LocalCryptos is shutting down

[OmegaStarScream]

LocalCryptos announced a few hours, that it will be closing its doors: https://twitter.com/LocalCryptosEN/status/1583605719604920320

AFAIK, the exchange had the highest trading volume (compared to the other P2P non-KYC exchanges) so this is definitely sad to see them shutting down.

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[dkbit98]

LocalCryptos announced a few hours, that it will be closing its doors: https://twitter.com/LocalCryptosEN/status/1583605719604920320

AFAIK, the exchange had the highest trading volume (compared to the other P2P non-KYC exchanges) so this is definitely sad to see them shutting down.

Shit, one more non-kyc p2p trading place is going down  
I don't understand why they would do this now, unless they are having some problems related with kyc regulations.
In blog they are claiming there are multiple reasons, like personal health, anticipated downtrend in cryptocurrency markets, and challenging developments... but I think this is mostly bs.
Instead of closing down they could try selling their business to someone else who could continue their work and maybe improve it.

[logfiles]

Quite sad to see it end this way, what started as Localethereum and grew up into a huge p2p marketplace for selected coins including Bitcoin. I have been a big fan of it.

This is what they said, but I think it's more of a regulatory issue than the bear market. Being that they are located in Australia, whose Government can sometimes get cocky when it comes to regulations

LocalCryptos has made the tough decision to voluntarily wind down for multiple reasons. Among the reasons include personal health matters impacting the development and progression of the marketplace, an anticipated downtrend in cryptocurrency markets, as well as challenging developments in the long-term regulatory trajectory amidst the global evolution of the crypto economy.

[Potato Chips]

Damn. That sucks...

I'm also leaning towards regulations being the main culprit. Their vision talk gave it away for me:

While we had much more planned for LocalCryptos, unfortunately we believe that internal and external factors prevent our small team from fully achieving our vision.

....While any of these alone are not the sole reason, they are each motivating factors in our decision. We weighed up all the options, attempted various alternative solutions to keep the LocalCryptos vision alive, but in the end we made the decision to gradually end our services

What could it be other than their main selling points e.g. no kyc, encrypted messages, etc.? which means if they were to introduce KYC/AML polices in their platform, it'd become the shell of its former self.

[o_e_l_e_o]

Really disappointing to see a much used and much respected peer to peer site close down. I agree with the above, and suspect that external regulations are probably the main culprit here. But that is exactly the reason we need peer to peer exchanges in the first place!

I'd be hopeful some of the team would take their expertise across to other similar platforms and continue to help grow the peer to peer ecosystem. A small part of me wonders if this is because many of the team members are doxxed as LocalEthereum was not set up privately in the first place. Perhaps they will all launch a new platform or join other platforms, but anonymously.

which means if they were to introduce KYC/AML polices in their platform, it'd become the shell of its former self.

Yes. As much as I am disappointed to see them close, shutting down entirely is a preferable option to going the LocalBitcoins route and becoming yet another centralized exchange demanding KYC and spying on their users.

[Charles-Tim]

This is what they said, but I think it's more of a regulatory issue than the bear market. Being that they are located in Australia, whose Government can sometimes get cocky when it comes to regulations

LocalCryptos has made the tough decision to voluntarily wind down for multiple reasons. Among the reasons include personal health matters impacting the development and progression of the marketplace, an anticipated downtrend in cryptocurrency markets, as well as challenging developments in the long-term regulatory trajectory amidst the global evolution of the crypto economy.

I too do not know what could be the sole reason LocalCryptos is closing down, but the sole reason the no-KYC exchange is closing down is not directly included or maybe not included at all, it may and may not be KYC reason, or maybe it is and the exchange do not just want to directly disclosed about it. But it is still of concern that the government can force no-KYC exchange to demand for KYC from all their customers, but this may not be the main reason. Whatever the main reason could be, many people will miss the exchange, even I will miss the fact that I do recommend the exchange among the few no-KYC exchanges that are existing because such exchanges are not many but very few. Also maybe they would come back as they imply of possible comeback, but in a way in may or may not be possible.

[OmegaStarScream]

If it's true, it would be a shame since they could relocate to country with better regulation.

It's possible this is what they're trying to do:

Is there a chance that LocalCryptos will come back?
Yes, it is possible that LocalCryptos will make a return in the future. We’ll let you know if that happens.

But at the same time, I doubt regulations are the main reason behind their decision since they could've relocated before and plan this ahead.

[o_e_l_e_o]

Relaunching with an anonymous team from a different jurisdiction would be the best outcome here, but even so, most peer to peer exchanges such as LocalCryptos still operate from a centralized website and so can still be targeted by governments and regulators. Thankfully we still have Bisq which is largely immune to any such attacks by way of not having a centralized entity responsible for its operation, as well as some new anonymous Tor based platforms being developed such as RoboSats.

[DaveF]

I did not use them a lot, but I did use them. Makes you wonder if they ever made a 'profit' running it. Yes they took in money and so on, but did the income ever cover the costs of development and running the site. I would *think* that if it was cash positive enough they would find a way but at the I can make more money working at Taco Bell with less stress point, you do have to let it go.

Yes, I am sure regulation was part of it, but if they were making enough you can move and keep going.

-Dave

[Darker45]

Another one bites the dust. This time, though, it's a lot more sad and, well, mysterious.

While they claim success for the past 5 years (only 3 years as LocalCryptos, if I'm not mistaken), the past bearish months must have taken a heavy toll on their operation. Of course, as others have also felt, LocalCryptos must have also been facing a good amount of regulatory pressure. But I'm honestly wondering whether all these reasons provided are enough to willingly put an end to what's certainly a good cause. But if it's the health of the few individuals behind the operation, it's indeed a good reason.

I'm now wondering whether those so-called Bitcoin and decentralization advocates who are rich and willing to shell out hundreds of millions to save the likes of Liquid, Voyager, BlockFi, and others, all inferior to LocalCryptos' vision, would also extend the same offer to save a worthy cause. But I certainly understand if the small team behind LocalCryptos would courteously refuse.

[logfiles]

If it's true, it would be a shame since they could relocate to country with better regulation.

It's tricky. Relocating to another jurisdiction, yet you have a bulls-eye on your back especially if the founders and developers are well-known isn't something easy to pull off.

They could possibly do it if they were completely anonymous, but not when the Law enforcement knows who they are. Voluntarily shutting down is a smarter move to do if you don't want to bend down and kneel for the Government.

[examplens]

This is what they said, but I think it's more of a regulatory issue than the bear market. Being that they are located in Australia, whose Government can sometimes get cocky when it comes to regulations

LocalCryptos has made the tough decision to voluntarily wind down for multiple reasons. Among the reasons include personal health matters impacting the development and progression of the marketplace, an anticipated downtrend in cryptocurrency markets, as well as challenging developments in the long-term regulatory trajectory amidst the global evolution of the crypto economy.

If it's true, it would be a shame since they could relocate to country with better regulation.

It was always unclear to me why some good services just shut down. in addition to changing the country of business, maybe they could sell the whole business to some company that is already in the industry.
although I would say that this is a forced move because just a few months ago they were hiring new developers https://jobs.gohire.io/localcryptos-ddlp8az9/react-native-mobile-app-developer-63702/

[o_e_l_e_o]

I'm now wondering whether those so-called Bitcoin and decentralization advocates who are rich and willing to shell out hundreds of millions to save the likes of Liquid, Voyager, BlockFi, and others, all inferior to LocalCryptos' vision, would also extend the same offer to save a worthy cause.

I'm not holding my breath. These buy outs are not done for altruistic reasons to support bitcoin - they are done solely for personal profit, and a decentralized peer to peer exchange just doesn't generate the types of profit that a centralized lending platform does.

although I would say that this is a forced move because just a few months ago they were hiring new developers https://jobs.gohire.io/localcryptos-ddlp8az9/react-native-mobile-app-developer-63702/

Good spot. It does seem they have fairly suddenly been hit with regulations or requests to start collecting KYC or similar, and have decided the best route forward it to simply cease operations. Perhaps if there weren't the health issues they mentioned in their statement they would consider moving jurisdiction, but doing so is more than they can deal with at the moment. Although Wasabi recently moved jurisdictions and yet continue to invade their users' privacy, so perhaps it's not as simple as that.

The best web based alternative now is probably Agoradesk/LocalMonero and RoboSats, although Bisq remains the gold standard. Let's hope a significant amount of the volume from LocalCryptos moves to Bisq and helps grow its ecosystem even more.

[DaveF]

I'm now wondering whether those so-called Bitcoin and decentralization advocates who are rich and willing to shell out hundreds of millions to save the likes of Liquid, Voyager, BlockFi, and others, all inferior to LocalCryptos' vision, would also extend the same offer to save a worthy cause.

I'm not holding my breath. These buy outs are not done for altruistic reasons to support bitcoin - they are done solely for personal profit, and a decentralized peer to peer exchange just doesn't generate the types of profit that a centralized lending platform does.

although I would say that this is a forced move because just a few months ago they were hiring new developers https://jobs.gohire.io/localcryptos-ddlp8az9/react-native-mobile-app-developer-63702/

Good spot. It does seem they have fairly suddenly been hit with regulations or requests to start collecting KYC or similar, and have decided the best route forward it to simply cease operations. Perhaps if there weren't the health issues they mentioned in their statement they would consider moving jurisdiction, but doing so is more than they can deal with at the moment. Although Wasabi recently moved jurisdictions and yet continue to invade their users' privacy, so perhaps it's not as simple as that.

The best web based alternative now is probably Agoradesk/LocalMonero and RoboSats, although Bisq remains the gold standard. Let's hope a significant amount of the volume from LocalCryptos moves to Bisq and helps grow its ecosystem even more.

The other possibility, which still sucks mind you, is that they looked into compliance and then looked at the cost of doing it and said nope, not worth it. If BTC was at $100k and they were making 5X what they are now and they could have taken it a bit easy to deal with health issues and brought in a few lawyers and whoever to deal with the compliance and whatever else was needed. But it's not, and sometimes you just have to walk away. Would be nice if they open soured their code at shutdown so someone else could run with it, but on the other hand the fraud and scam sites that would start popping up would most likely be insane.

-Dave

[Taskford]

This is what they said, but I think it's more of a regulatory issue than the bear market. Being that they are located in Australia, whose Government can sometimes get cocky when it comes to regulations

LocalCryptos has made the tough decision to voluntarily wind down for multiple reasons. Among the reasons include personal health matters impacting the development and progression of the marketplace, an anticipated downtrend in cryptocurrency markets, as well as challenging developments in the long-term regulatory trajectory amidst the global evolution of the crypto economy.

If it's true, it would be a shame since they could relocate to country with better regulation.

It was always unclear to me why some good services just shut down. in addition to changing the country of business, maybe they could sell the whole business to some company that is already in the industry.
although I would say that this is a forced move because just a few months ago they were hiring new developers https://jobs.gohire.io/localcryptos-ddlp8az9/react-native-mobile-app-developer-63702/

Maybe the compliance has something to do with this since they will not close down their successful business if there's no government disturbing their operations, maybe they find it hard to comply what necessary needed to legalize their business that's why they decide to shutdown their business. Although what we are saying is just speculation but mostly regulation has huge factor on their decision made.

[Plaguedeath]

Well this is bad news for people who use Localcryptos for privacy purpose. What I know is Bisq, Hodlhodl, Localcryptos, is the top 3 P2P platform who trustworthy and wouldn't ask anyone KYC. Now only Bisq and Hodlhodl can be used, I just hope Bisq and Holdhodl didn't shut down their platform.

I think day by day, any exchanges or sites has been forced to follow a regulations since they don't have any choice anymore.

[dkbit98]

The other possibility, which still sucks mind you, is that they looked into compliance and then looked at the cost of doing it and said nope, not worth it. If BTC was at $100k and they were making 5X what they are now and they could have taken it a bit easy to deal with health issues and brought in a few lawyers and whoever to deal with the compliance and whatever else was needed. But it's not, and sometimes you just have to walk away. Would be nice if they open soured their code at shutdown so someone else could run with it, but on the other hand the fraud and scam sites that would start popping up would most likely be insane.

Any way you put it their reasons are certainly related mostly with regulations and compliance, but they can't go out any just say it like that in public.
Sure they could release source code but it's not some rocket science, and we already have similar P2P websites that works,
like LocalMonero, AgoraDesk, HodlHodl, etc. and they all have better rating than LocalCrytos on kycnot.me website.
Source code is also private for this alternatives, but advantages for LocalMonero andAgoraDesk are that No personal information is needed, no need for JavaScripts, TOR is available, there is API and Android/iOS apps.
That is much better than LocalCryptos, so people can just transition there.

[NotATether]

I'm now wondering whether those so-called Bitcoin and decentralization advocates who are rich and willing to shell out hundreds of millions to save the likes of Liquid, Voyager, BlockFi, and others, all inferior to LocalCryptos' vision, would also extend the same offer to save a worthy cause.

I'm not holding my breath. These buy outs are not done for altruistic reasons to support bitcoin - they are done solely for personal profit, and a decentralized peer to peer exchange just doesn't generate the types of profit that a centralized lending platform does.

CeFi lending does not support bitcoin or any kind of cryptocurrency anyway (except maybe for XRP).

But I don't see how their buying up these platforms is going to be an asset and source of profit to them and not a liability down the road as they will be responsible for paying everyone from those platforms - unless their plan is to file for bankruptcy during such an event as well.

[DaveF]

The other possibility, which still sucks mind you, is that they looked into compliance and then looked at the cost of doing it and said nope, not worth it. If BTC was at $100k and they were making 5X what they are now and they could have taken it a bit easy to deal with health issues and brought in a few lawyers and whoever to deal with the compliance and whatever else was needed. But it's not, and sometimes you just have to walk away. Would be nice if they open soured their code at shutdown so someone else could run with it, but on the other hand the fraud and scam sites that would start popping up would most likely be insane.

Any way you put it their reasons are certainly related mostly with regulations and compliance, but they can't go out any just say it like that in public.
Sure they could release source code but it's not some rocket science, and we already have similar P2P websites that works,
like LocalMonero, AgoraDesk, HodlHodl, etc. and they all have better rating than LocalCrytos on kycnot.me website.
Source code is also private for this alternatives, but advantages for LocalMonero andAgoraDesk are that No personal information is needed, no need for JavaScripts, TOR is available, there is API and Android/iOS apps.
That is much better than LocalCryptos, so people can just transition there.

What I liked and used a lot with LocalCryptos was the fast to face for cash. There are none listed in AgoraDesk (unless I am missing it) and very few on the other exchanges.
And their site is mobile friendly. Meet up at a local place, get some cash, release the funds, done.

Could also just be the comfort level, been using it on and off but not a lot for a few years, so I just got used to it. I am admittedly a creature of habit so figuring out which other P2P works for me is just more work.

-Dave

[hugeblack]

Over the years, it gained more than 400,000 registered users and grew to a team of approximately ten.

I did not expect that after five years of development and 400,000 registered developers, the number of the developer team is about 10, so the financial problems may be a sufficient reason for this, although I think it is the organizational reasons.

Overall it's a strange way to say saying goodbye.

We also owe immense gratitude to our partners, vendors, and affiliates, including ChangeNOW, Bitcoin.com, PhishFort

ChangeNOW & Bitcoin.com  I didn't think these were their partners.