the UK couldn't bank there. You had to wire money to Estonia or Poland which took several days. LBC took minutes.

That's changed now with Coinbase getting local banking, or it would've if Coinbase hadn't put a five day hold on deposits now so LBC is still the quickest option.

There'll be plenty of other countries with no exchange at all or ones with books so thin you may as well stick with LBC.
legendary
Activity: 3038
Merit: 1047
Your country may be your worst enemy
You've got to ask yourself why you should use LBC instead of a big exchange like Binance or Kraken...
I don't see any reason to choose LBC.
legendary
Activity: 2170
Merit: 1427
I would say it's the other way around, online someone can easily send you money from a hacked bank/neteller/pp/etc. account, or claim they got 'hacked', chargeback, etc. With cash things are a lot simpler, count the money, release the coins, bye.

LBC themselves admitted they had to remove local cash ads due to not being able to remain compliant with new regulations: https://twitter.com/LocalBitcoins/status/1135872083962081281

It wouldn't surpise me if LBC goes out of business at a later point in the future. I'm strongly of believe that what we have seen so far in terms of regulations, is just a glimpse of what we can expect later on. It's not entirely bad because this will fuel 'underground' services to pop up that are way harder to take down and people will have more freedom to transact as they please.

I also prefer to see multiple smaller sites than a big one like LCB that's easy to force your will upon as government. It's a shitshow really.
copper member
Activity: 1610
Merit: 1898
Amazon Prime Member #7
The reason they do not move to another jurisdiction may be the profitability of online trades vs. face to face cash trades.

The advent of KYC requirements on LocalBitcoins  may reduce instances of claims of hacked bank accounts because the identity associated with both accounts will either match, or if they don't match, LocalBitcoins can make a Law Enforcement referral when a particular buyer is using hacked accounts to pay for coin and his identity is known.

KYC will also prevent scammers and fraudsters from creating multiple LocalBitcoins accounts to use hacked accounts to buy coins multiple times.
legendary
Activity: 3472
Merit: 1721
It could be that in person cash trades are not very profitable. The cost and difficulty of mediating disputes for in person trades is probably much higher than online trades. All the scams involving in person cash trades doesn't do their reputation any good either.

I would say it's the other way around, online someone can easily send you money from a hacked bank/neteller/pp/etc. account, or claim they got 'hacked', chargeback, etc. With cash things are a lot simpler, count the money, release the coins, bye.

LBC themselves admitted they had to remove local cash ads due to not being able to remain compliant with new regulations: https://twitter.com/LocalBitcoins/status/1135872083962081281
copper member
Activity: 1610
Merit: 1898
Amazon Prime Member #7
It sounds like these services should consider segregating their EU customers from everyone else. Run a second platform and prohibit EU customers from the main one.
It's either that, or continue degrading services for everyone across the globe. Undecided

I wish they'd just move to a friendlier jurisdiction. What's their breaking point?
It could be that in person cash trades are not very profitable. The cost and difficulty of mediating disputes for in person trades is probably much higher than online trades. All the scams involving in person cash trades doesn't do their reputation any good either.
legendary
Activity: 3038
Merit: 1047
Your country may be your worst enemy
I believe Hodl Hodl is their best successor, but they have very, very few trades... Anyone suggests another service? I live in Europe and my interest is limited to Cash-in-person trades.

there was a pretty comprehensive list mentioned earlier in the thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/b2wj6k/p2p_exchanges_eg_localbitcoins_bisq_hodlhodl/

nothing compares to localbitcoins though, not even close. the next biggest service offering in-person cash listings seems to be paxful. im in the USA and there's less than 10 listings (to sell for cash in person) across the entire country! a few more have popped since localbitcoins removed the option, but still......

Yes, I've seen that list, just wanted to know what others were thinking.

I've looked at Paxful, and when it comes to cash in person offers, it has only 4 of them in the whole of Europe... And they're not cheap!

I guess there's an opportunity. If I were sedentary living in a big city, I would become a trader, there are customers waiting.
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