The best LocalBitcoins alternatives
LocalBitcoins has been operating as a leading Bitcoin (BTC/USD) peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto exchange for the last 10 years but it recently announced that it was shutting down due to unfavourable market conditions. This has left millions of its customers looking for LocalBitcoins alternatives where they can continue with their crypto trading experience.
As a P2P cryptocurrency exchange, LocalBitcoins allowed peers to buy and sell cryptocurrencies and precisely BTC without using a third party such as a bank or an order book to pair buy and sell orders and control the platform’s assets. Users would directly connect through a transparent process and buy or sell bitcoins from each other using fiat currency.
Now that it has closed its operations with customers only being allowed to transfer/withdraw their crypto assets within the next 12 months, here are some of the best LocalBitcoins alternatives that users can hop to.
Top 5 alternatives to LocalBitcoins
1. Binance P2P
The P2P arm of the Binance crypto exchange allows users to purchase more than 600 types of cryptocurrencies and not only bitcoins. Users can purchase the likes of Bitcoin, Chainlink, Dogecoin, Litecoin, and others without incurring any taker fees.
Sellers however incur a maker fee of up to 0.35%.
Additionally, Binance P2P allows the use of a wide range of currencies and also supports instant transfers for traders in a hurry although at a 0.5% extra fee.
2. Paxful
Paxful is a US-based P2P crypto exchange that allows users to buy Bitcoin (BTC), Tether (USDT), and USD Coin (USDC) using any local currency around the world. The exchange also allows the use of a wide range of payment methods including Bank Transfer, Amazon Gift Card, and Stream Wallet Gift Card among others.
The exchange previously allowed users to directly buy Ether (ETH) although it delisted ETH in December after Ethereum shifted from a PoW to a PoS blockchain.
Sellers pay a fee of between 0.5% and 5% while buyers pay zero fees.
3. Huobi
Huobi is an all-in-one cryptocurrency that offers crypto futures, options, staking, and lending at low fees, besides P2P services.
It allows users to buy and sell a wide range of cryptocurrencies including Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin (BTC), Tether USD, Terra Classic (LUNC), and others using more than 98 payment methods including paying using crypto coins.
Both sellers and buyers pay a zero fee, making Huobi a very competitive exchange against other P2P exchanges.
4. OKX
Besides offering crypto derivatives trading and web3 products like staking, lending, and NFTs, OKX crypto exchange also offers P2P crypto trading services.
Users can directly purchase more than 350 cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple among others using hundreds of local, country-specific payment methods as well as an option to pay with crypto.
The exchange has four different levels that require different levels of verification and offer users different transaction limits.
5. KuCoin
Besides being a popular platform for crypto derivatives trading, especially for traders outside the US, KuCoin also has a P2P marketplace where users can buy and sell cryptos like USDT, ETH, BTC, CADH, and PAX directly through various payment methods, like Paypal and wire transfer.
Traders can purchase from the list of more than 700 cryptocurrencies listed on the exchange.
Also, both buyers and sellers pay a 0.10% fee.
In Conclusion
Choosing a cryptocurrency exchange is a crucial step for a crypto trader since it determines the rest of your crypto trading experience. It is therefore important to look for the best LocalBitcoins alternative where you can continue with your crypto trading activities without disruptions. The above list contains our best picks of where previous LocalBitcoins users can shift to. However, if you are searching for a specific type of crypto exchange, you can have a look at our list of the best crypto exchanges with low fees.
