Glossary Cryptography and payment
P2P exchange
Also: peer-to-peer exchange, non-custodial exchange, Bisq, Hodl Hodl, RoboSats, AgoraDesk
Origin: The architecture dates to mid-2010s decentralised-exchange experimentation; the long-lived implementations include Bisq (launched 2014), Hodl Hodl (2017), AgoraDesk (the successor to LocalMonero/LocalBitcoins lineage, 2017), and RoboSats (Lightning-only, 2021).
A cryptocurrency-trading platform in which trades execute directly between two parties without the platform taking custody of the funds, typically using a multi-signature escrow construction to ensure neither party can defraud the other. The principal acquisition path for Monero (and increasingly for Bitcoin) that does not pass through a KYC-mediated exchange.
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A peer-to-peer cryptocurrency exchange is a trading platform in which trades execute directly between two parties without the platform taking custody of the funds. The typical construction uses a multi-signature escrow: the seller deposits the cryptocurrency into a 2-of-3 multisig address with one key held by the seller, one by the buyer, and one by the platform’s escrow function; the buyer pays the seller through a fiat or alternative payment rail (bank transfer, cash deposit, gift cards, IBAN, SEPA); the seller, on receipt, signs the multisig output to the buyer’s wallet. Disputes are resolved by the platform’s mediation arm, which holds the third escrow key.
The principal long-lived implementations vary by chain pair and trading mechanic. Bisq, launched 2014, supports Bitcoin and a range of altcoins with a Tor-routed trading interface and federated mediator network. Hodl Hodl, launched 2017, supports Bitcoin and runs a centralised dispute-resolution arm. AgoraDesk, the successor to the LocalMonero / LocalBitcoins lineage that operated through 2023, supports Bitcoin and Monero with web-based trading and a credibility-rating system. RoboSats, launched 2021, supports Lightning-Bitcoin trading with onion-routed identities and short-lived robot pseudonyms.
The acquisition path matters substantively for an offshore-hosting subscriber who wishes to pay in cryptocurrency without the payment being traceable back to a KYC-mediated identity. A subscriber who buys Monero on a KYC exchange and pays the operator in Monero has, depending on the operator’s chain-analysis exposure, possibly defeated the privacy proposition the payment route was supposed to procure: the exchange holds the chain-of-custody data that links the subscriber’s identity to the Monero output that pays the operator. A subscriber who acquires Monero through a P2P exchange — or through an atomic swap — does not generate that linkage at the moment of acquisition.
The legal posture on P2P exchanges varies sharply by jurisdiction. The United States has pursued operators of LocalBitcoins-style services on money-transmission grounds; the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), in force 2024–2025, brings P2P exchange operators within an authorisation framework in some configurations. OffshorePress’s payment dossiers cite P2P exchange as one of several recommended acquisition paths and explicitly avoid recommending a specific service.