LocalMonero
Exchange Fees
Deposit Methods
Cryptos (1)
UPDATE 15 May 2024: In an email sent out to its users today, LocalMonero informed that it will be closing down its operations over the coming 6 months. The email explains the decision as follows.
Hey everyone,
After almost 7 years of operation, due to a combination of internal and external factors, we have made the difficult decision to close our platform.
We're extremely thankful for the love and support we've received over the years. We couldn't have done it without you. We love you all.
LocalMonero has been around for most of Monero's life. Fortunately, the Monero ecosystem has matured a lot over these years, and with the imminent launch of Haveno and other DEXs like Serai, atomic swaps, the coming addition of FCMP (full blockchain anonymity set replacing rings of 16) as well as the continuing and rapidly accelerating development of the Monero protocol, we're confident that Monero's future is bright, with or without our platform.
The winding-down process begins 2024-05-07, and finishes 6 months from then. Our support staff will be available for help throughout this period.
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- Effective immediately, all new signups and ad postings and trades are disabled;
- 6 months from now, on November 7th, 2024, the website will be taken down. Please reclaim any funds from your arbitration bond wallet prior to that date, otherwise the funds may be considered abandoned/forfeited.
Can I still register / post an ad?
No, registrations and ad postings are disabled, effective immediately.
Can I still trade if I have an account?
No.
How long do I have to access my account and recover any funds?
Until November 7th, 2024. After that, the funds may be considered abandoned/forfeited.
I have trades/disputes open, what do I do?
All trades have to be finalized or cancelled prior to 2024-11-07. We will continue to arbitrate and mediate any remaining disputes up to that date.
Can I delete my user data?
Yes, on the website, just login and open your account settings, in the "Personal" tab you'll see the "DELETE ACCOUNT" button at the bottom. This function isn't implemented in the mobile app, so you'll need to use a mobile browser to login and delete your account from a mobile device.
I have another question that's not covered here, how do I get assistance?
Our support will be available up until the closure on 2024-11-07. If you need any sort of help, please feel free to reach us through our usual support channels .
That's it for this announcement. It's been a pleasure and a privilege helping the community.
With our eternal love,
The LocalMonero / AgoraDesk Team
Accordingly, we have marked this exchange as "dead" and moved it to our Exchange Graveyard.
To find a reliable exchange, just use our Exchange List and we'll help you find the right platform for you.
LocalMonero Review
What is LocalMonero?
LocalMonero is a crypto exchange based in the British Virgin Islands that launched in 2017.
At LocalMonero, people from different countries can exchange their local currency to Monero. The site allows users to post ads where they state exchange rate and payment methods for buying or selling Monero. You reply to these ads and agree to transact with the person you have replied to. The seller puts the relevant XMR in an escrow account, and when the parties have transacted and the seller has confirmed payment to LocalMonero, then LocalMonero releases the XMR from the escrow to the buyer. This solution by LocalMonero allows the exchange to safely escrow the cryptos of any user without taking control of it.
In many ways, LocalMonero is like an online store or an Ebay for cryptocurrencies. Investors at the exchange post different “ads”, where they offer a price quote for a specific cryptocurrency. This ad can be for both buying or selling or either one of those actions. If you as another buyer/seller thinks the offer is good, you can just take it.
Different Languages
The site is available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Italian and Portuguese.
US-investors
LocalMonero does not restrict citizens or residents from any jurisdiction from trading at the platform. Accordingly, US-investors are also permitted here.
Unique Things with This Platform
There are a few things with this platform that are unique, or at least quite unusual.
No KYC/AML: This platform does not employ any form of KYC/AML, nor do they “ever plan on doing so”. LocalMonero firmly believes that the very concept of KYC/AML is “completely antithetical to the very idea of a peer-to-peer over-the-counter exchange”, and until there are no more legal ways on planet Earth to avoid implementing KYC/AML they will do everything they legally can to provide their users with a hassle-free experience.
No JavaScript-versions: The team behind this platform has a background in the Monero community. This community is quite privacy focused. A user that fully blocks Google services will be able to use this platform without a problem. The platform is even fully functional without JavaScript, which ensures a level of security and privacy that LocalMonero claims can never be achieved on other platforms that require JavaScript to operate.
Tor and I2P: The platform also has Tor and I2P portals.
LocalMonero Trading View
Different exchanges have different trading views. And there is no “this overview is the best”-view. You should yourself determine which trading view that suits you the best. What the views normally have in common is that they all show the order book or at least part of the order book, a price chart of the chosen crypto and order history. LocalMonero, however, is as mentioned above not really an exchange per se. It is more like an Ebay for cryptos. At this place, you can scan through a number of different sale/purchase ads that have been posted by other users of the platform. You can sort by payment method, location, popularity etc, to find a seller/buyer that you want to transact with. The below is a picture of the list where you can find different offers at LocalMonero:
LocalMonero Fees
LocalMonero Trading fees
Considering the above business model, the distinction between parties on the exchange is not taker and maker, it’s rather more like person advertising and person responding to advertisement. The person doing the advertisement is charged 1.00% fee for every completed trade. The person responding to the advertisement doesn’t have to pay any fees at all to the platform.
If comparing 1.00% to normal trading fees, it is quite high. 0.00%, however (as it is for the person posting the ad) is much lower than the industry average. The industry average is arguably around 0.25% both ways. However, there are dissimilarities between LocalMonero and other normal exchanges somewhat explaining the higher fee.
We recommend investors using LocalMonero to consider themselves whether this fee is fair or not.
LocalMonero Withdrawal fees
This peer-to-peer exchange charges a withdrawal fee amounting to only the network fee + 25% when you withdraw crypto from the platform. This fee is below the industry average and is an advantage against most other exchanges out there.
On the date of last checking the withdrawal fees (21 September 2020), the XMR standard network fee was 0.0000747875 XMR.
Deposit Methods
At this place, you can purchase advertised cryptos through both wire transfer and credit cards. Actually, you can pay through more than 30 different payment methods. For instance, you can purchase crypto through PayPal here. That is not very common on the market, even though there is a clear demand for that payment method. You can also pay in numerous other ways (cash, for instance).
The above can be especially helpful for newer crypto investors. It also makes this exchange an “entry-level exchange”, meaning an exchange where a new crypto investor can enter the market.