Localbitcoins removes face to face cash trades

[bbc.reporter]

Are there other face to face trading for cash websites for bitcoin or other cryptocoins? Share them in this thread. We must protect our privacy, we must protect our freedom to trade physically, we must not let our oppressors win.



Privacy is a key word in the crypto space, and this is an essential element that defines the very nature of cryptocurrencies. People don’t want their identity revealed and neither their private information.

A recent unfortunate event took place in the crypto space and managed to destroy the whole concept behind the LocalBitcoins platform.

The platform removed the cash trades.

First of all, LocalBitcoins business is now no longer private because it has been ruined by regulators.

Now, the platform is sharing the complete info that users are providing and this includes chat logs and bank data as well.

Read in full https://oracletimes.com/localbitcoins-platform-removes-cash-trades-and-works-with-regulators-the-business-is-no-longer-private/

[mk4]

Yea.. this is probably pretty much like what happened to ShapeShift, whereas they required KYC mostly due to prevent the government from shutting them down. People are attacking these businesses saying that they're removing the "true spirit or crypto" or some BS like that.

Anyway, people can still use Mycelium Local Trader[1]; though there are definitely a lot less people using it.

[1] [1] https://mycelium.com/lt/help.html

[AjithBtc]

i think localbitcoins.com have been under pressure from the government specially since their headquarters is located in Finland and in February Finland’s president approved a law for regulation of all these services. they have been closing their doors to certain countries like Iran too.

whenever a service starts doing this, usually a new one starts up and replaces it though. there already are a couple of them although they are not as popular, we should wait and see which one rises up to do the replacement.

Localbitcoins.com is the one that serves people with the exchange of bitcoin to fiat and fiat through traders. Closure of face to face trading is not a big issue, pressure from the government on these issues will keep on increasing as the growth of the market keeps tanking. If the government and the regulations were the issue can it be moved to countries with good support such as Estonia.

[seoincorporation]

News like these are always bad news, i use this service from a long time ago, and i have seen how it was evolving until what we see now, and i don't like it anymore, the problem is that is my only option right now, so, i will keep using it until i found a better option.

[Ailmand]

It seems that as cryptocurrency becomes main stream privacy is being attacked by regulations and the government. This news will affect a lot of people specially those who is dependent on localbitcoin when it comes to buying and selling btc. Most exchange platform now requires KYC and confidential information is not exclusive, I guess in time cryptocurrency as we know it will never be the same as regulation and adaptation takes place.

[pushups44]

One way of looking at this is that the fact that draconian measures are being put into place shows that governments are now taking cryptocurrencies very seriously, showing that the industry has matured. If the spirit of crypto is still alive, more likely than not privacy countermeasures will be developed in response, so there is no need to be alarmed by these developments. The developers have already anticipated these moves.

[avikz]

Yes, Localbitcoins has closed it's door to physical trades and I am happy that it happened. Polices all around the world are using this feature to catch people who are dealing on bitcoin. Recently 3 students from Bangladesh got arrested for trading in bitcoin and this is how the Police of Bangladesh had trapped them. So I am glad that it has been stopped! It was well assumed that governments will be pushing such kind of p2p platforms to comply with KYC norms someday or later, that was well envisaged!

I don't have any issues in complying with KYC if the government wants to. Achieving absolute privacy is not possible anywhere in the world unless dark web is used! However, to accelerate the adoption of bitcoin and other cryptos, it needs to be regulated at some point of time. This way we can ensure fairer transactions and less chance of fraud. That's the reason why I always prefer to have trades with only 2-3 traders over and over again!

[Astvile]

In my opinion them removing face to face trades for cash to bitcoin deal is actually quite good.For buyers/sellers security purposes its hard to risk yourself dealing with meet ups even if its in a secure place anything can happen.Me personaly i dont really do face to face trades in any thing i sell online,everything must be done online

[shane]

There are few disadvantages for the traders with this decision.

One disadvantage is buyers who really want to buy bitcoin in person to avoid from scams will loose that opportunity by removing this option. May be we can expect an increase of victims of scammers in localbitcoins because of this.

The other one is that, there are lot of people who don't have even a bank account. Now, there is a barrier to those traders as they cannot find buyers and sellers who sell or buy BTC in person.

[Genemind]

That's bad news from local bitcoins. Moat traders these days want to protect their privacy and they're trying to hide their identity by getting rid of exchanges which require KYC.
It's hard to find a face to face trading these days. Most of us rely on localbitcoins so it's a big disadvantage that they remove face to face trading.

[davis196]

I will have to think twice before I use Localbitcoins again.There's too much regulations going on in Finland.
Removing face to face trades is a step in the right direction,but scammers will continue to get their victims by posting on other websites like Paxful.

[NeuroticFish]

Well, probably the face to face trades didn't make profit anyway, at least not directly. It was a good advertising though for the platform.
However, the mix of regulators pushing from one side and no direct profit to make up for the hassle may have been the mix for this coming and .. it's not a shockingly unexpected move.

Yeah, I'm sorry for the users from certain countries. Depending how the company goes along with the regulators, ditching Iran and such is indeed an obvious next step (although giving users' details may come first).

[susila_bai]

I will have to think twice before I use Localbitcoins again.There's too much regulations going on in Finland.
Removing face to face trades is a step in the right direction,but scammers will continue to get their victims by posting on other websites like Paxful.

You cannot avoid scammers from scamming but atleast you can avoid them to scam the users from localbitcoins.com site so that the exchange users are safe from scammer. I think this move not a bad one. but now they are going to share the personal information and trading details with government is one concern as in our country bitcoin is illegal so now i cannot use this site as my trading details will be shared and if i get caught then i will get punish.

So for country where bitcoin is illegal to use have to be more safe in using localbitcoins exchange.

[figmentofmyass]

there's a lot of alternatives but hardly anyone uses them: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/b2wj6k/p2p_exchanges_eg_localbitcoins_bisq_hodlhodl/

the biggest platform that still offers p2p cash trades is paxful, and there are a pitifully small number of offers there. they enforce KYC there as well. it's a sad state of affairs for p2p traders.

[CryptoBry]

i think localbitcoins.com have been under pressure from the government specially since their headquarters is located in Finland and in February Finland’s president approved a law for regulation of all these services. They have been closing their doors to certain countries like Iran too. Whenever a service starts doing this, usually a new one starts up and replaces it though. There already are a couple of them although they are not as popular, we should wait and see which one rises up to do the replacement.

The best for LocalBitcoins to do is to relocate their headquarters somewhere maybe like Malta where Binance is now. However, pressures from governmental authorities can follow anywhere they want to. We are already living in the time when regulations are beginning to change the face of cryptocurrency especially on areas of privacy and anonymity s the government is using the concern on money laundering as the basis for some crackdowns. I am sure that the people behind LocalBitcoins are also sad with this development but they know what are their choices are. Competition will surely step in for this market...let's see how things will transpire on this niche of an industry.

[Pursuer]

there has always been a war against bitcoin's decentralization and privacy for as long as bitcoin existed. the fact that localbitcoins has lasted this long is still surprising. all of these other services that offer any kind of privacy will be under severe attacks  from governments and this year they have been targeting a lot of them, like mixers they closed down or scared to shut down on their own. and it won't stop there either.
what we need is full decentralization of everything that involves bitcoin and stop mixing it with anything that is centralized. unfortunately this is not going to be an easy task.

[XinXan]

Oh well, i dont think its that bad, face to face trades arent too safe and regulation is needed eventually. Look I know people here like their privacy and what not but we still have to pay taxes, if everyone stopped paying taxes, countries would go to shit.

[BitHodler]

Oh well, i dont think its that bad, face to face trades arent too safe and regulation is needed eventually.

Isn't it up to the users of LBC themselves to figure out what's safe and what isn't? I mean, sure, it's not the safest option to use, but it certainly is an effective option when you meet up in crowded areas.

I know of enough face to face trades that have gone well because the right measures have been taken. It's impossible to eliminate the risk of facing an ill minded individual, but that's the risk you're willing to take in that case.

I am sure that the government is behind this with their silly regulations. They want to narrow down people's options when it comes to dealing in a peer to peer manner. This might dent the local market for a while, but that's about it.

[stompix]

I don't think it's going to affect many people.

When you're dealing with a person with cash face to face you need a lot of trust and people who dealt over long periods of times over LB already know each other and have ways of contacting and dealing outside lb. The escrow is gone but if this is when trust plays a major role.

Besides, I don't know how many new users were dealing in cash f2f on Lb anyhow.
In my case, there were only two sellers and one of them was a representative for an exchange that also owns two ATMs here in the capital. Other than those two I would have to drive 300 km to the next one or cross the border: PPP

[ene1980]

Are there other face to face trading for cash websites for bitcoin or other cryptocoins? Share them in this thread. We must protect our privacy, we must protect our freedom to trade physically, we must not let our oppressors win.

The authorities might have forced them to close down face to face trade because it does not have any transaction trail and money laundering might be the reason they are forced to shut down, i have never done face to face trade because of the lack of security if you are dealing with a huge amount of money.

Norwegian man killed after face to face trade this horrific incident comes to mind when it comes to face to face trade

Other than face to face trading there are other good platforms you can try
1)bitquick
2)Bitcoin OTC