Peer-to-Peer Exchanges

Trading Without a Middleman Holding Funds

A peer-to-peer (P2P) exchange connects a buyer and a seller directly instead of a company holding everyone's money and matching orders internally. You are trading with another person, and the platform's job is to make that safe — usually by holding the crypto in escrow until both sides confirm the deal is done. Because no central company custodies your funds, there is no exchange balance to be frozen, hacked, or lost in a bankruptcy. The trade-off is that you take on the direct counterparty and, often, a more hands-on process.

Two Well-Known Models

**Bisq** is a downloadable, decentralised application with no company account: it runs over Tor, uses a security deposit and multisig escrow, and settles fiat payments directly between users. **Hodl Hodl** is a web-based non-custodial platform that uses multisig escrow so it never holds your Bitcoin, even briefly. Both let people buy and sell — often Bitcoin for local fiat — without handing custody to an intermediary, and both lean on escrow plus reputation to keep trades honest.

• P2P exchanges match individuals directly rather than custodying everyone's funds
• Escrow holds the crypto until both sides confirm the trade completed
• Bisq: decentralised desktop app over Tor; Hodl Hodl: web-based, non-custodial multisig
• No central custody means no exchange balance to freeze, hack, or lose in bankruptcy