Last Updated on 5 November 2023 by CryptoTips.eu
LocalBitcoins Review
LocalBitcoins is one of the oldest peer-to-peer Bitcoin marketplaces in the world. In mid-2012 Jeremias Kangas, a Swiss IT professional and entrepreneur founded a cryptocurrency platform that works on the principles of Over the Counter (OTC) trading. It is a kind of eBay of the cryptocurrencies. Users, like you and me, can list their Bitcoin advertisements with their own exchange rates and payment methods on the website. When a person finds the advertisement attractive, he can pay the money in the specified method and receive his coins. In this case, LocalBitcoins acts as a secure third-party trading platform that ensures the trades are being performed without any problem. In case of delay or hindrance in the release of Bitcoins or money from the seller or buyer, the platform steps in to resolve the dispute.
When a buyer clicks on the desired advertisement a trade is opened and escrow protection is used to keep the buyer and seller safe from frauds. Money and Bitcoins are saved by escrow until the seller releases the coins and the buyer pays the full amount.
In this LocalBitcoins review we will research this p2p-marketplace, find out if it is safe to trade here and share our final score. At the end of the review you will find a form to leave your own experience with a rating of your choice.
Buy or sell Bitcoin using 45 payment methods like PayPal or Western Union
| Paxful | Details |
|---|---|
 Visit Paxful |
Peer-2-peer Bitcoin-only Marketplace Use over 300 payment methods Trade with escrow Over 3 million users |
LocalBitcoins alternative
LocalBitcoins is great if you want to pay with unusual payment methods like PayPal, cash or Western Union. You should take into account that you pay a premium to the seller if you use these payment methods.
If you want to buy Bitcoin with more common payment methods, we recommend to use the Bitvavo Exchange. They offer the following payment methods: iDEAL (free), Bank Transfer (free) Bancontact (free), MyBank (1.5%), EPS Überweisung (1.75%), SOFORT (2.25%) and Giropay (1.75%) and charge a trading fee of max. 0.25%.
They offer more than 58 cryptos, supply built-in wallets and have a great support team. Click on the following link to activate your welcome bonus and trade the first €1.000 for free at Bitvavo.
Claim €25 Free Crypto and Trade €10.000 For Free at the Bitvavo Exchange
What is LocalBitcoins?
LocalBitcoins is a P2P marketplace with a good reputation around the world. It is operating in more than 8000 cities in almost all countries around the world. The website offers a free Bitcoin wallet to store the currency safely. The platform enables users to buy and sell Bitcoin seamlessly and support a variety of payment methods. You can buy Bitcoins on the website using fiat currencies as well as for cryptocurrencies. You will not find many exchanges offering lower overhead trading costs. LocalBitcoins is one of the best marketplaces available on the internet that charges the least percentage of commission. Even compared to Paxful.
The website implemented an escrow payment system and provided a conflict resolution service on the platform in late 2012 and within a year the website started earning money and became profitable. A high degree of reliability makes it a reputable platform in the world. The website requires only a few details about personal identification. This makes this platform a favorable option for security and privacy-conscious folks seeking a secure place to trade Bitcoins.
There are several financial crimes conducted on the platform by different people from different states of the US. Trading Bitcoin is not a crime, but trading it for money laundering can send you to prison for months or years.
After several financial misconducts, the founders of the company registered it as a virtual currency provider in Finland. Now the company is regulated by Finnish Financial supervisory authority.
Advantages of LocalBitcoins
Why should you choose for LocalBitcoins?
- Low commission of 1% is charged to the person who creates the ad.
- Tons of payment methods to suits your needs.
- Safe, secure and protected buying and selling Bitcoin.
- Full protection for the buyer and seller by escrow.
- A professional and dedicated native customer support team around the world.
The marketplace offers a wide variety of payment methods to help its users buy Bitcoins fast and easily. There are more than 45 different payment methods that can be used by the buyers and sellers to buy and sell the digital currency. People can use their favorite payment methods that are convenient for then and allow them to pay less in transaction fees. Mostly the payment methods are categorized into 5 categories namely, Credit cards, Gift Cards, Bank Transfer, Cash, cryptocurrencies and online payment services. Further in this LocalBitcoins review will find the payments methods accepted on the website.
Buy or sell Bitcoin using 45 payment methods like PayPal or Western Union
How to create LocalBitcoins account?
Initially, an email address is more than enough to create an account on LocalBitcoins. Below you will find a step by step guide to creating an account on the marketplace.
- Visit LocalBitcoins.com and click on the orange Sign up for free button.
- Enter your Username, a valid email address and a password that is strong enough.
- Click on the Register button.
That is all you need to do to create a basic account. You will receive a link from the official email address of LocalBitcoins to confirm the email address you have provided. Once you click on the link in the email, you will be directed to a page where you can buy your cryptocurrency easily and safely. This will get you the bragging rights of calling yourself a cryptocurrency owner among your friends and relatives.
How to verify your account?
People who wish to trade a large volume of Bitcoins need to give more personal information. This includes a correct and active phone number that can be verified and identity cards issued by the local government of the country. LocalBitcoins offer 4 account verification levels. Below you will find the details about the requirements of each level.
| Requirements | T0 | T1 | T2 | T3 |
| Full name | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Country of residence | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Email address | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Phone number | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Physical address check | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| ID verification | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| KYC info | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Proof of residence | ✓ | ✓ |
How does LocalBitcoins work?
It is very easy to buy Bitcoins at the marketplace. You will not be able to find a more simple user-interface to buy cryptocurrencies offered on any other platform available on the internet as compared to LocalBitcoins. In a few clicks, you can become the owner of cryptocurrency.
Once you complete the registration and verification process you will be able to buy your cryptocurrency without any hassle. You will be able to search for advertisements posted by different users of the platform about selling Bitcoins online as well as locally. Make sure you stay on the platform to avoid any frauds. The platform saves the money of the buyer in an escrow system and does not release the payment until the seller releases the coins.
The website has put a lot of effort to make the purchasing process of cryptocurrency easy and fast. You will find Quick buy and Quick sell buttons right on the homepage that allows you to buy crypto. By entering basic information like the currency you want to use in the transaction process, the amount of money you want to invest, and the county from where you want to buy the coins you can narrow your search. Most of the time you will find users from your own country selling and buying Bitcoins, however, you can buy from users of other countries as well.
As soon as you enter the required details in the search bar and hit the search button, all the available Bitcoin offers will appear on the screen. You will find a list of traders with their usernames, the payment method they accept and the price for a single Bitcoin and the buying limits imposed by the platform.
In some cases, more information is required by some new users and buyers who would like to comply with the local Know Your Customers (KYC) and Anti-money laundering (AML) procedures.
LocalBitcoins fees
LocalBitcoins charges no fees for buying or selling Bitcoin. They make their money by charging 1% to the person who created the advertisement. Sending or receiving BTC is charges by a small withdrawal or deposit fee. Transferring funds to another LocalBitcoins user is free.
Please keep in mind that the seller makes up his own Bitcoin price. Some sellers add more than 10% on top of the currency market price. That equals to a fee of 10%. Please check the prices before you buy anything.
Bottom line is that you never exactly know how much fee you pay, since the seller can make up his own price. The fees must be higher than 1%, otherwise the seller will make a loss. There’s a cheaper LocalBitcoins alternative called Bitvavo. This exchange offers less payment methods, but charges a fee of max. 0.25%.
Claim €25 Free Crypto and Trade €10.000 For Free at the Bitvavo Exchange
Is LocalBitcoins safe?
As you know, trading on LocalBitcoins is done by peer-to-peer technology, so the credibility of the seller on the platform matters a lot. The exchange is offering a decentralized service, that means the buyer has to be cautious in the process of trading and selecting a buyer. The website has not played any scams on its users till now, but the availability of scammers on the platform should not be ignored. Make sure that you check the seller’s rating, his duration of selling services on the platform and the number of transactions has performed so far before you buy anything. This will help you confirm the credibility of the seller. The longer the time on the platform and the higher the number of transactions performed by the seller the greater the safety and credibility.
A secure wallet is provided on the website to store your coins (free of charge). LocalBitcoins has imposed age restrictions on its users. If you are younger than 16 years of age you cannot trade Bitcoins. Initially, no personal information is required by the platform, but if you want to advertise and increase the limit of your account then certain details are mandatory to be provided to do so in the safest way possible.
The platform has implemented the infamous security measures like two-factor authentication and known device recognition. It is recommended that you enable the 2FA in your account to add an extra layer of security. To do so, go to your account and click on your icon, a dropdown menu will appear to navigate to the Account security tab. This will open the Account security page, where you can enable the 2FA with a single click.
Buy or sell Bitcoin using 45 payment methods like PayPal or Western Union
Did you bought or sold something at the LocalBitcoins marketplace and would you like to share your review? You can do so by using the evaluation form below.
Contact Details:
LocalBitcoins Oy
Porkkalankatu 24
00180 Helsinki
Finland
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