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Fiat currencies
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Cryptocurrencies
| Product Name | LocalBitcoins P2P Exchange |
|---|---|
| Fiat Currencies | AUD, USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, CNY & 120+ more |
| Cryptocurrencies | BTC |
| Deposit Methods |
Bank transfer (ACH) Cash Credit card Cryptocurrency PayPal |
| Trading Fee | None |
| Deposit Fees | Fees vary |
| Withdrawal Fees | - |
The fees below are accurate as of 11 October 2019.
| Transaction type | Fee |
|---|---|
| Buying and selling | Free |
| Posting a successful advertisement | 1% on completion of the trade |
| Transactions between LocalBitcoins wallets | Free |
| Merchant invoicing service | 0.5% |
| Custom work (e.g. research of external issues) | EUR€200 per hour. Minimum billable amount is EUR€200. |
Fiat payments. How long a payment takes depends on the payment method you and the other trader use.
Bitcoin release from escrow. Bitcoin sellers will typically release BTC from escrow as soon as they receive your payment.
LocalBitcoins requires buyers and sellers to verify their identity for most transactions, and it has an escrow service to help prevent scams. But even with these precautions, there are still two common scams to watch out for when using LocalBitcoins.
This scam targets Bitcoin sellers.
A scammer buys Bitcoin with credit card, bank transfer, PayPal or another service with reversible payments.
After the payment is made, they claim a chargeback through the payment service.
Now the scammer has the Bitcoin and the money, while the seller has no Bitcoin and no money.
Outside of cash payments, which are not allowed on LocalBitcoins listings, there are no guaranteed ways of avoiding chargeback fraud.
This scam targets Bitcoin sellers.
The scammer tricks someone into unknowingly purchasing Bitcoin, which is sent to the scammer’s wallet. This type of scam has two victims. Victim A (VA) is someone who wants to buy something online. Victim B (VB) is someone who wants to sell Bitcoin on LocalBitcoins.
The scammer offers to sell something to VA. This can be anything sold online, such as a car, clothing or anything you’ll find on eBay or Amazon.
Once a price is agreed, the scammer offers to buy exactly that amount of Bitcoin from VB and presents VB’s payment details to VA.
Now VA ends up paying VB, who releases the Bitcoin to the scammer after receiving payment. Naturally, VA will typically not receive the goods they thought they were buying and will typically initiate chargeback procedures.
Consequently, this scam can lead to innocent Bitcoin sellers losing money and being labelled as fraudsters and even having their bank accounts cancelled.
All the same rules as avoiding chargeback fraud apply – only deal in small amounts and only with reputable and identifiable buyers. In addition, you can do the following:
Scams are a risk on any peer-to-peer cryptocurrency trading platform, and LocalBitcoins is not any better or worse than the others in this regard.
You can reduce your chances of being scammed by being careful, but there are no guarantees and even experienced traders sometimes fall victim.
If you don’t want to worry about the risk of scams, you should look for large, reputable cryptocurrency exchanges instead.
Compare popular large cryptocurrency exchanges.
LocalBitcoins is based in Helsinki, Finland.
It was founded in 2012 and has been a significant name in the cryptocurrency trading ecosystem since then.
In earlier years, it was best known as a no-ID cash-in-hand trading platform, but it now requires verification in most cases, and users can no longer select cash in person as a preferred payment option.
