In his college-aged days, Chris Maurice, the CEO of African crypto exchange Yellow Card, said he put his life savings into Bitcoin (BTC), finding it stolen shortly after. “Bitcoin was about $200 at the time, and I decided basically I was just going to dump my entire savings account into into it,” Maurice told Cointelegraph in an interview. Maurice said he had approximately $5,000 in his savings back then, with which he bought roughly 21 BTC. “I was holding it all on LocalBitcoins, because that was the wallet that I used…
Tag: LocalBitcoins
LocalBitcoins Deploys Elliptic’s Blockchain-Powered Tracking Tools for Enhanced Surveillance
Leading peer to peer (P2P) Bitcoin trading platform LocalBitcoins has partnered with Elliptic, a global provider of crypto asset risk management solutions, to tame the headache of its illegal usage through blockchain-enabled monitoring tools. Elliptic has had a reputation for offering crypto compliance solutions to enterprise crypto-financial institutions and businesses. Screening crypto transactions Through the strategic collaboration, Finland-based LocalBitcoins will comply with regulations, such as know-your-customer (KYC) and the European Union’s Fifth Money Laundering Directive (5AMLD). The P2P platform will use Elliptic Lens and Elliptic Navigator to screen crypto wallets…
Why Did LocalBitcoins Give Up Their Users’ Privacy?
Elena Tonoyan, the COO at LocalBitcoins, explains how the oldest peer-to-peer Bitcoin exchange has been stepping up the fight against criminal activities on the platform. As of 2019, LocalBitcoins has been cited as the exchange receiving the most criminal funds for three years in a row, according to a report by CypherTrace. The results for 2020 will be much different, assures Tonoyan, referring to the stringent KYC/AML procedure adopted by the exchange in September last year. Results already appear to be visible. Citing recent data, Tonoyan claims that volumes sent…
LocalBitcoins Revenue Up 10% Despite KYC Impacting Market Share
Veteran peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto marketplace LocalBitcoins has reported annual revenue of nearly $29.5 million for 2019. The revenue comprises a roughly 10% increase over 2018’s $26.9 million, however, the firm also noted a 6% drop in annual operating income to $19.8 million. LocalBitcoins’ staff also expanded significantly last year as the platform strengthened its know-your-customer (KYC) requirements in the third and fourth quarters of last year, with the firm’s headcount increasing from 26 to 43. LocalBitcoins stifles illicit activity “2019 was an invaluable learning experience for us, as we implemented…
Russia Leads Global BTC Trading on LocalBitcoins for 2nd Month in a Row
Despite local cryptocurrency uncertainty, Russia is strengthening its leadership on major peer-to-peer exchange LocalBitcoins in the share of Bitcoin (BTC) trading volumes. Russia has traded the most Bitcoin on LocalBitcoins exchange for two consecutive months, April and May 2020, according to an analysis by crypto media startup CryptoDiffer. Russia trades nearly twice as much BTC on LocalBitcoins as Venezuela and the U.S. According to the data, Russia was responsible for 19% of total BTC trading volumes on LocalBitcoins this May, leaving Venezuela and the United States trailing. LocalBitcoins’ BTC trading…
Iran Ditches the Rial Amid Hyperinflation as LocalBitcoins Seem to Trade Near $35K
Per a May 4 report from local outlet Mehr News, Iran’s new ‘Reforming Monetary and Banking Law’ has passed in parliament. The new law dictates the transition from rial to the toman — valued at 10,000 rials — within the next two years. Hyperinflation and the BTC connection in Iran Back in 2018, Iranian authorities set an official exchange rate at some 42,000 rial to the dollar. Many currency exchanges still show this as the going rate. At the same time, peer-to-peer Bitcoin exchange LocalBitcoins is seeing prices of 1,445,658,900…
Chile LocalBitcoins Volume Hits All-Time High Amid Pandemic-Induced Crisis
LocalBitcoins data shows that the weekly trading volume in Chile’s fiat currency recently touched a new all-time high. Cryptocurrency market data platform CoinDance shows that LocalBitcoins volume in Chile reached a new record of over 330 million Chilean pesos in the week ending on April 4. Chile LocalBitcoins volume in Chilean Pesos. Source: CoinDance It is worth noting that these figures are also influenced by the depreciation of the Chilean peso. According to data from foreign exchange website XE, the currency fell by over 6.45% against the dollar in the…
How To Start a Cryptocurrency Exchange Like Localbitcoins?
You can start a cryptocurrency exchange like localbitcoins with the use of premium localbitcoins clone script. Since localbitcoins is the most wanted and easy to trade cryptocurrency exchange platform, it has inspired a lot of business people to start a similar crypto exchange along with similar ad-based cryptocurrency trading. Bitdeal is the early cryptocurrency exchange development company, who has initiated to serve localbitcoins clone script for potential clients from all over the world. In this article we are going to cover the steps to launch a cryptocurrency exchange like localbitcoins,…
LocalBitcoins Seller Charged After Undercover ‘Human Trafficking’ Sting
A Washington state resident has been charged with money laundering after selling Bitcoin for $140,000 in cash to undercover agents. Bothell’s Kenneth Warren Rhule, 26, met with agents from Homeland Security Investigations on numerous occasions between April to December 2018, often in Seattle-area Starbucks cafes. According to the unsealed complaint Rhule — who traded on localbitcoins.com under the name Gimacut9 — allegedly closed at least seven deals with agents “posing as criminals” who wanted to buy untraceable Bitcoin with the proceeds of their operations. They told Rhule they were bringing…
LocalBitcoins Seller Charged After Undercover ‘Human Trafficking’ Sting
A Washington state resident has been charged with money laundering after selling Bitcoin for $140,000 in cash to undercover agents. Bothell’s Kenneth Warren Rhule, 26, met with agents from Homeland Security Investigations on numerous occasions between April to December 2018, often in Seattle-area Starbucks cafes. According to the unsealed complaint Rhule — who traded on localbitcoins.com under the name Gimacut9 — allegedly closed at least seven deals with agents “posing as criminals” who wanted to buy untraceable Bitcoin with the proceeds of their operations. They told Rhule they were bringing…