P2P Crypto Exchanges With Low Fees
One of the secrets to successfully making money off cryptocurrency is to choose the best crypto exchange. Why? Its range of features and fees can affect the size of profit you can make from trading or investing in digital coins. All things being equal, paying low transaction fees on a crypto platform translates into high profits for traders and investors.
In this guide, we offer our review of the most pocket-friendly peer-to-peer crypto exchanges available today. Read on to find new P2P platforms that allow you to reduce your expenditure on trading fees to zero while maximising your profits.
What is a P2P Crypto Exchange?
A peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto exchange is a digital platform that allows sellers and buyers of cryptocurrencies to engage in direct trade. It uses a decentralised, fast, and secure process to enable people to buy and sell cryptocurrencies without the need for a third party or central control. The parties involved in a transaction define the terms of trade and payment settlement among themselves.
On P2P crypto platforms, users can send or receive money for trading digital assets through any payment method that is convenient for them. Examples include wire transfers, PayPal, SWIFT, SEPA, Western Union, credit cards, and various e-wallets. Some parties even prefer to make cash transactions, but this is not advisable because of the high likelihood of fraud and other financial risks.
To ensure the reliability of transactions, many P2P crypto exchanges use an escrow service. Thus, they are able to prevent fraud on their platforms. They ensure that it is only after the seller has confirmed receipt of payment that the buyer receives their tokens.
P2P crypto platforms are often preferred for fiat-to-crypto and crypto-to-fiat conversions. This is because they are typically less expensive than the most popular centralised exchanges, with many charging between 0% and 1% in fees.
Top Reasons to Use P2P Crypto Exchanges
Aside from making users pay little or no fees for crypto transactions, are there any other reasons why P2P exchanges are worth considering? Of course, there are! The special benefits of using P2P platforms that support the exchange of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are as follows:
They are decentralised
P2P exchanges, which are essentially decentralised, are the best alternatives when you want to avoid a centralised platform. They allow buyers and sellers to directly engage in secure transactions with themselves, thus giving them the liberty to determine their preferences.
There is an argument that P2P platforms are not completely decentralised. That is because the users are often required to go through KYC checks, and escrow services play the role of a third party. The ability to define your own terms of trade, on the other hand, is undeniably an advantage that P2P crypto exchanges have over centralised crypto exchanges.
Many of them use escrow for transaction protection
The best P2P platforms use an escrow service to ensure that transactions are conflict-free and that fraud is avoided. How does it work? With the use of an escrow mechanism, the buyer will not make payment to the seller until he or she has put the cryptocurrency into the P2P escrow wallet. And at the other end, until payment is made, the seller will hold onto the crypto in the escrow wallet.
Should there be any complaint from either party about a default in payment or crypto delivery, the transaction will be investigated using escrow and an informed judgement will be made. For instance, if the buyer claims to have paid the seller, their proof of payment will be used for verification. If it is found that no payment was made, the escrow will send the crypto back to the seller’s wallet.
They allow the use of many different payment methods
What is as convenient as knowing that you can use a wide range of methods for paying for a purchase? The best P2P crypto exchanges offer buyers and sellers the flexibility to choose any payment method that is convenient for their transactions. The various options include bank transfers, payment cards, money transfer services, and digital wallets. Most centrally-controlled cryptocurrency platforms cannot provide this level of payment autonomy.
They enable fast transactions
P2P crypto exchanges are designed to make transactions very fast by not involving any central authority. In most cases, it takes less than 30 minutes for users to complete the sale or purchase of a cryptocurrency on such platforms. However, it is important to mention that the chosen payment method might affect the speed of P2P transactions. For instance, using a virtual card is faster than paying by cheque. Besides, several factors can increase the time taken to complete a payment, especially in the case of cross-border transfers.
FAQ
You can find the lowest commission on the best P2P crypto exchanges. Examples of them are Kraken, Binance, LocalBitcoins, FTX, Bisq, and Bybit.
The easiest way to get crypto without breaking your bank is to create an account with a low-fee crypto exchange. We have listed the best examples in this article.
The crypto wallet with the lowest fees is offered by Binance. Most traders and investors find that storing their cryptocurrencies in its Trust Wallet is less expensive than using other wallets.
No! There are crypto exchanges that do not charge fees. We have listed the best P2P platforms with the lowest fees in this post.
The prices of cryptocurrencies are determined by several factors, most especially the level of traffic, or changes in demand and supply. For example, during periods of high traffic, the fees increase as transactions become slower, while the reverse is normally the case when traffic is low.
What Are the Best P2P Crypto Exchanges With the Lowest Fees?
Below is our list of the best crypto exchanges for cheap, secure, safe, and fast P2P transactions. We chose them because their fees are minimal. Moreover, some of them do not require KYC checks and are considerate in their rules. Yet, they maintain professional standards of operations and service delivery.
Kraken
Kraken is one of the best low-fee P2P crypto exchanges for trading Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum, Litecoin, Cardano, Polkadot, Dogecoin, and other cryptocurrencies. It has more than 9 million customers and supports over 190 countries.
Kraken features a wide range of products and services for cryptocurrency enthusiasts and experts to engage in trading and investment, as well as crypto education for beginners. They include crypto staking, Kraken card, margin trading, account management, over-the-counter (OTC) exchange for large-scale crypto trades at no fee, crypto price watch (Cryptowatch), application programming interface (API), crypto guides, 24/7 support, the Kraken NFT marketplace, and various funding options.
Users of Kraken enjoy its industry-leading fees. Makers pay from 0.00% to 0.16%, while takers pay from 0.10% to 0.26%, according to their respective 30-day volumes of trade in USD. In its Instant Buy offering, users pay a fee of 0.9% for any stablecoins and 1.5% for any other FX pair or cryptocurrency.
Sign up for Kraken using its mobile app or website, and you will be able to buy over 185 different cryptocurrencies in minutes. You do not need to break the bank to begin enjoying instant deposits and withdrawals. You can start with just $10. However, to become a user of Kraken, you must verify your account by passing its KYC and AML checks. They are an international standard for ensuring safe and legal online payments. However, it is necessary to mention that some people still use fake identities to pass KYC checks, especially because they are determined to operate under the fundamental ideology of a crypto market that is free of control.
Binance P2P
Binance is a global leader in the crypto world. It provides a digital platform for people to buy, sell, trade, and hold more than 350 cryptocurrencies. There are over 120 million registered users of Binance, and they are supported in more than 150 countries and territories.
The range of products and services on Binance is vast. It includes its Academy, Crypto Card, NFT, Trust Wallet, Gift Card, OTC trading, and exchange—Binance P2P—where traders pay the lowest fees in the market. For example, takers and makers pay zero fees, depending on the trading pairs and fiat markets. But every user of the Binance P2P platform must complete its KYC procedure. This is a standard that the platform uses to protect its users against fraudulent or dishonest people.
On Binance P2P, crypto traders can use any payment method that they prefer to buy and sell cryptocurrencies and stablecoins safely and easily. Examples of them are Bitcoin (BTC), Binance (BNB), TetherUS (USDT), Ethereum (ETH), and Dai (DAI). When a user places an order for a P2P transaction, the crypto asset is escrowed to ensure a secure exchange process.
LocalBitcoins
LocalBitcoins is one of the best and most trusted Bitcoin P2P marketplaces. Although it is not as big as Binance or Kraken, this crypto exchange offers some of the lowest fees in the market and does not require KYC checks. Thus, it encourages its users to trade and invest freely in cryptocurrency, but not without other security and safety measures. It is registered, licensed, and regulated in Finland.
The LocalBitcoins P2P platform supports about 8 million customers in over 190 countries. Its new users trade Bitcoin at a 0% fee, while makers (sellers) pay a 1% fee, using more than 150 payment methods and supported currencies. The mobile applications for using this service are available on the App Store and Google Play.
Bisq
Bisq may not sound familiar to you, but popular digital coins on the market can be traded on this low-fee P2P exchange. Without registration, you can buy and sell Bitcoin for other cryptocurrencies or fiat money securely and privately on Bisq. Although the platform does not know anything about its users since it does not collect data, you can rest assured that your transaction is protected because it has a built-in escrow service.
The Bisq P2P platform is also noteworthy for its open-source feature. Developers can use this service to create other crypto exchanges. They can join discussions on GitHub and Keybase for project strategy updates and offer advice on using Bisq’s open-source code.
You can trade conveniently on Bisq without having your identity verified—no KYC procedure. The platform now ranks among the most anonymous. For users wishing to sell their assets, payouts are quick and convenient. Makers pay a fee of 0.05%, while takers pay 0.35%. Deposit and withdrawal fees are 0.7% each.
Bybit
Bybit is a cryptocurrency exchange that supports complete P2P trades in minutes for free. It allows people to buy and sell popular digital coins, upgrade their trade to derivatives, earn high yields from staking, use its powerful APIs for developers, buy unique NFTs, and explore the Metaverse.
Bybit does not charge any fees on spot pairs. Also, makers can pay between 0% and 0.1% in fees, while takers are charged between 0.02% and 0.1%, depending on their VIP levels.
How to Trade on a Peer-to-Peer Crypto Platform
In case you are new to trading and investing in cryptocurrency and do not know where to begin, below is a simple step you can follow.
- Choose a P2P exchange and create an account
Apart from Bisq and a few other platforms, most P2P crypto exchanges require you to create an account before you can start trading or investing. So, this is typically the first step you need to take. You just have to look at the P2P exchanges we have listed above, choose whichever you like, and open an account. Usually, the registration process requires newcomers to provide an email address, create a strong password, and, if necessary, pass a KYC check. You may read our tips for using a strong password in this post.
- Sign in and set your P2P parameters
Following the verification and full activation of your P2P crypto account, the next step is to sign into the exchange and choose the cryptocurrency you want to buy from the list. You may want to purchase Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, or any other cryptocurrency (or stablecoin). When you have set the crypto parameter, complete this stage by choosing the amount of crypto you want, selecting a preferred fiat currency, and specifying a supported payment method.
- Spot the best offers in the market
When you have set all your P2P parameters, the exchange will then show you a list of offers from sellers that match your requirements. You are most likely to find the best price possible in the search results. If you would like to see a different list of sellers, modify some of the parameters you have chosen, and a new search result will be displayed.
- Accept an offer and make the funds transfer
The next step is to accept the offer that is most favourable to you. The seller will then be notified that you are willing to buy their crypto. Also, the payment details linked with the seller's account will be displayed. Use the information to transfer the funds in exchange for the crypto and send proof of payment.
- Wait for payment confirmation and receive the crypto
After you have made payment for the digital coins, a notification will be sent to the seller. Meanwhile, if an escrow service is available, the escrow will hold the asset and wait for confirmation from the seller that they have received your payment. When the seller has confirmed your payment, the crypto will be released to you. You can then withdraw or transfer it to your digital wallet.