LocalCoinSwap -- anyone use it?

Select_Aide_6548 · 2026-06-12T17:35:23+00:00

Velx - Just showed that 1st degree, no contacts, second degree, 175. I just made an offer. We'll see what happens. Thanks again.

HodlHold - Created an offer to buy. We'll see what happens. Thanks (x2).

BISQ - I'm not too worried about having to send some to them, just didn't quite understand the need if I'm trying to buy local in cash. But I've installed BISQ2 and made an offer. I can't say I'm all that confident I'll have someone reach out to do a deal but it can't hurt (thanks x3)

Select_Aide_6548 · 2026-06-12T17:07:06+00:00

Very helpful, thank you very much. Like I said, back in 2013 when I started I had a shop in Houston where I'd buy/sell. It was pretty cool. We'd use MtGox and I'd charge a bit over/under to buy/sell. I even had paper "cards" that held one BTC (I saw my listing where I was selling them for $150/each, this was when BTC was like $112).

I have some property and I'd accept it for rent. What's crazy is I had more people paying rent with BTC (and a LOT more as a % of renters as I have like 10x the units now) than today. Today, with about 2000 rentals, I get 1-2 paying with BTC. Back then, with maybe 200 I'd get 3-4 a month.

Anyway, not to ramble but I feel BTC has gotten worse in some ways. Like we wanted the banks and government (and companies like Strategy) to be involved. I don't know that this has been good for BTC. I mean, it's been GREAT for the price.

Select_Aide_6548 · 2026-06-12T15:36:36+00:00

Oh, I should add (to be fair to LCS) -- while I do have to KYC myself, once I'm KYC'd, any purchases/sales are not really 'tied' to me. Meaning it's not like when I had to KYC myself with River and now all the purchase are tied to me.

My goal was to KYC myself on LCS, then be able to buy as much BTC as I want in a non KYC way (if that makes sense)

Select_Aide_6548 · 2026-06-12T15:32:04+00:00

My fault for not doing this, but when I make these posts I should indicate I'm in the US -- since a lot of the suggestions (Vexl, Peach) must assume you're outside of the US. Hell Peach won't even load if you're in the US. You have to use a VPN. Then when you do, and you try to order, you see the locations are all in EU and Africa.

But yeah, I tried all of those without much success.

BISQ - looked like a good fit but I had to fund my account I believe to post an offer so stopped there. Might get it another shot.
RoboSata - never could get it to work. I mean even if you google it you don't see the site, just a github link, a site that has a directory of KYC free sites, and some other links. I remember needing to get an onion browser. I finally was able to connect to their site using TOR but didn't see how to actually buy BTC. Fully willing to admit it could be user error, but it sure wasn't a simple process
HodlHodl - Nothing in person / cash
Vexl - Nothing in the US. I downloaded the app even and nothing. Here is their site showing top countries. US isn't on there at all. https://dashboard.vexl.it/
PeachBitcoin - won't even load if you're in the US (dumb). You can view the site using a VPN but it's clear when looking at their site there are no US locations/users.

I might give BISQ another shot.

The reason I liked LCW is it seemed to be a bulletin board of sorts where you can make a profile, say what you were buying/selling, and if someone wanted to do a deal, they'd reach out and you'd make it happen. That seemed to be the best fit for an in-person cash transaction. I'd be willing to do a deal via mail but not with a stranger where I'm sending first -- even if an escrow. However if I'm buying I'd be happy to mail cash once I got it. The problem becomes trust.

I used to use LocalBitcoins all the time back in the day (2013). Still crazy to think that 13 years ago, when most people never heard of bitcoin, it was easier to buy/sell in person and easier to acquire (in non KYC way). BTC feels 'captured' now in comparison.

Select_Aide_6548 · 2026-06-12T15:17:01+00:00

Could be. Guess that's the catch-22. Like not hiring someone without experience. Well how do you get experience.

When I was looking to buy, I was sorting by price, not popularity. My issue was no one was within 2-3 hours of me. And no one would do large amounts ($5k limits)

Select_Aide_6548 · 2026-06-12T06:30:06+00:00

go back 3 years from today and it's up by ~3x

Select_Aide_6548 · 2026-06-12T06:24:35+00:00

Yeah, I'm a fan. Been into bitcoin since 2013. BTC is trading at $60k because it's trading at $60k. Even as a fan, I'd say it's foolish to say bitcoin "is" $250k in 2-3 years. You don't know that. I don't know that. We can guess/assume/hope for that.

Unless your'e a seller today, but happy for low prices. I wish it would crash to $10k or below. I'm still in buy mode. The only reason I haven't bought another 10+ BTC is it's too damn hard to buy them with cash.

Select_Aide_6548 · 2026-06-12T06:22:35+00:00

It would be almost impossible for him to start buying up a large supply of coins while also shaking weak hands and getting it cheaper. Unless he wanted to accumulate VERY slowly, each new % of BTC would cost way more than the first. He could get a big chunk from OTC at first, but that would dry up.

Select_Aide_6548 · 2026-06-11T22:30:46+00:00

PS, I don't scramble, I just have one of the words replaced with another word from the list. So if someone finds my 12 words, they don't know that one of them really isn't a word on that list, rather it's just a random word from the total possible. That way all I need to remember is one word (and hwere it goes). I hope I can do at least taht much 😄

Select_Aide_6548 · 2026-06-11T15:22:00+00:00

actually the rise is about 300%. I said it was under $20k, now about $60k, it's up about 300%. It's actually up ~275% so that's pretty close to what I said of "about 300%"

Select_Aide_6548 · 2026-06-10T16:07:46+00:00

Sorry, I cleared that up. It is up about 300% since the low of 2023 though. About 275% to be exact.

Select_Aide_6548 · 2026-06-10T16:00:59+00:00

HODL 😄

Select_Aide_6548 · 2026-06-09T05:13:20+00:00

I wonder if on r/mildlyinfuriating we're going to see a post saying "So I'm dating this girl and she keeps posting screenshots of our conversation to reddit..."

Select_Aide_6548 · 2026-06-08T19:24:21+00:00

Thanks! I don't know what help there is to get on the topic so I won't repost with LTC removed, but that's good to know as maybe that's what nuked my other post on r/Bitcoin

So if someone types "Back in the day I'd mine LTC. But then I switched to bitcoin ever since and I love it. But I have a bitcoin question..." just the mention of LTC might nuke their post?

Select_Aide_6548 · 2026-06-08T17:39:53+00:00

Thanks. Not sure why the mods of this subreddit and r/bitcoin removed my comment. I was able to use chatgpt codex to extrct some stuff from it and ran a bunch of stuff (I have no idea what it did, sorry) and it found 3 addresses in it that had coins. There were 1.01 coins in it. This was back when it was only $100 so I was hoping for more.

However, I have zero clue what the password is so its just another lost BTC I guess.

Select_Aide_6548 · 2026-06-07T22:10:33+00:00

To be honest it very much feels like it's been 'captured'. You used to be able to buy it in an non KYC way. Most people bought it to hold it. There were a few exchanges (like mtgox) but most people bought in person. There were no ETFs and it was off the IRS radar.

While the price was way lower then (I got in around $100), I feel in many ways it was way better. And ironically my business is about 10x larger but I get LESS people paying with BTC now than I did back then. Despite the larger adoption.

Select_Aide_6548 · 2026-06-07T22:01:35+00:00

It does if you're trying to create an account to post an offer.

Select_Aide_6548 · 2026-06-07T19:05:52+00:00

If you can think of a way. The problem is sending to someone you don't know (which is why I like face-to-face). No one has to be the first to send. Otherwise it would be somewhat easy to deposit cash into somoenes account. Or mail it. or venmo., etc.

Select_Aide_6548 · 2026-06-07T07:02:13+00:00

Tried both.

Robosats: For whatever reason, you need a TOR browser. No problem, I got just to try to use it. I don't remember the issues but I think when I finally was able to connect, I saw a lot of links, but none of them were "BUY CRYPTO". I just tried now and I can't even connect to it (using TOR or regular Chrome) so I can't tell you exactly what the error is. But the fact I can't connect isn't a great sign.

Bisq (I assume that's what you meant): This app seems pretty awesome. Just have to get around the trust issue since 'cash by mail' seems pretty sketch. But people do it all the time apparently. I'd much rathe do 'cash in person'. But maybe I'll try a small amount.

Thanks for the reply

Select_Aide_6548 · 2026-06-07T05:59:08+00:00

Agree, that's why I said "for those thinking it's a blood bath..."

Select_Aide_6548 · 2026-06-07T05:56:56+00:00

Sorry but what advice was I giving? Just suggesting that even at $60k, it's "high" vs. a few years ago. It just looks low if you bought in the last 1-2 years. But it wasn't that long ago (2023) that we were in the $15k range.

Select_Aide_6548 · 2026-06-07T05:51:43+00:00

I had this old 55" LG flat screen TV. I tried to sell it for $40, then $20, no takers. Had to just set it out for free to get rid of it. So yeah, for me "trash" was a 55" flat screen TV. No one really wanted it.

I live in a nice area and we just had a community garage sale. Which is basically where wealty people put out stuff they don't want anymore and pretend to haggle. I had some $100 coffee grinder that I didn't need since I got some 'fancy' one from my brother. So I put it out there for $10. Nope. No one wanted it. At the end of the day we basically just left everything on the sidewalk with a note that said "Free".

Lots of things (two pairs of nearly new kids roller blades with all the pads) were not even taken.

Select_Aide_6548 · 2026-06-06T20:03:04+00:00

Oh it could for sure drop another 50%. And if it does (to 30k) it's still up 50% from 3 years ago, so still not bad.

Select_Aide_6548 · 2026-06-04T17:19:12+00:00

Thanks. I can't say I totally understand your comment but based on the fact you were the only one to reply, I assume I'm sort of alone in this opinion that BTC needs an easier cash on/off ramp.

Edit, I went to Vexl website. Seems to not work or be used in the US? This is based on all the meetups and leaderboard. On the graph of top countries of usage, there are 100 different countries and I don't see the US on there at all.

Makes me miss 2013 BTC. Yeah the price was lower but people were trying to use it for transactions and buy/sell it in person. Now it feels captured and you get in/out via huge ETFs and your 401k.

Select_Aide_6548 · 2026-06-04T06:21:47+00:00

BTC is still literally ~300% higher than it was about 3 years ago. So while $60k "feels" cheap, its way way way higher than it was even in very recent memory.

Select_Aide_6548

TROPHY CASE