Bitcoin Forum

Hi,

I'm interested in setting up a local P2P exchange in the area where I live (like localbitcoins.com). Is there an API or a wallet like Electrum which I could use to create my site users personal wallets and also escrow? Plus update transactions whenever they happen.

Would appreciate any advice on this matter.

Thank you

Electrum doesn't have an API for escrow.

You are better off creating your own API for these use cases, by running your own nodes or renting them off of Getblock.io. Because the way things stand, there is no universal, regularly maintained API for them on Github.

Usually when they want to create a new service like a P2P exchange they hire an expert developer to write their backend for them for wallets, transactions, escrows, etc. instead of using some API or a wallet that is not designed to be used by big services (e.g. Electrum can't handle big wallet files). There is also the matter of security that the developer has to constantly keep an eye on.

If you need to create wallets, you need to hire a professional

If you just need only to get the balance your users addresses, you can use a block explorer API. They are easy to use.

For example, take a look at this api response:
https://api.blockchair.com/bitcoin/dashboards/address/1A1zP1eP5QGefi2DMPTfTL5SLmv7DivfNa

Docs of 3 good block explorers:
https://blockchair.com/api/docs
https://mempool.space/docs/api/rest
https://www.blockchain.com/en/api

Electrum wallet is not designed to handle commercial use (managing hundreds of addresses per hour) so the number of addresses you want to manage will determine what kind of software you can use.

Performance engineering is what will determine whether it is appropriate to use open source applications or you should start from scratch (if the store is large).

any way you can use BTCPay Server^[1] and inside it you can have unlimited number of stores that be connected to your electrum wallet.

[1] https://docs.btcpayserver.org/CreateStore/

Can I use a library like Awesome Bitcoin?

https://github.com/igorbarinov/awesome-bitcoin

That's not a library, it is a list that contains all kinds of tools and services including some libraries that you have to choose from. Choose a programming language and see what libraries are in that list, then check if the library is maintained and up to date then you can think about using it.

What do you think about https://github.com/bitcoinjs/bitcoinjs-lib

Would I be able to achieve what I want to do with this library? Would you recommend?

I generally don't trust what I can't read myself and I can't read JavaScript so I can't vouch for it. But bitcoinjs has a decent popularity and is used by some other popular projects. For example trezor (https://github.com/trezor) team uses it in some of their projects.

it is better to develop your own wallet or even better to get a ready-to-go solution for it. If you are interested in it you can contact us.