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Hello, for the past 2 weeks I am being redirected to 395 different authorities and banks for me to complete the procedure to become P2P trader.
Long story short, I have some crypto, willing to sell via P2P platforms, but the bank that I use prohibited me from using their account for this.
I called few other banks in my country and they are telling me that I need VASP license to trade crypto. (????)
I searched for VASP license and it it really complicated and not worth for me as I will need to register a company, invest in shared capital, appoint AML officer etc.

Is it really that hard to start P2P trading? I see tons of people on Binance trading P2P. All of them have VASP license? or they are hiding income with banks?

I want to do everything legally, according to all procedures. I have explained to bank that I am not a crypto exchange or smth to obtain either VASP license or open business bank account.

I am from Estonia. I can travel to few countries to open bank account. I am willing to continue P2P trading even after I sell my initial crypto.

I need your advise, where to open bank, which bank. Is there any document I can show to my bank that will persuade them that I don't need VASP license?

Thank you in advance.


P.S. Scammers stay out of my PMs

I've been trading in Binance P2P for many years now, I don't encounter such issues. I don't think if it's just in your Country, because here in my place all is well in terms of P2P trading. Binance provided an instruction how to post an ad and they provide the criteria how to become a verified merchant. And because what I'm doing is to withdraw from them, I just need to find an ad. And since your problem is about the bank you're using, try to make up with another banks because afaik there are lot of method to send the payment.

I have done many p2p trades on Binance and I had no issue with any of those trades but surely the matter you discussed is different from what I have been doing. I have basically made p2p trades with merchants in order to convert my crypto to fiat but never ever did something that merchants do.

I believe it's allowed to be a p2p merchant in many countries but surely in some countries there could be some restrictions and rules. I believe p2p trading on Binance can be done smoothly from UAE without any issues, however I'm not sure if they also want a similar VASP license or not.

I suggest you to contact someone in UAE and ask them that how one can create an e-bank account of that country if he/she isn't living there? If something like that is possible then I'm sure you'll be able to p2p trade with a bank account. By the way, you can do p2p trading with online payment gateways if I'm not wrong.

If cryptocurrency is prohibited in your country and the banks were not allowed to engage on anything related to that, then you don't have to worry yourself, since what we are considering is a p2p network, just make use of a decentralized exchange to perform it and avoid the use of banks or any other government centralized means that could render you into trouble with the government law.

OP, first of all is crypto legal in your country, is Binance operation also legal in your country. These are things that you should put into consideration, because I don't see why you need your bank before you can be a p2p merchant in your country. It is some KYC verification that you need to do, and you don't need to tell your bank that you want to use your bank account for p2p trading, because they will not accept. Your business should be with your ads in Binance and from which bank account that you will use to credit your p2p transactions. There is a serious warning down here in my country on digital assest that anybody that uses his/her account for cryptocurrency account will be feezed. But we are still have p2p trade very active. Banks cannot monitor where you are sending your money to or receiving from if it was from cryptocurrency or not a, because you are paying directly to the seller or the buyer's account through p2p.

crypto is legal in Estonia. and you don't need to register a company and have a VASP license since all you want to do is exchange your crypto to EUR.

you just have to register to an exchange like binance and go to the p2p where you set to receive EUR for your BTC. the bank likely won't know whether you trade BTC but money will be deposited by someone who bought your BTC on the p2p platform.

It's just your bank doesn't want you to trade crypto currency and they do even if crypto is not banned in certain countries so better find another bank account and try doing p2p and there should be no problem. Most people you find in p2p platforms doesn't want their Bank to know this is funds from crypto trading so I wonder how banks actually found that this is coming from crypto trading in the first place.

I doubt most merchants in binance p2p have VASP.

From your story, it appears your country and/or local banks are stricter than others. However, it's possible there could be gray lines to this such as off shore banks perhaps? One way to know for sure is to consult a lawyer whose familiar with cryptocurrency and laws around it.

Just so you know. Almost all banks hate crypto, most especially p2p trading.

You are literary taking away the revenue from them, so they will do anything to fight back. My country is not so strict when it comes to cryto trading but when it comes to p2p trading. I made all my bank accounts are never linked to any p2p trades.

Most are obviously hiding the activities from the banks.

You won't win that war if you are a retail trader. if You want to do everything "legally", then you will have to obtain a VASP license.

if you go to those countries as well and try to do things "legally", you may still be forced to get a VASP Licence by the banks in those countries too


I doubt there is any.

     Many exchanges have p2p features, and the first ones are Binance, Bybit, Okx, Bitget, Gate.io, Xt.com, and Bing X. It's up to you which of them you want to try. I can only remind you that all of these must be your verified accounts.

     Because that is one of their rules so that you can make a complete transaction with them, but always, if Binance is not banned or restricted in your country, it is better; the rest is an option reserved for you if ever the Binance platform is not possible there.

Become a P2P trader is not too difficult like this.

Open your account on a P2P platform. Some platforms allow you to start trading without KYC but they have terms for KYC when your total trading value exceeds their limit for free KYC account.

If they require KYC, you can start trading after finish your KYC.

It's not difficult and barrier is do you want to KYC or don't want to KYC.

With P2P tradings, risk is high because you can be victim of scammers and of money laundering. Don't trade with new accounts and with offers that are too good to be true. Trading with those trade partners P2P will cause more risk to trade with scammers and with unclean money.

If a bank refuses to allow you to trade cryptocurrency, it signifies that it is illegal in the country, which is why they avoid it. Because banks collaborate with the government, they adhere to what the government says and support him. Many countries do not want cryptocurrency to operate in their country because they cannot control it and do not want to receive something over which they have no control. Even my country dislikes crypto traders and my bank can be in trouble, and I don't want to include them in my p2p trading since they despise crypto currency because they don't get anything out of it, which can not leads to cheating. Because if government get access to it he will be very difficult to find peace they most do corruption for there personal gain. When you use a p2p exchange, it will be tough to find a bank that knows where your money is coming from unless the merchant makes a mistake and leaves a note or comment, but I do not believe you will have any problems if you use a p2p exchange.

As others have said, it's easy to do P2P using Binance, you just have to be careful who you dealing with, maybe they are scammers so take every precautions like look at the history of their trades and just don't released your crypto unless it's in your wallet.

For the banks, it might be complicated though, not sure how banks are in your country are or how they are friendly. Perhaps the best thing is just open a regular bank and don't tell that you are a crypto trading or you deal with crypto. And if ever you do P2P then just withdraw the money in fiat and then deposit it in the bank.

Explain to your bank that you're a P2P trader, not operating a crypto exchange or holding customer funds. Mentioning the lower-risk nature of P2P trading might be helpful.

Not everyone trading P2P on platforms like Binance necessarily has a VASP license. Many users trade smaller amounts and may not fall under the same regulatory scrutiny.

As for banking, LHV, one of the largest banks in Estonia, has started offering cryptocurrency trading directly from its app through crypto exchange Bitstamp since 2021, I’m not sure if it is still the case now. This might be a good option for you to consider.

Bitcoin is illegal in my country so here Bianance and Kucoin p2p is the only way to cash out crypto so I have been using Binance p2p for many years. But I haven't faced any problem till now because I am always careful and always double check the payment information and double check after receiving the payment and then release the crypto so I haven't faced any problem till now. I have heard of my friends falling victim to scams from time to time but this has never happened to me yet. I think if everyone does p2p transactions with caution then he won't have to admit to a bad experience.

This issue has been going around in this our county since, and this problem is not from the banks, it is what they told them they were doing because it is the federal government that gave them the order that any bank's activities that involve in a cryptocurrency aspect will be permanently banned, which is why so many banks are protecting themselves.

Because they don't want to fall under the watchful eye of the government, and that's why we can see most of the commercial banks are always placing a short note in the front of their bank that doesn't involve your account in any cryptocurrencies is prohibited, but my question is that this one that the government is trying to ban all the p2p on every platform, how he wants make the youths survive, and him refuses to provide jobs in county, and is trying to cancel all the ways that many people are surviving and also put food on their tables. 

Not necessarily, banks disallowed crypto-related funds even if its regulated in a country.

For example in UK crypto is legal and regulated still banks refuse such as 47% of UK Banks Don’t Allow Customers to Interact with Crypto Exchanges (https://thefintechtimes.com/47-of-uk-banks-dont-allow-customers-to-interact-with-crypto-exchanges/) which means banks are allowed to have their own policies despite the government's legal status of an asset. That is why my suggestion remains still valid if he belongs to a country where crypto is neither legal nor illegal.

The last time I checked when you want to start up a p2p trading on binance platform, it doesn’t require all this tedious step and it’s one of the exchange that have well explained how you can start up your p2p trading without much trouble to make it tedious for you. Banks will not even know that you’re involved in p2p transaction if you don’t make it known to them while putting a note as reference to that transaction. Estonia is not a country that frown against cryptocurrency and make it unbearable for their citizens who are using them. You must have mixed up something that makes you to be undergoing all this stress with bank. Just go back to your binance platform and watch the video tutorial to guide you on how to start up your p2p business on Binance.

As far as I know, the VASP license is only applied for the exchanges. Yes, the big ones that we know and you as an individual trader, I don't think that you need to get one. Do not listen to that bank, you only need an account and get verified in any exchange that you're going to use.
You don't ask to a banker to get into crypto, you ask to a crypto enthusiasts how to get into crypto. Because the bankers will just mislead you and that's really happening in many banks that they give odd and opposite advises so that an aspiring one will get discouraged.

I don't know the volume of assets you want to trade that has made you gone through all of this, secondly I don't know what the rules in your country is that has stopped you from been able to transact as you want to, and in your words legally. Now sometimes doing things legally can have some relativity attached to it and one of which is using a better alternative which isn't totally prohibited by the law as probably no provisions for such may be found in the law. My advice is simple make use of a decentralized exchange and we have so many of them who are willing to accept every volume of transactions you want to carry out provided you do your KYC with them, you don't need all the license because I'm sure you are not opting to start up your own exchange either. Search for exchanges of such in your region and register with them than do whatever is required of you and navigating the exchange you will see a platform for P2P and you are good to go, needless of a license.

Not everything can easily be done without a direct mentor and you shouldn’t get your brain twice Syed with all the writings you might find on the internet.
I tried checking on your country and it seems there isn’t any direct restrictions on crypto in your country and personally, I don’t think there is any need for all those rigorous processes of licensing and business account opening just to be a p2p trader.
And answering your question, most persons of not all trading p2p didn’t have to go through the long processes of acquiring bucks of licenses before starting a p2p trader.

Simply all you need to do, is hop on any exchange you think and feel very convenient for you, meet their criteria and you’re good to go with your trades.

I don't know how your country operates but to my country it's very easy to trade on p2p without going much in documentation. As per our country, it's very easy because when you have the their National Identity card or any documents that proves you a citizen of the country then it's fine you can make a local bank account to trade on p2p without having to go through those rigorous stressful process.

I have been and still am a P2P trader so I would like to tell you about the risks and problems I have faced while doing P2P, which means peer-to-peer. So, first things first, you should never make or take third-party payments. The second most important thing is that don't try to get more profit. People take this lightly but in reality, it is a big mistake, people run black money and cheat traders. They send money to your account through a third party and then when your account gets disputed, you realize it was a fraud payment.

When you trade with someone, take their identification document and mobile number, because when you are cheated like this, exchanges will not support you even if you took a third-party payment.

In the country I belong to, trading is not allowed and P2P is illegal, banks do not support it at all, so to avoid all these situations, it is very important that you trade carefully and the person you trade with. Try to ensure that he is a verified trader. If not verified, you must have his details, such as his mobile number and his identification document, so that in the future, if you settle in a case or if black money is involved, you have some proof that this person paid me.

P2P but with documents? I think that was strange because P2P is like being decentralized, right? And this is why in the online world, P2P platforms doesn't require a KYC anymore and people who trade there are mostly anonymous but that is only risky for some and this may be the reason on why some might require a document for one of the traders to have an assurance that they won't be scammed and in case it still happens, it won't be that hard to catch the scammer and punish them accordingly.

Anyways, I see that there is a bank involved there. I think I wouldn't wonder anymore, as we know them (banks) right? They always want formality and makes things transparent as much as possible.

I  also used binance for some couple of years and the only time I was experiencing any difficulty was with vendors who are always looking for ways to cheat but no matter how they try to cheat they still get caught the last experience I had with a vendor and at the end of the day he gave up and canceled the order because I did not release the coin, because I told him that if I don't see my money I won't release the coin. And I love the fact that you can also appeal and binance will be the judge of who is lie and who is telling the truth and their are rules that are guiding the p2p and if you break any of them then you can even been banned from using the p2p and that is one of the ways they are trying to keep coordination in p2p if not people would have been looking for way to turn it into a scam platform. Thanks to God for the idea they are using. And if anyone is setting payment method they should set banks that have good network because most of this
Commercial banks always have network issues.

TBH, if we consider a general guide on the P2P scams, you should be careful of the friendly attitude of the buyer/seller you are dealing with, because as you know most of the time, they trap you in a phase where they try to convince you to take payment from another account that is not a problem and sometimes they also ask you to change your account and if you agrees they use this in order to spam you.

Most people use P2P offered by the centralized exchanges and in order to secure their funds but here they compromise their identity if you are the one who is identity conscious make sure to avoid them.

P2P does not necessarily mean decentralized. In fact, most true p2p platforms we had/have also sitted in a centralized manner e.g. localcryptos, agoradesk, robosats, hodlhodl, etc.

IMO, personal documents would be a poor assurance because it's gotten easy to use a forged document and an average trader does not have the means to verify the truthfullness of such documents. I would rather trust on how reputable the exchange is and their escrow system.

That's why it's better to do P2P trading on those trusted and secured exchange platforms. I'm not promoting any exchange platforms, but for example, on Binance, there are no records of scamming of those customers because all P2P providers are verified and legit, and I'm sure that they comply with something so that they can be eligible to operate on Binance. And as for my experience, Binance so far has the smoothest way of doing P2P, and I haven't encountered any problems so far. I don't know about other exchange platforms or whether they offer P2P and what procedures they follow. I don't know about any other exchange platforms, and I didn't use any other exchange platforms to do P2P Why would I do P2P on other exchange platforms if there is one that is legit and rest assured to be secure and safe? So first things first find the most secured and safe platform to do your P2P to avoid those scams.

There are some countries that do not ban bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, however domestic banks have some regulations that prohibit users from using bank accounts to make transactions related to cryptocurrencies. If discovered, they will freeze the account without warning, that's what's happening in my country and I think OP is falling into that situation. And to solve that problem, investors and businesses have come up with a solution: when making transactions, we absolutely must not record any content related to bitcoin or cryptocurrency, by that way we won't be detected by the bank.

Agreed, for me the true p2p  exchanges must operate in  decentralized manner, like bisq/bisq2 which is resistant to both the identity hunters and government censorship. But most folk doesn't bother themselves with such things as KYC, potential of their funds to get freeze on CEX  etc.. and proceed to use them  sacrificing their identity.

          -    If my understanding is correct, your desire is to become a P2P trader. I don't think you need to get a VASP license because it is only for local exchanges that will be built in a country under the regulations that the government has where you are located.

But if you are just an individual trader, just look for exchanges that have p2p features and create an account like Binance, Bybit, Okx, and Bitget; these are exchange platforms that just create an account on them. You can become a P2P trader using their platform if the cryptocurrency is not in the country you are located in.

I have experience using all the exchanges that have P2P trading system but out of all the exchanges I have used Binance seems to be the easiest exchange to use in terms of security. This exchange has verified profiles from which you can buy dollars or sell dollars. Another advantage of this exchange is that it has a large number of buy and sell orders so that you can easily buy and sell your dollars by choosing the verification you want. I have tried to give you some idea about this P2P transaction from my usage experience, read it and decide for yourself. You can do this transaction on the exchange where you feel it is safe to do this transaction.

I have never com across issues like this since I have been using p2p exchange,  it could be in your country this is the procedure in other for you to trade in exchange, or will advice you to try some other exchanges and if you are having the same issues that means it is only people from your country this process is made for. I have been using exchange for trading and selecting a bank for trading is not an issue.

Centralized exchanges are more popular than the decentralized ones therefore more individual are going to use centralized exchange for any type of trading. Decentralized exchange need to do more so they get noticed more or they will be losing customers to the centralised exchange. Most decentralized exchange that we have are poorly designed and don't have big volumes to satisfy their users therefore many newbies avoid to use them before they lose their tokens.

I'm confused about your problem as I only know that you have to verify yourself on the exchange that you want to become a P2P trader and after they approve you, you can then start to offer your service to individuals that want to trade. You can open accounts with banks in your country without telling them you want to use it for P2P trade. Just open a normal bank account and use it for trading.

We don't know exactly what the problem of the OP is when it comes to registering his account using p2p services. Because binance alone is quite easy to use as long as you are a verified customer, meaning you submitted valid ID to them, working phone and email for verification purposes. If you want to apply for a p2p merchant, you may need to deposit certain amount of BUSD in your Funding wallet. Have used binance p2p services for years, and encountered no issues at all.

Also, another trusted CEX for me is kucoin where they have their own p2p services as well. You can read their article to learn more about their p2p services here - Everything You Should Know About KuCoin P2P Trading  (https://www.kucoin.com/blog/everything-you-should-to-know-about-kucoin-p2p-trading)

Hmm, Well that's a valid point that we don't know the actual issue OP is facing because after creating this thread he never posted anything else to clarify the problem and the context of the discussion also he hasn't clarified that until this post did he got any help or it was junk because if you want to seek guidance from anyone else you need to show your concern, you need to clarify things.

There's another way people use to make P2P trades but that is purely illegal and non recommended why I'm mentioning it here just for the sake of guidance to avoid any such things, People buy & sell black Binance verified accounts these accounts are mostly used by money launderers, or by those who are involved in illegal activities, make sure to stay 1000 KM away from any such things because that's a complete shit you may get trapped in something you haven't done.

I don’t know your location and the type of procedure you want to follow, but I have also been doing p2p transactions for long and my banks are not even aware of it. Though I use centralized exchanges p2p for my trades which I feel it is a big safe just that the KYC requirement is what makes it bad because of privacy, but there are also nonkyc exchanges that render p2p services which are also reliable.
You can check kycnot.me (http://kycnot.me) to see the list of exchanges that didn’t require KYC.

I have been using p2p through binance exchange for a few years now I have done many transactions so far I have not faced any problems but I have heard from many people that they have encountered scams using p2p.

 In fact, they should think about why they faced scam in this P2P. I think they themselves are responsible for the scam. Many new users come to Binance P2P and create accounts. They create buy orders and sell orders. Maybe many people think of scams. 

There are many users who fall into that trap, they don't see how they actually did the transaction, what kind of reviews they have.  You may not check your balance Fund is releasing, it appears that the money has not actually been added to your account, so, before making any transaction, you must check the balance of your  account to see if he is actually paying you and if any user transacts carefully in this P2P, I hope he never gets scammed.  will not be encountered

I've never had the problems you encountered when doing p2p trading. Although cryptocurrency is not legal in my country (Bangladesh), I can convert any cryptocurrency to my local currency by p2p trading from my country without any problem.

If I had a conversation like yours in my country's bank, I would probably be banned from the bank to transact cryptocurrency money because cryptocurrency is not legal in my country. But if you can transact through mobile banking then you can definitely do it. Moreover, if you feel good about doing VASP, you can do it conveniently so that you don't have to face any problem later.

Finally, I would like to know what kind of license you mean by VASP license. Does it exist for your country or almost for most countries? Maybe I don't have such a license in my country for which reason I don't know but please explain it to me, thanks

Hmm, That's really great that you are enjoying many things under the legal frame and having no issues, but that's not the same for every region, because in many countries like CHINA, it's likely impossible openly yup with back door channels they access this market as well and same case with many other countries as well.

Yup, there are many other possibilities as well, but in P2P trade your local community an guide you way more efficiently compared to such open discussion because here people are not in the same circumstances in which you are and your locals are. A general guide can be efficient here but for particular cases, the local community is the best option.

P2P is one of the most easiest way since I started am always using p2p and I don’t think have encountered any form of problem. If you you know how to make use of your head why doing p2p because their are still scams in p2p so even if it is very easy you still Need to know how to use your head, if not you still get scammed. People also need to pay attention when they are trading p2p, people are always sharing their experiences of how they got scammed from p2p. And even the exchanges are always pasting their warning don’t release if you have not confirmed the money. Have learned from what have been hearing so I don’t need to bother much all I need is to pay attention and am good to go.

I do P2P trading on Binance almost every day. But I never needed a VASP license to do P2P trading on Binance. Only the Binance account has to be verified. To verify my Binance account, I needed my phone number and national ID card and had to do face verification. P2P trading on Binance is easy and risk-free. So I suggest you do P2P trading through Binance.

His problem is not the platform where he can make P2P trades, but it's about his bank that is against cryptocurrencies or P2P trading and they aren't allowing him to do that which I think is a problem in most countries these days, and not only Estonia.

If I am completely honest, P2P trading has a lot of risks these days, and those risks aren't about you getting scammed out of your crypto, but it's about getting your accounts blocked and funds confiscated either by the management of the service you are using or the authorities involved in monitoring financial transactions. A lot of transactions are marked as fraudulent transactions and if you receive such an affected transaction, your account is gone for good, as you mentioned yourself, banks and other financial institutions in most countries are against cryptocurrencies, so they won't help you or get you out of trouble if you tell them the truth, so it becomes a situation where you are completely stuck with no solutions.

The people that you see on P2P platforms making trades are playing with all these risks at all times, some of them have mastered the art and they know how they can safeguard themselves from all these problems, some know the risks and are still doing it for the profits they are getting.

Op by now others have also told you what to do. From the topic and the text you typed, there was no need for you to contact your banks to trade cryptocurrency through p2p. And all what you needed to do was to register in the exchange and complete the KYC which was to submit the documents they would have asked and once you complete those KYC then you were ready to trade.
And if you contact your bank for crypto trading then you are exposing yourself to them to block your accounts most the government that doesn't support the use cryptocurrency in his country so please next time don't do this mistake.

I also used both Binance and Bybit P2P platform and i never faced any problem their. As you said a clear instruction has given their and nothing gone wrong with the platform Binance and Bybit. If he/she faced any problem their may his/her own currency or transaction problem which is not related with P2P platform. So i wanna say it is really smooth for me with every P2P platform i have used.

You can easily complete the transaction through P2P from Binance without any problem. Transactions are very easy in all directions but OP is referring here to his country's banking system. Where he is not able to withdraw money to his bank account through Binance P2P is causing problems from the bank. However, P2P transactions currently face various challenges from different banks and are not legalized in most countries, making P2P transactions difficult to get into the bank.

Even my country got strict laws on cryptocurrencies and on online money transfer things, I was able to instantly becoming a P2P trader as P2P trading is nothing but most similar to spending money to your friends or colleagues except going through an escrow; no big differences. Initially I thought you are asking help on solving a P2P dispute but later I understood that you have problems on kicking off your P2P journey. If I remember correctly that spectracoin is based on Estonia which is up and running for more than a decade. I mean I got an idea that Estonia is not strict on basic banking things but your post changes that.

I have no experiences on engaging an offshore account for the P2P trading which may work or may not. But, you need to be ready to deal with scammers and liars once you all set for P2P trading. Yes, in P2P trading, some traders may try to cheat you by not releasing your funds. I somehow managed to avoid them when I start dealing with higher reputed people like with more number of trade history and with higher successful trade percentage.

Any trade that happen between two people can be consider as p2p but then centralized exchanges made it look like we have just one single p2p where coins(mostly usdt) are been converted to fiats. Before centralized p2p started, there has been existence of p2p even in this forum where escrow is been used to settle trade between two traders, the escrow release coins when the term and conditions of the two traders are been mate but the exposure and scans were high then and the centralized exchanges became the new trend.

Since I have been using p2p on Binance and Kucoin, I haven't been scam it victim of any scammers because I make sure I follow due process and don't release coin to any trader until I make sure that my wallet has been credited. Even if the buyer told me he has sent the money as he claim, I wouldn't release the coin until everything is complete as agreed. I don't like centralized exchanges but the p2p has been the most satisfying features I enjoyed. I wish people can emulate decentralized p2p to with much liquidity.

I don't know what VASP license mean but that sounds very formal and I think the ones who need it are those P2P traders that are dealing with large amount of money/cryptos. Each of us might have a national ID card already since it is mandatory and it was only easy to obtain, I think? And then we also have our phones because we use it mainly for communicating and it won't be completed if without a sim card. This is where we can have our phone numbers.

These documents are what we usually use when it comes to verifications but other options are there too like passport, visa, drivers license, etc... for those who prefer them and these maybe needed on advanced levels of verifications. P2P trading can be tricky at first for the beginners and I won't say it is risk-free, I mean because cryptos are volatile.