How to use LocalBitcoins
May 14, 2020
I just completed my first trade at LocalBitcoins (I sold Bitcoins and received money on the card in a Thai bank) – and that was …super!!! Dizzying speed of work!
This is an instruction on how to buy and sell Bitcoins using LocalBitcoins in any country in the world. I will show an example of selling Bitcoin for fiat money with a transfer to a bank account. Here I also collected small LocalBitcoins FAQ.
What is LocalBitcoins for?
The LocalBitcoins service allows ones to buy and sell Bitcoins, as well as some other types of cryptocurrencies (altcoins). You can pay and receive money both in your bank account, other popular payment systems are supported as well.
A key feature – the service is international. And at the same time it is local for every end user!
Which countries does LocalBitcoins work in?
The service works in a large number of countries and with a large number of buyers and sellers. The full list can be found on the official website.
In Russia, access to the LocalBitcoins site is restricted.
Official site LocalBitcoins
The official site is localbitcoins.com.
LocalBitcoins Commissions
LocalBitcoins has fees for depositing and withdrawing bitcoins:
- commission for account replenishment operation: approximately $1.5
- per withdrawal: approximately $0.5
Commissions are set in bitcoins and are possibly floating.
The commission does not depend on the amount.
The service does not charge fees for bank transfers. There is also no commission between internal wallets.
LocalBitcoins Verification
Verification is very simple – an international passport, or a driver’s license, or another document is suitable — the specific list depends on your country. You need to send a photo of your document, and then take a photo using a webcam. After that, you will be checked in a few minutes.
How LocalBitcoins Works
Users post trades for the purchase and sale of bitcoins. You select the user with the most favorable rate and conduct a deal with him.
Since cryptocurrency rates are constantly changing, the courses on LocalBitcoins are also floating.
On LocalBitcoins, besides ordinary users (like you and me), there are many professional sellers and buyers who use automated programs to speed up the completion of trades and/or are online.
There are many users, so you will always find someone who works at the time you need.
If you want to sell Bitcoins, then you deposit them to the local LocalBitcoins wallet. You select a trade and enter amount of Bitcoins to sell. After that, Bitcoins are deposited (locked) and you cannot do anything with them. A Bitcoin buyer sends you money (for example, to a bank account). You check that the money really came and click the “Send Bitcoins” button. At this point, the trade is considered completed.
How reliable is LocalBitcoins
The rating system and the transaction algorithm itself at LocalBitcoins protects users from fraud.
You can see the number of transactions for each seller and read reviews about him. There are many sellers with thousands of transactions and positive reviews, that is, you can choose a very reliable buyer or seller.
Bitcoins are deposited for the duration of the transaction. If something went wrong, for example, the money was not received, then your Bitcoins will not go anywhere, the buyer cannot steal it – they will be frozen for the period of the arbitration proceedings. The partners must provide their evidence, for example, bank statements, receipts for the transfer, etc.
That is, if both partners are in good faith, then the transaction is very quick and easy.
If one of the partners is dishonest, then you will lose some time in the proceedings, but ultimately you will not lose money. That is, users are protected from fraud.
How to receive bitcoins on LocalBitcoins
Go to your wallet and select the “Receive bitcoins” tab. There you will see the wallet address – this is your internal wallet at LocalBitcoins. Send to it the amount of bitcoins that you want to sell.
Here you will see the size of the commission at the moment. This commission for an incoming operation is very small.
Money on LocalBitcoins internal wallet:
How to Sell Bitcoins on LocalBitcoins
After depositing money into the local LocalBitcoins wallet, I choose the country and method of payment. Then I choose the buyer with the best Bitcoin exchange rate. Please note that sellers and buyers have different limits for the minimum and maximum amount.
Carefully read the comment that the seller/buyer left for customers – there may contain important information, for example, in what format to send payment details in order a robot to process them. There may be other important conditions!
If all the conditions suit you, then enter the amount of the transaction. If you sell bitcoins, then specify the details where the money should be sent.
After clicking the “Send trade request” button, your bitcoins will be deposited, and your information will be sent to the second user.
As you can see, I had to get 16743.44 Thai baht. Within 1 minute after clicking on the “Send trade request” button, I received money in my bank account. Also, the second user sent me a screenshot of the receipt:
I received an SMS message on the phone:
Nevertheless, for complete certainty, I went into online banking and checked the receipt of funds.
After that, just click the “Send Bitcoins” button to complete the transaction.
This is an important point, make sure 100% that the money really came to your bank account:
How to buy Bitcoins on LocalBitcoins
The procedure is the same as shown above, only you will act as a buyer of bitcoins.
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