I guess hearing about localbitcoins is quite similar to hearing about bitcoin itself. Moreover, If you ever did any bitcoin related search(es) in the past, then you must have stumbled on localbitcoins.
LocalBitcoins was a peer-to-peer bitcoin exchange platform based in Helsinki, Finland. Users post advertisements on the website, where they state exchange rates and payment methods for buying or selling bitcoins. Other users reply to these advertisements and make the payment in their specified payment method. As of December 2020, LocalBitcoins has over 1,000,000 active traders with a trade volume of 612 million US dollars between October and December 2020 Wikipedia
Localbitcoins has been in operation since June 2012 and on Thursday, the 9th of Febraury 2023, the company announced it was shutting it doors. The supposed reason for its closure was stated as follows:
Localbitcoins trading volumes have been declining for a long time, and there is no big enough market demand for our services anymore.
Personally, I have been using localbitcoins for seventeen months and it has been my go to spot to convert my bitcoin to cash which is then deposited directly into my bank account. I use the BTC to SEPA (EU Bank transfer) option to achieved this. My experience using localbitcoins and has been amazing and I am sadden by their shutdown.
What's Next?
Well, it is hard to tell if there are other decent platforms out there that offer the same or even better services than localbitcoins.
Personally, I have turned to Paxful I had created my account five years ago but never really used the platform because I never felt the need to used it until today.
Today, I logged in and it took less tens minutes go through verifications and anable more security on my account. Right now, my daily trade volume has been increased from $1k (933.1 Euros) to $10k (9331 Euros) after I completed verification.
I am still skeptical about trying out Paxful but I do not have another option as a replacement to localbitcoins. Having a replacement is very necessary and important to me.
I am curious to find out if anyone has got any suggesstion(s).
Thanks for your time!
19/02/2023