The new “Local Trade” update gives Blue Wallet users a way to privately trade Bitcoin from their smartphones.
Want to buy and sell Bitcoin without revealing your identity? There’s a mobile app for that.
The team behind Blue Wallet, an open source and Bitcoin-focused mobile wallet, released “Local Trader” on Friday, an integration for private peer-to-peer trading through Hodl Hodl. Blue Wallet users on iOS and Android are now able to browse P2P offers for Bitcoin directly in the Blue Wallet app, meaning they no longer have to go on seperate desktop browser exchanges to trade.
Check out the first version of our “Local Trader” feature, powered by @hodlhodl
This is an alpha release for feedback and violent reactions. Leave yours!
What do you want to see next? pic.twitter.com/kLSigZagVf
— Blue Wallet (@bluewalletio) April 3, 2020
“BlueWallet has 60k+ downloads,” Hodl Hodl CEO Max Keidun told Decrypt. “So with this one integration we will be able to bring thousands of new people to KYC-free, non-custodial P2P trading.” Keidun further stated that adding the service to the mobile app is “a next step in BTC mass-adoption and next step in adoption of P2P trading.”
With Blue Wallet, users can trade on Hodl Hodl with just an email address that doesn’t have to be linked to their identity. Users can then search or post offers by country, type, payment option, and currency for exchange. Hodl Hodl also said it’s working with Blue Wallet to add new features like in-app contracts and more advanced trading features.
This is another step in Blue Wallet’s “preparation for war” to give users a “hedge against all regulated exchanges going bad” with know-your-customer and anti-money laundering surveillance. Most big exchanges now require buyers and sellers to reveal their identity. Other formerly private P2P exchanges like Paxful and LocalBitcoins have succumbed to pressure from authorities to do identity checks on users.
As for concerns with how authorities might react to this, Hodl Hodl said it has a backup plan, if needed. “We are non-custodial, thus we don’t hold or process any funds, and by that we are not subject to regulation,” Keidun said. “There might be problems in the future but we have Plan B, Plan C and other plans to tackle these issues and create censorship-resistant and efficient trading.”
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