Exchanges come in many forms and types. If you have had any exposure to the world of cryptocurrencies, then chances are that you are familiar with exchanges. That being said, most of us are familiar with centralized exchanges (CEX). In this article, we will focus on the top 5 peer-to-peer exchanges in the market right now.
If you’re in Nigeria, check out the best way to buy bitcoin in Nigeria.
What is a p2p exchange?
As stated before, most of us are familiar with a regular exchange. Here the exchange acts as a middle-man, when a user sells or buys an asset it is doing it directly from the exchange. This is called the clearinghouse model, which is designed to eliminate counterparty risk by making sure both parties are fulfilling their duties.
On the other hand, in a p2p exchange assets are being bought directly from the other party. Users interact directly with each other, and the exchange offers escrow services that lock the funds until both parties agree to the exchange.
An example of this process, a person places an offer to sell ETH for USD in a p2p exchange. The exchange takes the asset and locks it in its escrow account. A buyer spots the offer and agrees to buy the amount of ETH listed. It sends USD to the account of the seller, and this informs the exchange that the money has arrived. The exchange releases the ETH to the buyer and either one pays a fee, or it is split between the two. It varies depending on the exchange.
Most exchanges have a reputation system that tracks who are the users that have successfully implemented trades. It is important to be aware of these stats, and in the beginning, only trade with those users with a good score on the platform.
The best p2p exchanges can be ordered by many metrics. Such as reach, number of assets listed, daily volume, fee costs, etc. Many of these metrics also vary from place to place as the exchange rate in one country can have a bigger impact than in another. So, here are the best 5 p2p exchanges operating in the market right now.
Remitano
Remitano is a peer-to-peer exchange that operates in over 50 countries. It first started in 2015 out of Singapore, so at least in the crypto world, the exchange has been operational for a while. It has half a decade of operations, and it is increasing its presence to regions outside Asia such as Africa and Latin America.
This exchange is currently the best to buy bitcoin in Nigeria.
The platform doesn’t charge any fees for assets deposited in their web wallet. It has been integrated with several FIAT currencies from countries on different continents and it is expanding its services all the time. It offers 24 hours of customer service and has one of the best security protocols of any exchange in operation.
Right now Remitano can be used to trade Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ether, Litecoin, Ripple, and USDT. Additionally, it has 10 other crypto assets open for investments such as ADA, Tron, Link, and others.
Find out how to buy bitcoin in Nigeria on a p2p exchange.
Airtm
Airtm is a p2p exchange from Mexico founded in 2015. Due to this, it is very active in Latin America with most of its customer base located in this region. It not only supports cryptocurrencies but also local bank transfers, Steam cards, Amazon gift cards, cell phone credit, and other options depending on the country.
This robust offering of options makes it very versatile, but also unfocused. For some trading pairs like BCH to USD, the waiting times can be above an hour, since this market has little demand.
Finally, Airtm doesn’t support crypto exchanges directly from their web wallet. It is necessary to do it from a third party wallet, so this means you have to pay the fees of the Airtm platform, and the fees from your wallet.
LocalBitcoins
The granddaddy of crypto p2p exchanges, LocalBitcoins has been around since 2012. It has an impressive reach, and virtually it is accessible from any country in the world. The one downside is that it only supports Bitcoin. This means that a trader is limited to people in their country willing to buy or sell BTC in exchange for the local currency, hence the name.
The platform is one of the most used p2p exchanges in general and has become a household name for crypto users around the globe. It has a low fee structure, and it has an impressive average waiting time of 10 minutes. One of the fastest in the industry.
Hodl Hodl
A p2p exchange from Great Britain, Hodl Hodl was founded in 2018. The name makes reference to the type “Hodl” which first appeared in the Bitcoin forum in 2013. The term has become a meme in the crypto community and means to hold a crypto asset for a long period of time.
Again, this is a market-place available only for BTC. But it has a unique distinction that it does not require any KYC to participate and the platform works globally in any region of the world.
LocalCoinSwap
A p2p exchange from Hong Kong, LocalCoinSwap was founded in 2015. This is a very diverse marketplace with more than 10 cryptocurrencies supported for trading. They focus on the big ones such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDC, and others.
They charge 1% for any completed transaction. Additionally, they have a withdrawal fee for Bitcoin of 0.001 BTC, and Dash of also 0.001 DASH. All Ethereum based tokens are non-custodial, so the platform doesn’t charge anything from these assets.
It has most of its customer base in Asia, but it is making pushes in Europe. Like the previous entry, it does not require any KYC to start trading on the platform.
So, there we have the 5 best p2p crypto exchanges in the market. There are many more offerings out there, but these 5 are among the most used and liquid at the moment. However, if you’re in Nigeria, click on the link to find out the best platform to buy bitcoin in Nigeria.