Is Localbitcoins blocked in Russia?

[guigsa]

Hi,

Just wondering if LBC is blocked in Russia? Im doing this question to know if its safe to sell to someone through LBC that is using ToR from Russia.

Thanks.

[Smarty14392]

The website of the LocalBitcoins cryptocurrency exchange has been added to the registry of online resources “containing information banned in Russian Federation” by the country’s mass media watchdog Roskomnadzor.

According to Rusblacklist (a RosKomSvoboda project), the order №2-10224/16 including the exchange into the blacklist was passed by the Primorsky district court of Saint-Petersburg as early as 5 July 2016. A number of providers have already blocked access to the website.

The decision took place before Russian authorities softened their rhetoric towards the cryptocurrencies. On 18 July, the Ministry of Finance announced its intention to equal bitcoin and other digital money to foreign currencies in the way that its emission would be banned within the country, however, purchase and moving it abroad would be permitted. In August, the authorities openly abandoned their plans to introduce criminal liability for cryptocurrency operations. Later on, deputy finance minister Alexey Moiseyev acknowledged that a “blunt prohibition” of bitcoin would be wrong.

The news came at the peak of a steady upward trend in bitcoin trade registered in Russia. On 24 August, the weekly trade volume exceeded 215.5 million rubles ($ 3.3 million), surpassing the previous all-time high recorded on 2 August. Since the beginning of the year, the trade volume increased almost three-fold.

LocalBitcoins is a Finnish cryptocurrency exchange launched in 2012. As of August 2016, it had about 1.35 million users from 249 countries with the weekly trading volume exceeding $14 million.

[VC George]

Hi,

Just wondering if LBC is blocked in Russia? Im doing this question to know if its safe to sell to someone through LBC that is using ToR from Russia.

Thanks.

I've sold and bought Bitcoins from Russian people on LocalBitcoins. As long as they can protect their identity you're good to go. Always watch out for fraudsters (double checking their info etc) and tell them to refrain from notes stating anything about Bitcoin in the payment processors they are going to use (Trade ID too, since it's easily recognizable).

[guigsa]

Hi,

Just wondering if LBC is blocked in Russia? Im doing this question to know if its safe to sell to someone through LBC that is using ToR from Russia.

Thanks.

I've sold and bought Bitcoins from Russian people on LocalBitcoins. As long as they can protect their identity you're good to go. Always watch out for fraudsters (double checking their info etc) and tell them to refrain from notes stating anything about Bitcoin in the payment processors they are going to use (Trade ID too, since it's easily recognizable).

Thanks for that. I refused one transaction yesterday from Russia using ToR, but person confirmed ID, etc, didn't look like fraud.

Asking for selfie with ID, paypal screenshot with balance (checking name matches) is enough you think?

And, about notes, Paypal doesn't allow selling bitcoins? Can you explain a bit about this.

[Ethan_Locke]

Use a VPN and shouldnt have any problems.

[iqlimasyadiqa]

Hi,

Just wondering if LBC is blocked in Russia? Im doing this question to know if its safe to sell to someone through LBC that is using ToR from Russia.

Thanks.

If it does happen then this is a step backwards and can inhibit the development of bitcoin, localbitcoin is one of the largest bitcoin exchange places. One of the fastest ways is to use VPN as an alternative to access your account. This will make you more comfortable and safe. Many free VPN services that you can get on the internet.

[guigsa]

Hi,

Just wondering if LBC is blocked in Russia? Im doing this question to know if its safe to sell to someone through LBC that is using ToR from Russia.

Thanks.

If it does happen then this is a step backwards and can inhibit the development of bitcoin, localbitcoin is one of the largest bitcoin exchange places. One of the fastest ways is to use VPN as an alternative to access your account. This will make you more comfortable and safe. Many free VPN services that you can get on the internet.

Thanks. But using vpn to access what account? I can't get what you mean.

[VC George]

Hi,

Just wondering if LBC is blocked in Russia? Im doing this question to know if its safe to sell to someone through LBC that is using ToR from Russia.

Thanks.

I've sold and bought Bitcoins from Russian people on LocalBitcoins. As long as they can protect their identity you're good to go. Always watch out for fraudsters (double checking their info etc) and tell them to refrain from notes stating anything about Bitcoin in the payment processors they are going to use (Trade ID too, since it's easily recognizable).

Thanks for that. I refused one transaction yesterday from Russia using ToR, but person confirmed ID, etc, didn't look like fraud.

Asking for selfie with ID, paypal screenshot with balance (checking name matches) is enough you think?

And, about notes, Paypal doesn't allow selling bitcoins? Can you explain a bit about this.

PayPal allows the selling of Bitcoin, they view it as a digital product and if you can prove (with the tx) that the transaction indeed happened you'll never have an issue as long as no credit card chargebacks show up. As for your customers you need to be smart. You can check the ID for signs of editing (most of the fraudsters are amateurs), ask for a harmless position as they do the pic (for example peace sign while holding the ID (same hand) so you'll know if they are indeed who they state they are
If you happen to find one of those scums don't panic, just contact the LBC support right away and they'll solve the issue for you (as long as you haven't released the escrow prior to that).

[guigsa]

Hi,

Just wondering if LBC is blocked in Russia? Im doing this question to know if its safe to sell to someone through LBC that is using ToR from Russia.

Thanks.

I've sold and bought Bitcoins from Russian people on LocalBitcoins. As long as they can protect their identity you're good to go. Always watch out for fraudsters (double checking their info etc) and tell them to refrain from notes stating anything about Bitcoin in the payment processors they are going to use (Trade ID too, since it's easily recognizable).

Thanks for that. I refused one transaction yesterday from Russia using ToR, but person confirmed ID, etc, didn't look like fraud.

Asking for selfie with ID, paypal screenshot with balance (checking name matches) is enough you think?

And, about notes, Paypal doesn't allow selling bitcoins? Can you explain a bit about this.

PayPal allows the selling of Bitcoin, they view it as a digital product and if you can prove (with the tx) that the transaction indeed happened you'll never have an issue as long as no credit card chargebacks show up. As for your customers you need to be smart. You can check the ID for signs of editing (most of the fraudsters are amateurs), ask for a harmless position as they do the pic (for example peace sign while holding the ID (same hand) so you'll know if they are indeed who they state they are
If you happen to find one of those scums don't panic, just contact the LBC support right away and they'll solve the issue for you (as long as you haven't released the escrow prior to that).

Thank you so much. The tip asking for holding the selfie doing piece sign is a good idea

Im wondering why so many people are buying bitcoins over paypal and paying so expensive for it. Why they don't buy through an exchange?

I have limited my trades to 50 min 100 max (usd) to make a test. Do you think its safe to sell bigger through paypal (taking all care of course)?

Thanks!

[VC George]

It's all about building a trusted buyer base. And to be honest I don't think you can do many trades with one paypal account. You'd need to upgrade it to business and possibly if you make a fair amount of trades (over 10k) prepare to pay taxes
Start slow and spread to more payment processors. Skrill is decent, Neteller bites a bit and if you're in the Uk you can also make a good bank with paysafe. As for the "unreasonably high fees" that's nothing mate. People used to pay 40% to exchange Payza to BTC

[guigsa]

It's all about building a trusted buyer base. And to be honest I don't think you can do many trades with one paypal account. You'd need to upgrade it to business and possibly if you make a fair amount of trades (over 10k) prepare to pay taxes
Start slow and spread to more payment processors. Skrill is decent, Neteller bites a bit and if you're in the Uk you can also make a good bank with paysafe. As for the "unreasonably high fees" that's nothing mate. People used to pay 40% to exchange Payza to BTC

Thanks again for the helpful inputs.

I have a business paypal account, although its used for my main business, has big transaction volume and I am afraid of using that account for this purpose, getting limited and affecting the other business.

I just got fascinated with bitcoin so thinking a lot about it recently, heh.

Spreading is a good idea, not sure how can I use Skrill or Neteller funds though.

And another question, I did a few trades with first time traders in LBC. I confirmed they identity through selfie with ID + paypal balance. Do you think its still risky in this case? I see lots of people only trade with people that has 30+ trades over paypal.

Thank you!

[VC George]

I've dealt with zero traders on LBC but you gotta be extra careful. I only had 3 incidents with scammers in a total of 500+ customers. Try having a very good description in your ads, this will limit their action spectrum and will weed out the amateur ones
I'll send you a PM later today about what to do with Skrill it's less dangerous than Pp but they don't allow the selling of Btc & you have to outsmart them 

[guigsa]

I've dealt with zero traders on LBC but you gotta be extra careful. I only had 3 incidents with scammers in a total of 500+ customers. Try having a very good description in your ads, this will limit their action spectrum and will weed out the amateur ones
I'll send you a PM later today about what to do with Skrill it's less dangerous than Pp but they don't allow the selling of Btc & you have to outsmart them 

Alright! Thanks George