Bisq
grade A
Buy and sell bitcoin for fiat (or other cryptocurrencies) privately and securely using Bisq's peer-to-peer network and open-source desktop software. No registra
grade A
What the documents mean for you
Bisq can award your security deposit, 15–50% of the trade, to your counterparty if a mediator or arbitrator finds you broke the trading rules. You must lock BTC before you can buy BTC. No registration or KYC, and trade funds sit in 2-of-2 multisig you co-control.
The FAQ states outright that Bisq requires no registration or KYC, and repeats it in the privacy section ('No registration or KYC is required'). There is no clause anywhere in the corpus letting anyone ask you for identity documents or hold your funds until you identify yourself; trade funds sit in a 2-of-2 multisig that only you and your peer can spend.
Nothing in these pages triggers an identity check: you download software, you do not create an account, and no operator asks for documents. What does limit you is the account signing and account age system, which caps trade sizes for new accounts on certain fiat payment methods until you have completed successful trades. Your counterparty, not Bisq, sees the name on your bank payment.
Warnings
Breaking a trading rule, including paying late or using a name that does not match the account, can cost you part or all of your security deposit, which is at least 15% of the trade amount.
If a fiat buyer reverses the bank payment after the bitcoin is released, Bisq cannot undo it and the seller has no remedy inside Bisq.
The classic v1 protocol requires roughly 0.002 BTC up front to cover the minimum security deposit and mining fees before you can trade. Bisq Easy in Bisq 2 does not require a security deposit.
How the score was reached
Privacy98/100
Trust100/100
Overall = (privacy × 0.6 + trust × 0.4) / 10, rounded = 10/10, grade A. Each attribute above rests on a clause quoted below or was assigned by a moderator; the rest is what the listing knows.
Attributes13 moved the score
Usage can be detected on public blockchainsprivacy -2
On transparent blockchains, use of the service may be publicly identifiable.
Refunds do not require KYCprivacy +5 · trust +5
The refund process does not require the completion of a Know Your Customer procedure or the disclosure of personal information.
Verifiedtrust +10
Passed repeated checks over time and showed consistent behavior.
Non-custodial walletprivacy +3 · trust +5
The user holds and manages the private keys; the service never has custody of the funds.
Trade funds sit in a 2-of-2 multisig address that only you and your trading peer control; Bisq holds no bitcoin.
“Bisq does **not** hold your bitcoin. Trading funds (in the classic v1 protocol) are held in **2-of-2 multisignature addresses** controlled solely by you and your trading peer.”
Other, bisq.wiki
Strict no-log policyprivacy +5 · trust +3
The service has a strict no-log policy: it does not collect or store any information about its users.
Open source codetrust +7
The source code of the service is publicly available and licensed as open source.
The software is published under the AGPLv3 open-source licence with source on GitHub.
“Yes. Bisq's software is free/libre open-source licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License (AGPLv3).”
Other, bisq.wiki
Peer to peer networkprivacy +2 · trust +5
A decentralised network in which individual computers connect directly rather than through the operator.
Escrow availabletrust +6
A trusted third party holds funds during a peer-to-peer transaction until both sides have delivered.
Accepts Moneroprivacy +5
This service accepts Monero, a privacy-focused cryptocurrency that provides enhanced anonymity.
Decentralized networktrust +5
Data, control and decision-making are distributed across independent nodes rather than one operator.
There are no central servers; offers live in a distributed offer book that depends on each user's own client being online.
“Yes. Since there are no central servers, your Bisq application must be running and online for your offers to be visible and available for others to take.”
Other, bisq.wiki
No registration neededprivacy +5
Users can access and use the service without creating an account.
The FAQ states that no registration and no KYC are required to trade; you run the software yourself.
“Bisq requires **no registration or KYC** , protecting your privacy. Data about who trades with whom is not stored.”
Other, bisq.wiki
Peer to peer markettrust +4
A marketplace where unknown people trade directly with one another rather than with the operator.
Trades happen directly between users running the software, not with an operator.
“Bisq is fundamentally different: it's a peer-to-peer trading network accessed via software you run on your own hardware, not a website or centralized service. It connects you directly to other users running the software to facilitate trades.”
Other, bisq.wiki
Non-custodial protocoltrust +3
The protocol never takes custody of the user's funds during an exchange.
The wiki states the protocol never takes custody of user funds during a trade.
“Bisq never custodies your funds, and it avoids reputation mechanisms that would weaken your privacy”
Security, bisq.wiki
What costs you most first. Tap one to read the clause it rests on, or what the listing knows, priced as kycnot.me prices it.
What the documents say
If a mediator or arbitrator decides you broke the trading rules, part or all of your security deposit goes to the other trader. Late payment or a mismatching name counts as a violation.
“When a trade doesn't go the happy path, a portion or the total amount of the offending peer's deposit will be lost, depending on whether the trade is concluded in mediation or arbitration.”
Security, bisq.wiki
The offer maker picks a deposit between 15% and 50% of the trade amount, and the taker must match it. That bitcoin stays locked in multisig for the whole trade.
“Bisq allows offer makers to choose a security deposit percentage: **minimum is 15%** of trade amount and **maximum is 50%** of trade amount (absolute minimum is 0.001 BTC). The offer taker must deposit the same amount as the offer maker.”
Security, bisq.wiki
Winning an arbitration gets you only a small share of the other trader's deposit, or none at all if the deposit was set at the minimum, while your funds stay locked meanwhile.
“the trader winning in arbitration will get a considerably smaller (if at all) portion of the peer's deposit as compensation, to account for the risk of malicious BM's exploiting the protocol itself.”
Security, bisq.wiki
Your payment details stay on your own machine, but they go to the person you trade with, and to mediators or arbitrators if a dispute opens.
“Payment information is stored locally and only shared with your direct trading peer (and potentially dispute resolution agents if needed).”
Other, bisq.wiki
Mediators and arbitrators hold no key to the 2-of-2 multisig, so they cannot move your funds on their own.
“Mediators and arbitrators do *not* hold a key and cannot unilaterally release funds, preventing collusion risk involving escrow control.”
Other, bisq.wiki
Account signing caps how much you can trade with certain fiat payment methods until you have built a record of completed trades. Per-trade limits also vary by payment method.
“Employing an [account signing mechanism](https://bisq.wiki/Account_limits#Account_signing "Account limits") in v1 for certain fiat methods, which limits trade sizes for new accounts until integrity is established through successful trades.”
Other, bisq.wiki
Your trading peer sees the name on the bank payment, and banks have flagged accounts used for peer-to-peer crypto trading.
“However, your trading peer will see your name associated with the payment. Some banks have been known to flag accounts involved in peer-to-peer crypto trading.”
Other, bisq.wiki
The Bisq wiki website may record your IP address in its webserver logs if you visit it without Tor. The trading software itself runs its P2P traffic over Tor.
“If you do not use Tor to access this website, your IP address may be collected in our webserver logs. Please use Tor to protect your privacy.”
Privacy policy, bisq.wiki
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