LocalBitcoins
| Industry | P2P exchange |
| Founded | 2012 |
| Defunct | February 2023 |
| Headquarters | Helsinki, Finland |
| Website | localbitcoins.com (historical) |
LocalBitcoins was a Helsinki-based peer-to-peer bitcoin marketplace. Users posted buy and sell advertisements; the platform provided escrow, reputation scoring and dispute tools for cash and bank-transfer trades across many countries. It permanently shut down in February 2023, citing market conditions. Trading was suspended on 16 February 2023; afterward users could only withdraw remaining balances.[1]
History
LocalBitcoins launched around 2012 and became one of the longest-running public P2P bitcoin venues. At peaks of the 2017 bull market, weekly volume was reported above $100 million in consecutive weeks. By late 2022 CoinDance data cited in CoinDesk put weekly volume nearer $5–7 million.[1]
In October 2019 the company implemented mandatory identity verification (KYC) for customers.[2]
On 9 February 2023 LocalBitcoins announced that it would end its bitcoin trading service, citing the ongoing crypto-winter. Trading was to be suspended on 16 February 2023, after which login access was limited to withdrawals.[1] The public site was later replaced with a shutdown notice.