This document lays out the conditions of acceptable use of LocalBitcoins’ services. Acting against these conditions might cause account’s permanent or temporary suspension of access to LocalBitcoins’ services partially or totally. This document is complementary but not a replacement to LocalBitcoins’ Terms of Service. In addition to the conditions included in this document, each user is responsible for following LocalBitcoins’ Terms of Service and all applicable legislation from their own jurisdiction while using LocalBitcoins’ services. If there are discrepancies between this document and LocalBitcoins’ Terms of Service, the Terms of Service supersedes this Policy.
Localbitcoins’ accounts are personal and intransferible. An individual user account should be verified and operated only by the person who created it. Company accounts must be registered and verified through the company verification system. Selling or giving away LocalBitcoins’ user accounts is not allowed.
In order to decrease the risk of money laundering and illicit use of the platform, LocalBitcoins does not provide service to companies associated with the following industries:
Users who create ads in LocalBitcoins are able to define different Bitcoin pricings in their ads according to criteria such as payment method and customer groups. Advertisers are not allowed to use ad pricing for manipulating the market (e.g. attempting to force prices up or down) or make use of abusive margins in pricing equations. Acceptable pricing margins must take into account the ongoing practices of the targeted regional market. For example, if bank transfer ads in Finland have margins between 10-20% above or below market average, setting up an advertisement with 200% margin will be deemed as abusive pricing. It is not allowed to keep multiple active ads in the same payment method category for the same currency in the same country unless the ads in question have at least 3% price difference or target different customer groups (e.g. trade limits are different or there are new users restrictions).
LocalBitcoins allows users to create ads for non listed payment methods under the categories “Other Online Payment”, “Other Online Wallet” and “Other Remittance” accordingly. However, LocalBitcoins does not allow advertising the following payment methods due to security reasons:
It is not allowed to provide misleading or incorrect information through advertisements and trade chats or to set up excessive trade requirements, such as unreasonable verification requirements (e.g. images of bank cards displaying numbers or social security cards). Additional verification in trade chats is only allowed for ads that have peer to peer verification option enabled.
When creating an ad in LocalBitcoins, buyers and sellers are not allowed to advertise other products or services than Bitcoin or to post spamming content. Buyers and sellers must not use advertisements or trade chats to redirect trading partners to conduct trade related communication outside of LocalBitcoins’ trade chats. It is not allowed to request trade sensitive information (e.g., payment details and verification items) to be sent through other channels than LocalBitcoins’ trade chats, such as social media, external messaging services or other exchanges.
It is not allowed to use threatening and abusive language (e.g. profanity) or to share nocive links in trade chats or in feedback. Feedback must not include personal details or links to external services. It is not allowed to share information and images provided in LocalBitcoins’ trade chats externally for purposes unrelated to the trade in question.
In the case of disputed trades, it is not allowed to attempt to obstruct dispute resolution by being unresponsive in disputed trade chat or by providing false or incomplete evidence. As each opened trade is a new agreement, only the information and evidence provided through the new trade chat created are valid for that agreement, therefore receipts and payment details sent through other channels or previous trade chats might not be acceptable as proof of trade in the case of a dispute. Each user must become acquainted with the terms of service of the payment method provider and cooperate with dispute resolution as requested. LocalBitcoins dispute moderators do not contact external parties on behalf of users.
LocalBitcoins wallets support only Bitcoin. Transactions sent to LocalBitcoins receiving wallet addresses that contain unsupported cryptocurrencies cannot be reversed or recovered.
As stated in the Terms of Service, LocalBitcoins does not support any kind of criminal activity and our services must not be used for criminal purposes. It is not allowed to use LocalBitcoins trading platform or wallet services for receiving or sending funds related to:
LocalBitcoins’ wallet services must not be used to send or receive transactions associated with predatory practices, such as ponzi schemes, scamming, hacking and phishing. It is not allowed to use LocalBitcoins wallet as a Bitcoin mixer.
When contacting LocalBitcoins’ staff through support tickets, in disputed trade chats or in LocalBitcoins’ official social media channels, it is not allowed to use abusive or threatening language or provide false information and evidence.
LocalBitcoins’ main support channel is the support ticket system. LocalBitcoins support agents do not contact users via phone calls. LocalBitcoins support never requests users’ password or other security credentials (e.g. two-factor verification codes) or demands deposits in order to release locked Bitcoins.