Bitcoin Forum

Obviously coinbase is well known. It also has high fees.

LocalBitcoins has no fees to buyers. But there are fees because the sellers charge big markups, not to mention a tremendous amount of verifications to send them. I'd be worried about identity theft more than getting ripped off on bitcoins.

Got verified on Kraken. Is this legitimate? What about Paxful?

Any other more recommended?

Binance is not possible for now. I have to get a new ID with my current address since I've moved since I got my ID. Stupid policy.

Kraken is one of the most reputable exchanges we have right now, even more reputable than Coinbase in terms of public opinion. Paxful? It's a legitimate company and service, but not sure about reputation.

By the way, probably minimize the exchanges you're using and the KYC/AML documents you're submitting. The more exchanges or services in general that has access to your personal documents, the higher the chances of them getting leaked some time in the future.

I’ve never used Paxful but I can speak very highly of Kraken. Localbitcoins is OK, the only problem is a lot of sellers on there ask for your KYC these days. I’m not that comfortable sending random people my docs for obvious reasons. Out of the three options you mentioned, I’d go for Kraken every time.

Yes,all of them are more of less legit.All of them have their pros and cons.
Paxful is kinda legit,but lots of scammers are waiting inside the marketplace.
Localbitcoins is legit.I have used them for about 4 years without any issues.Their fees for depositing BTC have increased,which is bad,but we have to deal with it.
I have never used Kraken,but I know that they have a good reputation.
Binance is probably a little bit better than Kraken.
There's no way to avoid ID verification,when buying BTC.Every legit crypto company has to implement KYC policy.This is required by the law.

What if you are a us citizen in one of the states that you can't use kraken but overseas though? Could you use kraken or they still require kyc?

KYC is mandatory in kraken.

With P2P marketplaces, LocalBitcoins or Paxful, buyers are not charged with fee but the sellers will be charged. As a buyer, when you open a trade, you have to agree with the offer given by the seller. Some details in offer you have to agree: rate, offer instructions, payment method and much more. After you open a trade, all offer details can not be changed.

You only can get ripped off by scammers if you are careless or you eagerly to trade with new accounts.

What do you meant? Why Binance is not possible for you? I see Binance is very soft with users.

I dont know anything about others but LocalBitcoins is useless site after KYC. Just avoid it. They like to ban accounts too much

Kraken is 100% legitimate. I have done several trades there without any problem. It has been in business for years now. Paxful and lbc also good but beware of so many fraudsters. I got scammed  on paxful and thier support didn't help.

I have used Paxful, and so far I do not have any issues with it. I was able to make my transactions in a quick and satisfactory manner. What I do is pretty obvious but I always go to the users that has a large amount of positive feedback and for me that is always a good sign. I know there are many fraudsters lurking but as long as you know the signs of a scammer and you don't risk taking on someone without good feedback, then you will be in good hands.

LocalBitcoins looks too much of a hassle, plus, you have to deal with each individual when trading, so I'll pass. I've used Kraken in the past and it's fine, the layout is simple and never had any issues with it. Confirmation of my account was prompt and easy. Probably one of the best ones in Europe, with reasonable fees too.

What I mean is what I said, it isn't possible until I get a new ID with current address.
[I have to get a new ID with my current address since I've moved since I got my ID.]


Yes, with each seller wanting a crazy identity-risking amount of information, and located in 3rd world countries, I'm definitely passing on that, not to mention the 5%+ markup over the going bitcoin price, which is WAY more than secure places like Coinbase charge.

Seems like LocalBitcoins was good for privacy, but only until they added all the verifications, like maybe people would be willing to pay the markup for privacy. Not the case anymore.

Agreed, there's no point to use LocalBitcoins anymore, if I'm going to send a bunch of verification documents to someone random individual, well, I'd rather verify with an exchange. It's a far safer, quicker and easier option. That's why I never actually used it, the verification process in most exchanges is quick enough to not bother with any other website.

I haven’t used LocalBitcoin website so I can’t tell how it really works, but I think it’s the same thing with Paxful, they are both decentralized exchanges where buyers and sellers can meet. I have seen the one Paxful, I even have the mobile application on my phone and I have gone through it to see and understand the process and I have seen how the buyers do their business, there are some fees the buyers will charge.

The reason I haven’t used any of these is because I have an exchange that I have been using that only charges me a small rate and then send the money to me, so I haven’t seen the need to be making use of any other for now.

Thought I'd chip in with my kraken feedback everyone knows I love kraken....

Good customer service but... when you need to use the platform the most it ALWAYS has serious downtime and you can not get in, happens every time there is a pump somewhere... It is beyond frustrating so much so I have moved to other exchanges. It's not good enough coming form a company who say they are the best around... I think it's ran on dial up.

Also be careful of how you use it, I bought a coin for MARKET VALUE 16.20 the other day, they charged me 16.50.... That shit adds up! They told me it was a spread to keep me safe.... Yeah ok..

I would use them as back up only if I was you.

Also AVOID COINBASE, their customer service is shocking... I waited 5 days for a reply, and they just sent an automated bot response... truly shocking.... still not got an answer here!!!!

You cannot imagine how much I can relate with everything you said.
In the first occassion, Kraken, is constantly experiencing downtime which is infuriating when you're trading. The moment you press Buy/Sell, the damned thing crashes and times out. This is the main reason I withdrew all my money and moved to Bitstamp. Moreover, I didn't really fancy the layout/design, never had any issue with the support or the verification though.

On the other side, Coinbase, has the slowest support I've ever seen. After some research, we found an account (With a completed Bitcoin deposit at some point) in my girlfriend's email (You never know someone well enough it seems, lol). She didn't remember the password, so we tried resetting it to no avail. The reset email wouldn't go through.

We contacted their support, after a few hours we received an email, and you guess right, it was an automated response telling me to try resetting the password by the reset field. You don't say?! Like I didn't try that already. It also mentioned that if we're trying to recover the password via a non-authorized device, the email wouldn't go through. Okay, but I already told you that, why am I receiving an automated response for something I have already explained?

It's almost a week and have received no response.

Bitstamp requires SSN! What if they get hacked? I do not want my SSN anywhere!

This is highly unlikely, all reputable exchanges ask for verification. It makes sense, you can't be buying cryptocurrency with a card if you haven't verified your ID. How do they know that this card is yours, they need to know your details, or they will get screwed if someone was planning to deal with stolen credit cards. Same goes for withdrawals and deposits to bank accounts.

How would you know that those individuals won't share your information online at any time? They could be laughing about your face in your ID with their friends, just kidding. However, supposing that Bitstamp gets hacked, which as I said, is highly unlikely, the least I'd care would be my ID leaked. I think my balance is way more important. Moreover, I don't think that such info is easily obtained, even if it gets hacked.

Bitstamp was the only one to ask for SSN. Others wanted privacy-invasion verifications, but not one so flagrant as to require SSN. Which they say they are "required to collect" - NOT TRUE in fact it's illegal to require to collect SSN for ANY service (even though US banks require SSN, the practice is actually illegal per US law. They just have too much power, so without suing them and finding a judge who isn't bought and paid for, then you won't win either, not to mention the bank would not make life easy for you if you put them through that. Utility providers often say they require it. But when you insist no you won't give it and talk to someone higher up until you find someone high enough, they admit, "no you don't need it we just input 0000" - it isn't without a hassle, but it is actually illegal to demand it for any public utility).

NEVER!! give your SSN ANYWHERE. Except banks if you want to actually bank anywhere - but not because it is required, but because banks have too much power and it's a lot of hassle to sue a bank for breaking the law.

Don't give it to doctors, apartments, utilities, no one. It's worth the hassle to protect your privacy.
For doctors, just write N/A. For apartments, you might have no choice because they might not rent to you, and your alternative is to not rent there. Utilities, never give it to them, and be prepared for a fight, just keep asking for the higher ups, if they don't give it to you hang up and demand the next rep transfer to supervisor. May take a few times. You may have to pay a deposit. Worth it IMO.

It said that in the description that my ID's address had to match my proof of address. Anyway I submitted it, but even in progress they said T2 takes several weeks. And to withdraw to US, you need Tier 3. I'm sure that will take even longer. In any case, I can't even expect to get an answer for at least a couple weeks. Not that I'm not trying.

Snap, you're talking about SSN (Social Security Number) sorry, I was thinking of ID verification when you mentioned SSN, I am not familiar with foreign acronyms. However, I don't recall submitting anything rather than my driver's license on Bitstamp.

Yes, Social Security Number.

Bitstamp now requires it, which is absurd. I don't want to give them that. Combined with everything else they will want, they will have enough to 100% steal my identity and impersonate me, access bank accounts, credit history, everything. It's too much to give an online service, especially considering that many online services can and have been hacked.