On 9 February 2023, LocalBitcoins announced that it will be closing down its peer-to-peer (P2P) trading service.
LocalBitcoins announced via Twitter that it would no longer provide its Bitcoin trading service. The platform encouraged users to withdraw their funds from their LocalBitcoins wallets within the next 12 months, and let users know that its Customer Support team is still available to field questions and/or provide any assistance users might need.
Browse the listings available in your region to find reliable sellers and buyers.
Search buyer and seller profiles to find reputable counterparties.
You can post your own trade advertisements for others to view.
For assistance, you can browse the FAQ or submit a ticket.
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.
*Cryptocurrencies aren't regulated in the UK and there's no protection from the Financial Ombudsman or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Your capital is at risk. Capital gains tax on profits may apply.
Cryptocurrencies are speculative and investing in them involves significant risks - they're highly volatile, vulnerable to hacking and sensitive to secondary activity. The value of investments can fall as well as rise and you may get back less than you invested. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. This content shouldn't be interpreted as a recommendation to invest. Before you invest, you should get advice and decide whether the potential return outweighs the risks. Finder, or the author, may have holdings in the cryptocurrencies discussed.
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Where can I sell bitcoin near Wolverhampton?
Hi Sarah,
Thanks for getting in touch with Finder. I hope all is well with you. :)
Regarding your question, I can’t provide a straightforward answer. The location would depend on your agreement with the seller. When using LocalBitcoins, you can search for ads created by people near Wolverhampton. When you found an ad, you can then get in touch with the seller and discuss where you want to meet in Wolverhampton. So, basically, you would need to use LocalBitcoins to find potential sellers in Wolverhampton.
I hope this helps. Should you have further questions, please don’t hesitate to reach us out again.
Have a wonderful day!
Cheers,
Joshua