Vexl
grade B
P2P trading open-source mobile app. No middlemen or KYC. Users connect through phone contacts and friends of friends.
grade B
What the documents mean for you
Vexl requires a verified phone number and asks you to upload your contact list before you can see offers. It can deny access to users in certain countries and must pass personal data to authorities when law requires. It holds no funds and provides no escrow.
The documents never mention KYC, identity verification of documents, or Source of Funds checks, and Vexl holds no funds it could block. However, the Privacy Policy states that under certain legally defined conditions the operator will hand personal data over to public authorities, which matches level 2 rather than a complete absence of authority-facing obligations.
There is no KYC procedure. What Vexl does demand at onboarding is a working phone number, which it verifies with a code, plus an import of your phone or Facebook contacts so it can match you to 1st and 2nd degree contacts. If you report content or contact support, Vexl may ask you for your personal information and evidence, and it says it can only act on your report if you cooperate. Vexl holds no Bitcoin, so it cannot freeze or seize funds; it can block access instead.
Warnings
Tapping logout deletes the private key and with it the account, chats and offer history, with no recovery. If you lose the phone, reinstall or wipe the device, the same happens.
Vexl does not monitor trades, hold funds or confirm that a trade happened, and you waive damages relating to trades agreed with other users. Bitcoin payments you send cannot be reversed.
To find offers you must let Vexl import your phone or Facebook contacts, which it hashes and stores in a separate microservice to map your 1st and 2nd degree connections. Other users' phone numbers are uploaded too, without those people agreeing.
You cannot create an account without a phone number that receives a verification code from Vexl or its third-party messaging provider. Vexl keeps that number for as long as the account exists.
By accepting the terms you agree in advance to any future transfer of Vexl's operation to another operator; Vexl only commits to notifying you afterwards.
How the score was reached
Privacy82/100
Trust72/100
Overall = (privacy × 0.6 + trust × 0.4) / 10, rounded = 8/10, grade B. Each attribute above rests on a clause quoted below or was assigned by a moderator; the rest is what the listing knows.
Attributes15 moved the score
May suspend your accounttrust -4
The service reserves the right to suspend or limit access for violations or arrears.
Users who post prohibited content are blocked from further use of the app.
“Users who post such content will be blocked from further use of the Vexl app.”
https://vexl.it/terms-privacy
Phone number is requiredprivacy -4
A valid phone number is needed, verified by SMS or a call. Anonymous SMS services are often acceptable.
Onboarding requires a phone number, which Vexl verifies with a code sent by text message from itself or third-party providers.
“To create your user account, we verify your phone number by sending you a verification code.”
https://vexl.it/terms-privacy
Soft KYCprivacy -3 · trust -1
No formal KYC, but personal information is needed for certain features or services.
There is no document-based KYC, but you must hand over a verified phone number, a name and avatar you provide, and your friends' phone numbers to use the service.
“We may process the following categories of personal data provided during the onboarding procedure and subsequent use of Vexl: * your name (as provided by you); * your phone number (as provided by you);”
https://vexl.it/terms-privacy
Data sharingprivacy -3
Personal data may be shared with authorities or third-party providers for compliance.
Vexl states it may be legally required to pass personal data to public authorities, and it also gives access to technology, storage, security, accounting, legal and administrative providers.
“However, under certain specifically defined conditions we will be under some circumstances required, in accordance with the applicable law, to transfer certain personal data to public authorities.”
https://vexl.it/terms-privacy
Some sellers may require KYCprivacy -3
P2P traders set their own rules, and some specify identity verification requirements.
Identity-free registrationprivacy +10
Users can create accounts without giving personal information such as a full name, address or phone number.
Personal info is not verifiedprivacy +9
The service does not check personal information: temporary emails, disposable phone numbers or a made-up name and address work.
Open source codetrust +7
The source code of the service is publicly available and licensed as open source.
The application is licensed under GPLv3, an open-source licence, though the operator also reserves the option to license it proprietarily.
“The use of Vexl application is governed by the GNU General Public License version 3 (GPLv3).”
https://vexl.it/terms-privacy
Mature servicetrust +5
This service has been operational for 4 years. While this indicates stability, it is not a future-proof guarantee.
Approvedtrust +5
Passed limited recent checks and met approval threshold.
Peer to peer markettrust +4
A marketplace where unknown people trade directly with one another rather than with the operator.
Vexl is a marketplace where users post buy and sell offers and trade directly with each other; the operator is not a counterparty.
“Vexl is a service (which includes an application) that allows users interested in buying or selling Bitcoin to connect with each other to discuss their offers and agree upon trades.”
https://vexl.it/terms-privacy
Non-custodial protocoltrust +3
The protocol never takes custody of the user's funds during an exchange.
Vexl provides only offer discovery and chat; it supplies no tools for moving Bitcoin, so it never holds the funds of either side of a trade.
“Vexl itself does not offer any instruments to facilitate Bitcoin transactions between the users. We do not monitor whether any trades took place between any of our users.”
https://vexl.it/terms-privacy
Legally registeredtrust +2
Legally registered as Vexl s.r.o in Czech Republic.
Token-based loginprivacy +1
Access is through a secret token rather than a username and personal details.
Access to the account runs through a private key generated and kept on your device, not a username and password held by the operator.
“your user account will be only accessible with a so-called _private key_ generated and stored by Vexl locally on your device as part of the onboarding procedure”
https://vexl.it/terms-privacy
Basic customer supporttrust +1
Customer support is average: questions are answered and problems fixed in reasonable time.
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
Vexl only connects you and carries chat. It gives you no escrow, no trade records and no confirmations, and it disclaims responsibility if the other user breaks your agreement.
“For the reasons above we also cannot issue any confirmation of the transactions between the users and we most definitely cannot issue any invoice on behalf of the users. If you need any such confirmation, you must communicate such a request to the other party of your trade.”
https://vexl.it/terms-privacy
During onboarding Vexl asks you to import your phone address book or Facebook contacts and matches them, as hashes, against its users to build a graph of your 1st and 2nd degree contacts.
“as a part of the onboarding procedure, you will be asked to import the contact details of your friends either from your phone address book, or from your Facebook user account, so that Vexl can cross check your contact database against the contact information of our current users”
https://vexl.it/terms-privacy
Vexl says applicable law can require it to hand certain personal data to public authorities. It holds your phone number, name, avatar, public key and contact graph.
“However, under certain specifically defined conditions we will be under some circumstances required, in accordance with the applicable law, to transfer certain personal data to public authorities.”
https://vexl.it/terms-privacy
Vexl uses outside data processors such as Prelude, a phone verification and messaging provider, and says your personal data may go to the United States under Standard Contractual Clauses.
“When collecting, storing and processing personal data we sometimes may use personal data processors such as Prelude which under some circumstances transmit your personal data to third countries.”
https://vexl.it/terms-privacy
If you report a violation, Vexl may ask you for your personal information and evidence, and it will not assess the report unless you provide what it requests.
“We may request additional information and/or materials (such as your personal information and evidence of the violation) necessary to assess your report and in such case, you agree to fully cooperate with our additional requests.”
https://vexl.it/terms-privacy
Logging out deletes your account and your private key. Vexl states the data cannot be recovered, including chats you agreed trade details in.
“If you decide to log out, please be careful, as logging out will effectively delete your user account. Such action is irreversible, so if you decide to use Vexl again in the future, you will not be able to recover any data linked to your original user account”
https://vexl.it/terms-privacy
Vexl can suspend or permanently refuse access based on your country or nationality, which it may work out from your country code, app store or phone number.
“we can identify your location or nationality also indirectly for example from a country code, app store, or your phone number”
https://vexl.it/terms-privacy
Chat content is end-to-end encrypted and kept on Vexl's servers only long enough to pass it on; offer data is processed only for the offer's duration.
“We solely transmit the messages between the users and do not permanently store them on our servers (and even if we did, we could not read them anyway as they are encrypted).”
https://vexl.it/terms-privacy
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