LocalEthereum Woos LocalBitcoins Traders After Platform Reportedly Bans Cash Trading

Finnish P2P bitcoin (BTC) trading platform LocalBitcoins has kept silent after users reported it had removed cash trading from its service on June 1.

LocalBitcoins, which allows users to trade BTC for fiat currency privately, purportedly cut the option for in-person meetups to trade crypto for cash, angering social media commentators.

“It’s time to no longer recommend LocalBitcoins, EVER,” the top response to the original Reddit report reads.

Executives from the company have so far refrained from publicly commenting on the move, which follows a slow process of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) implementation.

As Cointelegraph reported, LocalBitcoins halted anonymous trading in April 2018, requiring high-volume account holders to identify themselves before conducting further business.

Based in Helsinki, the company reported in February that it would be working towards compliance with European Union AML/KYC standards.

Last week, LocalBitcoins sanctioned users based in Iran, again reportedly due to EU rules, a source told Cointelegraph.

For some, however, the latest change provided a marketing opportunity. LocalEthereum, the similarly-named platform catering to ether (ETH) traders, announced it had removed cash transaction fees as a direct response to LocalBitcoins.

“The global war on cash and privacy continues. LocalBitcoins suddenly removed all cash-in-person offers today, without any warning to its users,” a blog post read Saturday. It further noted:

“Meeting in person is one of the oldest ways to exchange between crypto and fiat, and it remains one of the safest. As long as you follow simple guidelines, it’s incredibly rare for anything to go wrong.”