What is LocalCryptos?
LocalCryptos is a peer-to-peer marketplace. People from all walks of life place ads on LocalCryptos to buy and sell crypto.
When two people agree on a sale, the buyer pays the fiat half directly to the seller—which is why LocalCryptos is so fast.
What happened to LocalEthereum?
LocalEthereum became LocalCryptos in November 2019.
LocalEthereum began in 2017 as the first peer-to-peer marketplace for Ethereum. After growing to more than 100,000 users, we opened the doors to Bitcoin and more.
Same team. Same platform. Now with more cryptos.
Why is this way better?
You've read the news. Exchanges have lost the password to hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin. They have accidentally deleted at least $15 million worth of ETH. They collect troves of sensitive passport scans only for them to end up on the dark web and sold to identity thieves.
Centralized exchanges lost more than $4 billion of your money in 2019. And that doesn't include the crimes swept under the rug.
Crypto has earned itself a poor reputation, but it's not because of the technology. It's because Wall Street bankers have crept into the space and created a mess.
When you trade on a non-custodial crypto marketplace, you are in control—not custodians, not bankers.
What if the other person doesn't pay?
A decentralized escrow account holds the crypto side of the trade. This provides a guarantee of funds to the buyer, and an abort path for the seller.
The buyer of crypto should never send money before the crypto is in escrow. Likewise, the seller should only release the escrow after they see money in their account.
If payment never arrives, either party can raise a payment dispute. This allows an arbitrator to decrypt messages, verify evidence, and get the crypto to its rightful owner.
How does the escrow work?
LocalCryptos is the first and largest platform to offer a decentralized, non-custodial escrow system.
The technical details of the escrow depends on the crypto chosen. Ethereum escrows use a smart contract, and Bitcoin escrows use a P2WSH transaction.
All blockchains are unique. Whenever we add a new crypto, our engineering team develops a new escrow script to fit the protocol.
A non-custodial escrow system makes it impossible for LocalCryptos to steal from escrow accounts. By the same token, the platform's non-custodial nature makes it immune from common hacks and thefts.