This guide will be most useful to people who already own some bitcoin. If you’ve never bought any, start with my guide to buying your first bitcoin - this one will make much more sense after a purchase or two.
Maybe you dollar-cost average on Strike; maybe you bought once on Coinbase years ago. Either way, as long as you’re withdrawing to a wallet you control, I wouldn’t try to dissuade you from continuing to use centralised exchanges. Their liquidity and fees are hard to beat, and for a long-term saver who self-custodies, they’re a reasonable choice.
There is, however, a case for diversifying.
Thanks to KYC (“know your customer”) regulation, centralised exchanges know your name, address, bank details, and purchase history. Perhaps they even required you to upload scans of your passport and a selfie photo to register, meaning they also know what you look like. Every sat you buy there is linked to that identity.
This guide is about buying bitcoin that isn’t.
1. Why bother with non-KYC bitcoin?
For me it’s both practical and ideological. I’ll save the ideological half for the end of this guide; the practical half is reason enough on its own.
When you buy bitcoin on a regulated exchange, the data you hand over doesn’t stay in one place. It sits on a server somewhere and is occasionally leaked onto the internet. In the UK, exchanges now share your data directly with HMRC. This means it’s not enough to trust your chosen exchange. You also need to trust every third party and intermediary that they’re sharing your data with, including your government.
There’s a sharper edge to this than tax compliance. A leaked exchange database is a list of verified bitcoin holders - names, home addresses, purchase histories. In other words, a target list. The wave of kidnappings and home invasions targeting crypto holders and their families in France in 2025 - so-called “wrench attacks” - didn’t pick victims at random. The less data about your holdings sits in other people’s databases, the less of it can be leaked, sold, or stolen, and the smaller the chance your name ends up on a list like that.
There’s also the on-chain trail. Consider any coins acquired via a centralised exchange as permanently tied to your real-world identity. If you later send, spend, or move those coins, chain analysis firms exist specifically to follow the trail - and their client list includes governments, law enforcement, and private companies.
None of this means you should stop using your preferred centralised exchange. If your plan is to accumulate for the long term and withdraw to self-custody, KYC is a privacy cost you pay in return for unmatched liquidity and low fees. But there are very good reasons to buy at least some of your bitcoin from other sources. Privacy around your own money is a reasonable thing to want, and Bitcoin is one of the few assets that makes it possible to save and transact without being surveilled.
2. Your options
There are more options than you might expect. Here’s a quick comparison of the main ones:
| Platform | Type | Model | Security deposit | Typical trade size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bisq | Desktop P2P (Tor) | 2-of-2 multisig escrow | ~15% BTC | Up to 0.0625 BTC |
| Bisq Easy (Bisq 2) |
Desktop P2P (Tor) | Seller reputation system | No | Up to ~$600 |
| Peach Bitcoin | Mobile P2P | 2-of-2 multisig escrow | None | Up to ~CHF 1,000/day |
| RoboSats | Browser P2P (Tor) | Lightning hold invoices | ~3% Lightning bond | Up to 0.04 BTC |
| Vexl | Mobile social P2P | In-person / trusted network | None | Any (peer-agreed) |
A short tour of each:
- Bisq is the most battle-tested option. It’s a decentralised network that’s been running since 2016, accessible via a desktop application using Tor. The trade protocol uses 2-of-2 multisig escrow, and both buyer & seller post a security deposit on each trade. It’s a good choice for more experienced users making large buys, but the security deposit means you need some bitcoin to start. I explain the differences between Bisq and Bisq Easy in my full guide to buying on Bisq 👈
- Peach Bitcoin is the easiest and most approachable option in this list. It’s a peer-to-peer platform you can access via mobile app on iOS or Android. It also uses 2-of-2 multisig escrow but requires no security deposit from the buyer, making it accessible if you’re starting from zero. Trade sizes are smaller and liquidity is regional (strong in Europe). I have a full guide to buying on Peach 👈
- RoboSats is a browser-based exchange accessed via Tor, where the security model is a small Lightning hold-invoice “bond” rather than an on-chain deposit. It’s clever, fast, and doesn’t require an app install - but trades are capped at ~0.04 BTC and liquidity can be patchy outside peak hours, and in Europe more generally.
- Vexl is the odd one out: a mobile-first social network for finding people in your extended contact circle who’ll trade with you, typically in person. There’s no protocol-level escrow - you’re trusting the person - but if there are bitcoiners in your social network, it’s a fantastic option for cash buys. Much like Peach, it’s installed via TestFlight on iOS.
For a comprehensive, regularly updated comparison of no-KYC services beyond those I list here, kycnot.me is excellent.
3. Which is right for you?
There’s no single answer, but here’s roughly how I’d think about it:
- You already own some bitcoin, are not in any rush, and want to make large buys with minimal fees: try Bisq. The security deposit pays for itself in liquidity and trade size, particularly for Europeans.
- You’re starting from zero, or you want to make regular buys on-the-go: Peach is a great option, particularly if you’re newer to P2P trading and don’t mind a slightly larger markup in exchange for a quick trade. If you’re in the US, Robosats could be a good alternative here.
- You know other bitcoiners or prefer trading face-to-face: by all means try Vexl! Alternatively attend a meetup, or contact a bitcoiner you know, and just buy privately that way.
You’re not locked into one choice. In fact, I’d recommend familiarising yourself with at least two options.
4. The freedom to choose
Much of the language around financial privacy has been deliberately poisoned. The framing is always the same: if you want privacy, you must have something to hide.
No. I exercise my right to buy and sell with my own money without being spied on. That’s it.
Bitcoin offers something unusual: a way to save money that doesn’t require anyone’s permission. No bank can freeze it. No exchange can lock your account because an algorithm flagged a transaction. No data breach can expose your entire financial history. But only if you actually use it that way. Bitcoin bought on a KYC exchange, left on that exchange, and sold on that exchange is just a bank account with extra steps.
Buying some of your bitcoin peer-to-peer lets you exercise a choice while that choice still exists.
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