Buy bitcoin with P2P trade

What is P2P trade?

P2P trade is a category rather than one branded scheme: you buy bitcoin directly from another user on a marketplace that locks the seller's coins in escrow while you pay that person by an agreed local method, usually a bank transfer or a mobile wallet. Some marketplaces are run by exchanges and hold the coins themselves, while the open-source Bisq network is non-custodial and locks both sides into a 2-of-2 multisignature bitcoin address instead. It is the common route in countries where banks will not serve exchanges directly. Rules vary sharply by jurisdiction: the FCA says no peer-to-peer crypto business is registered in the UK, so operating one there as a business is illegal.

Speed

Speed depends entirely on the counterparty and the payment method, since escrow only releases after the seller confirms your payment, and on Bisq the bitcoin side alone needs roughly ten minutes of block confirmations.

Cost

Marketplace trading fees are typically small or zero, so the real cost is normally the price premium the seller sets above the market rate rather than a stated fee.

Limits

Each offer carries its own minimum and maximum set by the seller, and Bisq additionally requires a refundable buyer security deposit of about 15 percent of the trade with a floor of 0.006 BTC.

Speed and cost describe the rail itself. What an exchange adds on top varies by platform and is shown per exchange below.

Caveats by country

Where P2P trade exists but comes with strings attached, straight from the country research.

Belarus

officially discouraged; Hi-Tech Park venues preferred

North Macedonia

the way to pay a seller in denars

New Caledonia

limited

Palau

limited locally

Serbia

the way to pay a seller in dinars

Uzbekistan

unlicensed, significant caution