LocalCoinSwap is a peer-to-peer (P2P) cryptocurrency exchange that connects people from all around the world to buy and sell cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin. Whilst most P2P exchanges only support a single cryptocurrency, here at LocalCoinSwap we offer our P2P traders 20+ different cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin.
Buying Bitcoin on LocalCoinSwap is fast, secure and private. Not only are we available in over 190+ countries worldwide, but we also have over 250+ payment methods that you can use to buy and sell Bitcoin, including cash, bank transfer, debit card, credit card, Paypal, as well as Amazon gift cards, and iTunes gift cards.
For this tutorial, we will focus on how to buy Bitcoin...
(Please note that this article does not constitute financial advice and we encourage everyone to understand the laws and regulations for trading cryptocurrency in their own region as rules vary in different parts of the world).
Table of Contents:
- Create a LocalCoinSwap Account
- Search for a Buy Advertisement
- Select an Advertisement
- Open a Trade
- Pay the Seller
STEP 1: Create a LocalCoinSwap Account
The good news is that registering an account on LocalCoinSwap is quick and easy as you do not need to provide your ID to create your account:
- Go to LocalCoinSwap: https://localcoinswap.com.
- Tap the ‘Register’ button to create your new account.
- Enter your email address, username, and password.
- If you have a referral code, don’t forget to enter it here.
- Tap the ‘Sign up’ button to complete the signup process.
An email will then be sent to your inbox so that you can verify that you own the email address you are using to sign up with. In order to verify your email address, click the verification link within the email and login.
Once you login, you are ready to start buying your Bitcoin.
TOP TIP: LocalCoinSwap has one of the most lucrative referral programs of any P2P exchange worldwide. Both the referrer and referee will receive 10% bonus referral and you can even earn up to 30% bonus referral if you own LCS Cryptoshares. Read more about our tiered Referral Program on our blog.
One of the added benefits of creating an account on LocalCoinSwap is that by registering with us, you instantly receive your own free and secure digital Bitcoin wallet. This is your own secure location to keep your Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrencies.
STEP 2: Search for a Buy Advertisement
Once you have created an account, the next step is to search for an advertisement selling Bitcoin. There are two ways to search for advertisements selling Bitcoin on LocalCoinSwap:
- Select Bitcoin from the carousel at the top of the page.
- Use the Advanced Search filters to find advertisements.
We will go through each of these ways to search for a Buy Advertisement in more detail below:
1/ Select Bitcoin from the Carousel:
The first method is to Select "Bitcoin" from the cryptocurrency carousel located at the top of every page of the website:
Every cryptocurrency listed on LocalCoinSwap has its own page with an overview of the cryptocurrency, current price indicators, links to its website and white paper as well as all buy and sell advertisements for that particular cryptocurrency.
Once you click “Bitcoin” in the carousel, you will see a list of all buy and sell advertisements for Bitcoin. See example below:
You can now see a listing of all advertisement and choose which ones meet your requirements according to price, location and payment method.
2/ Use the Advanced Search Filters:
The second method is to use the advanced search filters to locate your preferred buy advertisement.
If you would like a little more control over your search results, you can use the advanced search filters to locate Bitcoin advertisements that have specific terms of trade. Such terms of trade might include filtering for specific countries, local fiat currencies or specific payment methods.
To do this, simply use the search filters to enter your criteria and the advertisements will update automatically below the search filter.
When using the advanced search filter, you can search for advertisements by the following criteria:
- Buying/Selling - If you want to buy Bitcoin then you select “Buying”. If you want to sell Bitcoin, then select “Selling”.
- Cryptocurrency - You can choose which cryptocurrency you want to BUY or SELL. If you want to display all advertisements for all cryptocurrencies then you can select “Any” from the drop down.
- Payment Method - Here you can search for advertisements using the payment method that you would prefer to use. There are currently over 250+ payment methods that you can choose from including cash, bank transfer, debit card, credit card, Paypal, Amazon Gift Cards and many more.
NOTE: Pay particular attention to higher risk payment types such as Paypal as some payment methods can be charged back at a later date, even months down the track. If you want to read more about staying safe when P2P trading, check out our Guide To Staying Safe With P2P Trading.
- Location - Here you can search for advertisements from a specific city or country. For example, if you only want to see advertisements from people who are selling Bitcoin in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, then you could enter “Rio de Janeiro, Brazil” in the location field. Alternatively, if you want to buy Bitcoin in Caracas, Venezuela, then enter “Caracas, Venezuela”.
NOTE: You also have an option to choose “Worldwide” and you will see all trade advertisements from all countries around the world. This is a good option if you are creating a worldwide cryptocurrency trading business and therefore want to see all advertisements available on the platform.
- Fiat Currency - Choose which fiat currency (Usually your local currency) you want to BUY or SELL with. For example, if you want to buy Bitcoin with Mexican Pesos, then you should select "Mexican Pesos". Alternatively, if you want to BUY Bitcoin with Australian Dollars, then select "Australian Dollars".
- Username Search - If you want a little more control over your search results, you can use this filter field to locate Bitcoin ads that have specific contract terms or even search for the username of that specific trader you would like to trade with.
- Last Seen - With this option you can filter your search based on the last time sellers were online. This was one of the last tools we implemented on our site designed for all those traders who were interested in making quick trades, or those who were tired of having to wait days before receiving a response.
So now you know how to find an advertisement, let's move on to selecting your preferred buy advertisement and buying your Bitcoin.
STEP 3: Select a Buy Advertisement
Firstly, there are two types of advertisements listed on LocalCoinSwap. Buy advertisements and Sell advertisements. In this case, we are looking at Buy advertisements as we want to buy Bitcoin.
- Understanding Advertisements.
- Sorting Advertisements.
- Understanding a Trader's Reputation.
TOP TIP: Advertisements can also be called ‘trade advertisements’, ‘offers’ or ‘listings’ on other P2P marketplaces.
1/ Understanding Advertisements
Let’s take a closer look at an advertisement and review the information displayed:
Every advertisement in the search listing contains the following information:
- Trader’s Username - Username of the trader who created the advertisement.
- Pro Trader Badges - These are small icons in a horizontal row that sometimes appear to the right of the username and indicate that the trader is a professional trader or that their info is verified on the website.
- Fiat Currency Acronyms - Green acronyms that commercially identify the fiat currency with which it is going to buy or sell.
- Cryptocurrency Logo - Al logo of the cryptocurrency you can buy or sell.
- Payment Method - Payment method that this specific trader will accept.
- Limits - The amount of cryptocurrency that the trader is willing to buy or sell.
- Location - The location that the trader is buying or selling their Bitcoin.
To click through to the Buy advertisement of your choice, simply click on the "BUY" button of the advertisement you are interested in and you will see all of the details of that particular trade.
2/ Sorting Advertisements:
You can also click on the dropdown at the top of the listing table to sort the advertisements in order to help you view trades that fit your criteria. You can sort advertisements by the following:
- Popularity - Sort your ads by the highest rated traders or the most active ones on our website.
- Price - Sort ads by fiat price, allowing you to see competitive advertisements.
- Payment Method - Allows you to view advertisements by payment methods into ascending or descending alphabetical order.
- Coin - Sort ads by cryptocurrencies into ascending or descending alphabetical order.
3/ Understanding a Trader's Reputation:
Reputation is important as it helps you understand more about a particular trader's history trading on the LocalCoinSwap P2P exchange. There are a few ways that you can learn more about a trader in order to understand their reputation.
a) Viewing a Trader's "Last Seen Date/Time" - If you hover over a username, you can also see when that user was last active on the website. This is important as it gives you an indication of how active the user is and also how quickly you could expect them to respond to your trade request.
b) Viewing a Trader's Profile - You can also review more about the user by clicking on their username in Blue. See example above.
Now that you know how to find an advertisement and review the trader's reputation, the next step is to go ahead and enter into a trade to buy your Bitcoin.
STEP 4: Open a Trade
To open a trade, all you need to do is select the advertisement that has the right trade criteria and then specify how much Bitcoin you want to buy.
To do this, tap the ‘BUY’ button within the advertisement of your choice.
You will then be taken to the advertisement page where you can read further details about the advertisement, including the trader’s terms and conditions.
Remember, if the terms and conditions do not fit to your satisfaction, then you can click the back button to return to the listings page and search for another advertisement that suits your needs better.
Once you have read the terms and conditions set by this trader and are happy with the trade conditions, you can open the trade to buy your Bitcoin.
To open the trade with the seller:
- Enter the amount of Bitcoin that you want to buy in either the fiat currency or cryptocurrency amount.
- Tap the ‘Buy Bitcoin’ button to start your trade to BUY Bitcoin from this seller.
Once you have clicked the ‘Buy Bitcoin’ button, you will be prompted to re-confirm that you want to buy from this seller. Please read this carefully to understand the terms of the trade.
The seller will now receive an alert that they have a pending buyer for their Bitcoin and will either accept or reject the trade that you opened.
Once the seller accepts the trade, their Bitcoin will be put into secure escrow protection. You will also receive a notification on the platform, and an email to your inbox, letting you know that your trade has been accepted. See examples below:
Click on either the email notification link or the notification alert to go directly through to the trade advertisement page and pay the seller.
You have now successfully opened a trade with the seller and all that is left is to pay, receive your Bitcoin and leave feedback for the seller.
STEP 5: Pay the Seller
Now that the seller has accepted the trade, the next step is to pay the seller so that they can also release their Bitcoin to you, which is now held in secure escrow on the platform.
It’s important to remember that once the seller accetped your trade, their Bitcoin was from then on held in a state of secure escrow protection and will only be released to you once they have received payment.
TOP TIP: As the Bitcoin is protected with secure escrow protection, the seller also can not take back the Bitcoin during the trade without raising a dispute. This protects you from bad actors trying not to give traders their cryptocurrency during or after payment. If they did raise a dispute, a customser service representative will get in tough and work with both parties to resolve any dispute.
To pay the seller:
Firstly, use the message box to write to the seller and request any details that you need from them in order to make payment. Once you have these details you can then transfer the money to the seller via the payment method agreed.
In the case of this particular trade, we would now need to ask the seller for his/her Bank details and then we would make a transfer of the funds to their bank account from our own bank account.
You can use the chat feature circled below to ask any relevant questions of the seller before you mark that payment has been made.
TOP TIP: Don’t forget that you should never go outside of the platform to pay or give your payment details to another trader. By remaining within the platform chat and utilising escrow, you have the option to raise a dispute if you have any issues with the trade. Once you take the conversation offline into other channels, we are unable to assist with the dispute in relation to those conversations.
Next, make payment to the seller from your bank account.
Once you have paid the seller, click the button “I have paid to... (username)” as circled below.
Once you have paid, it is now up to the seller to verify that you have made payment. This could be instantaneous if it is a bank payment from the same bank, or it may take a couple of days. If you have any queries in the meanwhile, stay in touch with the seller via the message box and let them know of any delays.
As soon as the seller receives your payment, via the payment method agreed, they will then verify they have received your payment.
Your Bitcoin will then be released from secure escrow protection and will be available instantaneously in your LocalCoinSwap platform wallet.
TOP TIP: Don't forget to leave feedback for the seller as it lets other traders know how well the seller or buyer performed their part in your trade. Always request the other party also leaves feedback for you so that you too can build your reputation on the LocalCoinSwap platform.
That’s it! You have now successfully bought your first Bitcoin peer-to-peer on LocalCoinSwap. Join up now and get started making money buying and selling Bitcoin both locally within your community and worldwide with established OTC cryptocurrency brokers!