Peer-to-peer & Bitcoin without KYC

On exchanges and in apps, you show your ID before you buy bitcoin. A peer-to-peer purchase works without it – with more privacy, but also more effort and risks of its own. None of the platforms mentioned is an advertising partner of ours; there are short profiles of Bisq and Hodl Hodl.

What ‘peer-to-peer’ and ‘without KYC’ mean

KYCGlossaryKYC (Know Your Customer)The obligation of regulated providers to identify you before the business relationship starts and to ask, for example, about its purpose and, where necessary, the source of your money. In Germany, the legal basis is the Money Laundering Act (GwG).On the learning path: Stage 4 · Step 3 – Buying Bitcoin →In the glossary →× (know your customer) means that regulated providers must verify your identity before you buy from them. With peer-to-peer tradingGlossaryP2P trading (peer-to-peer trading)Buying or selling bitcoin directly between private individuals, often via software that locks the bitcoin in an escrow address until the payment arrives. More privacy, but more effort and scam risks of its own.On the learning path: Stage 6 · Step 2 – Spotting scams →In the glossary →× (P2P), you buy directly from another person – through software that secures the trade, or by meeting in person. You don’t show your ID to any company.

Three misunderstandings:

• Without KYC doesn’t mean anonymous. Every Bitcoin transaction is publicly visible, and your counterparty usually sees your name, for example on the bank transfer. More on this in Privacy with Bitcoin.
• Without KYC doesn’t mean tax-free. The same tax rules apply as for any purchase.
• Without KYC doesn’t mean outside the law. Where the limits are is explained below.

Why people buy P2P

The main reason is data minimisation. If you buy from a regulated provider and withdraw to your wallet, the provider knows your name and that address. In Germany, it also reports customer data and transactions to the Federal Central Tax Office every year for 2026 onwards, for the first time by 31 July 2027 (DAC8 & reporting obligations).^[1] When you buy P2P, you decide who knows about your bitcoin – which also helps keep you from becoming a target for criminals. Direct exchangeTermExchange (crypto exchange)A trading platform where buyers and sellers trade bitcoin with each other via an order book.On the learning path: Stage 4 · Step 2 – Choosing a provider →In the glossary →AdLicensed providers with a paid linkProviders from our comparisonKrakenExchange · MiCA (Central Bank of Ireland)Visit Kraken* (paid link, opens in a new window)BitvavoExchange · MiCA (AFM, Netherlands)Visit Bitvavo* (paid link, opens in a new window)CoinbaseExchange · MiCA (CSSF, Luxembourg)Visit Coinbase* (paid link, opens in a new window)All 7 compared – including non-partners →*Paid link: if you sign up or buy through it, we earn a commission. Your price stays the same. How we make money →18+ · Crypto assets are highly volatile; you could lose all your money. No deposit protection.× is part of the original idea, too: the whitepaper describes Bitcoin as electronic cash sent from one person to another without a financial institution in between.^[2]

For most beginners in the EU, a first purchase from a MiCA-authorised provider is still simpler. You can improve your privacy later.

The main routes

Bisq and Bisq Easy

BisqProvider · ExchangeBisqDecentralised open-source exchange for person-to-person trading – no account, no identity check, no custody.No licence – open-source software without an operating company · reviewed Sept 2026Costs: Bisq 1: 0.15% maker / 1.15% taker in BTC; Bisq Easy: no trading fee … (as of Sept 2026)On the learning path: Stage 4 · Step 1 – Ways to get Bitcoin →Our profile →Official website ↗× is an open-source program for Windows, macOS and Linux with no central operator. Trading happens in a network of users, every node runs over Tor by default, and your data stays on your device. Bisq doesn’t hold any funds.^[3]

In classic Bisq (Bisq 1), buyer and seller lodge the same security deposit in bitcoin in a multisigGlossaryMultisig (multi-signature)A wallet in which several keys jointly control the bitcoin – for example 2 of 3. If one key is lost or stolen, the bitcoin stays safe. In return, setting it up and backing it up is considerably more demanding.On the learning path: Stage 6 · Step 4 – Inheritance & emergency plan →In the glossary →× address that both have to sign for: 15 to 50% of the trade amount depending on the offer, and at least 0.001 BTC (as of September 2026). So as a buyer, you already need bitcoin. If everything goes smoothly, the deposit comes back automatically. Anyone who breaks the rules, for example by paying late, can lose all or part of it.^[4]

For a first purchase without any bitcoin of your own, there’s Bisq Easy. It has no deposit: you pay first, and the seller then sends the bitcoin. Your safety therefore depends on the seller’s reputation – choose a seller with a high rating and start with a small test trade. Each trade can be worth the equivalent of $6 to $600, and there are no trading fees (as of September 2026).^[5] Bisq Easy runs in Bisq 2 on a computer and as a standalone Android app.^[6]

Hodl Hodl

The web platform Hodl HodlProvider · ExchangeHodl HodlBitcoin-only P2P marketplace: trade directly with other people through an escrow, with no identity check.No licence in the EU – not listed in the ESMA register · reviewed Sept 2026Costs: 0.75% per trading party, minimum fee usually up to $5; plus network fees (as of Sept 2026)On the learning path: Stage 4 · Step 1 – Ways to get Bitcoin →Our profile →Official website ↗× belongs to a company, Hodlex Ltd. According to its own information, it doesn’t hold customer funds: each trade gets its own multisig escrow address, and no verification is required.^[7] Buyer and seller each pay a trading fee, normally 0.75% of the trade amount. In a dispute, a Hodl Hodl staff member reviews both sides’ evidence and decides who gets the bitcoin from escrow (as of September 2026).^[8]

Meetups and acquaintances

You buy from someone you know or at a local Bitcoin meetup. You can find meetups on the map in the Einundzwanzig meetup portal, for example, which covers the German-speaking countries and a number of others.^[9] Meetups are mainly good for learning. If any trading happens there, it’s in small amounts between people who know each other. The only protection is trust.

How a trade with escrow works

This is how classic Bisq and Hodl Hodl work; the details vary by software.

1. Prepare your wallet

   Set up your own wallet and secure the backup so the bitcoin land directly there. Setting up your first wallet shows how.

2. Check the offer

   Look at the payment method, the amount, the other side’s reputation and the price. Work out the mark-up on the exchange price as a percentage. Example: if the market price is $80,000 and the offer is $84,000, you pay 5% more.

3. The bitcoin are locked

   The seller puts the bitcoin into the joint escrow address. Only once they’re confirmed there do you pay.

4. Pay – exactly as agreed

   Transfer from an account in your own name, exactly the agreed amount via the agreed payment method. Keep the receipt.

5. Release and check receipt

   Once the seller has received the money, they release the bitcoin. Check that they’ve arrived in your wallet. If there’s a dispute, the platform’s dispute resolution process applies.

Compare the mark-up in the currency of the offer. Right now the price is $85,533, or €76,470 in euros – you need the euro figure because offers in the euro area are usually paid in euros.

The risks

The biggest risk isn’t the bitcoin, but the payment. Bitcoin transactions are final; bank transfers and card payments can in some cases be reversed. That’s why classic Bisq classifies SEPA, SEPA Instant and Revolut payments, among others, as a chargeback risk: with a new payment account, you can initially buy no more than 0.002 BTC per trade there, and more only once the account is signed (as of September 2026).^[10]

Typical traps:

• Triangulation fraud: a scammer gets a deceived third person to transfer the money and pockets the bitcoin. Later, that person demands their money back. This mainly hits sellers, but buyers can be drawn into investigations. Only pay from your own account, and only accept payments whose sender matches your trading partner.
• Fake software: only download programs from the official website, never via links from chats.
• Pressure: anyone who pushes you or wants to bypass the escrow (‘just pay directly’) usually intends to defraud you.
• Meetings: a public place, someone with you, small amounts – and don’t tell anyone how much bitcoin you own.
• Nothing can be undone: if you give a wrong wallet address, nobody will get your bitcoin back.

Spotting & avoiding scams shows more schemes. To practise, decide for each message whether it’s genuine or a scam. All examples are made up.

The legal position

As a private individual, you may buy bitcoin from other private individuals. Identification duties fall on providers, not on you; the EU Transfer of Funds Regulation doesn’t cover person-to-person transfers without a provider.^[11],[12] MiCA regulates companies that provide crypto-asset services to clients on a commercial basis (CASPsGlossaryCASP (crypto-asset service provider)A company that professionally provides crypto-asset services to customers – such as trading, exchange, custody or transfers. In the EU, every CASP needs an authorisation under MiCA.On the learning path: Stage 4 · Step 2 – Choosing a provider →In the glossary →×). According to its recitals, services provided in a fully decentralised manner without any intermediary aren’t covered.^[13]

The line is commercial trading. Anyone who regularly exchanges bitcoin for money as a business can become a provider themselves. In Germany, providing crypto-asset services without authorisation is a criminal offence: up to five years’ imprisonment or a fine, and up to three years in cases of negligence.^[14] There’s no fixed threshold for ‘occasional’. If you want to exchange more than now and then, get legal advice first. Penalties differ in other countries – check the rules where you live.

Platforms can pull out. The Swiss P2P app Peach states that it doesn’t target users in the EU and EEA; after 1 July 2026, using it there may be restricted or non-compliant.^[15] Other platforms run by a company can also change their service for EU users – check the current situation first. MiCA & regulation simply explained covers the framework.

Tax and record-keeping

Under German tax law, the purchase itself doesn’t trigger tax; it starts the one-year holding period.^[16] The reform tracker follows whether that period stays. Without a central trading platform, the dates shown in the wallet generally count. In individual cases, the tax office can ask for information on the source of funds, wallet addresses and transaction IDs.^[16]

So keep your own records: date, amount, price in euros (the German tax office calculates in euros), payment receipt, platform or meeting place and transaction ID. Bitcoin & tax in Germany explains the basics; if you live elsewhere, Bitcoin tax around Europe shows where to look. This is not tax advice.

Checklist before your first P2P purchase

What’s next?