Real life trade (usually only cash exchange) - you meet up with the person and you give him your Bitcoin Address (you need to create a wallet first -> check
here) and you will give the person cash. Pretty anonymous since youre dealing with the person face to face.
You don't understand anonymity.
[1]. Many people want to find who is real Satoshi but they fail because he has never shown up his face publicly and let the world know he is real creator of bitcoin.
Using P2P Sites - as mk4 you can also use P2P sites, where you buy Coin from other users and dealing with that user directly instead of sending money to an exchange... NO KYC, so still more anonymous then using an exchange. I just like the safety of using an exchange.
Not true! If you have to leave your name, your bank details in trade chat, even the marketplace does not require KYC, the company has your trade history (and with bank details). It means with data breach or under government request, you will be caught.
Trading on Peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplaces do not mean that you all elements of a trade will be done peer to peer. The bitcoin buyer will send fiat to bank account (assumes the payment method is bank transfer) of the bitcoin seller. To make sure the buyer is safe from scam, P2P marketplaces have Escrow wallet for each trade. It means when a trade is open, the bitcoin of bitcoin seller will be locked into Escrow.
After the buyer paid with bank transfer,
mark the trade as Paid; the seller checks his bank balance and see money, he will Release his bitcoin from Escrow. The trade is done like that.
Safe or unsafe, it depends on how you trade:
- Trade partner selection: choose old accounts, trusted (high trust rating and feedback), good total life-time trade volume.
- Follow instructions of marketplace: Mark as Paid if you already sent money (buyer); only Release bitcoin if you receive money (seller).
- If you paid but don't mark as Paid, the trade will be expired and the locked bitcoin in Escrow will be refunded to his balance. It means scammer get bitcoin back in wallet but you lose your fiat
- To reduce risks of trading with scammers, avoid offers that have rates are "Too good to be true".
Important note for OP,
If the payment method you use is
Bank transfer, you have to choose your trade partner very carefully. Let's me explain.
- Your bank account can be frozen if you have trades with partner who have fraudulent activities or money laundering. When police calls, your bank account can be frozen > Make your trade partner selection as best as possible. Do it carefully!
- Avoid trade partners that have trade history is only buy bitcoin with bank transfer AND with huge amount for each trade AND account age is too young. Question: Where the capital comes from (stolen, hacked, etc.)?
- With bank transfer payment method, very carefully to choose trade partners!
