One of the biggest problems with the current crypto industry is that most crypto exchanges are centralized, with an organized party making their own set of rules. This is where troubles arise as users usually have to go through a strict verification process where they have to reveal their identity. With these regulations in place, some exchanges exclude many countries, including the US from using their services. While there are some centralized anonymous exchanges that do not require ID or KYC, Bisq is different as it decentralized, offering full control to users without any third-party interfering with your funds and activities.

What is Bisq Exchange?

Bisq is a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange network that has adapted to a new way of trading in order to provide users with an easy and secure experience. The number one priority of Bisq is to let their users trade privately and securely without the traditional hurdles and registration processes you would find on centralized exchanges. Not only that, Bisq works on a peer-to-peer network without having a central government involved to control your funds. The whole network runs on the computers of Bisq users from all over the globe to keep the exchange up and to run. Bisq also comes with a few more unique features, like storing the users’ data on local disks instead of central servers, to avoid the risks of hacking or breaching. 

The whole structure of Bisq is open-source, and everything is available upfront for the users to evaluate. There are no hidden agendas or plans, unlike the recent bankruptcy scenarios of some of the biggest crypto exchanges in the world. If you want to get started with Bisq, all you will have to do is download the application and install it on your computer. Without any type of verification or registration process, you can buy or sell crypto assets with fiat and vice versa.

Bisq Pros & Cons

Bisq Features

Bisq might seem a very boring platform without colorful features and advertisements, but they have actually got a lot to offer to crypto enthusiasts willing not to compromise on the safety of their funds. Take a look below to find out what Bisq has got.

Buy and sell BTC with a number of currencies

Bisq allows their users to buy and sell BTC or, in other words, trade it with the available assets on the platform. The best thing about Bitcoin trading on Bisq is that the platform also supports a good number of fiat currencies, so you won’t have to restrict yourself to cryptocurrencies only.

You can simply deposit any supported fiat currency into your Bisq application and get started within minutes. There are over 40 supported currencies in which, most of which are fiat assets, allowing the users holding no crypto assets to easily trade BTC.

Convenient global payment methods

One of the biggest problems that users face with most crypto exchanges is the lack of payment methods that they can use to deposit funds. But in the case of Bisq, the exchange has provided a lot of options that work globally or are targeted to a specific country. You can use some popular options like ADVCash, MoneyGram, SEPA, Western Union, or WeChat for convenient transfers. If you are living in Europe, the best option would be to go with the SEPA transfers and instantly top up your account.

Depending on your country, you can also select any other payment method by checking out their supported payment methods list. Each payment method comes with a limit and a period that you have to keep in mind before making a transaction.

Available for several operating systems

Instead of being web-dependent, Bisq decided to be application based in order to make it possible for the network to be P2P based. Yes, you can explore what the features of Bisq are or how everything works through their website, but if you actually want to trade or check out their ecosystem, you will have to download their application. And the best thing, Bisq is available for many operating systems in order to ensure that all types of users would be able to install their app.

It does not matter if you are a Windows user, macOS user, or Ubuntu user, you can easily install the application of Bisq and start trading. Bisq also supports Linux, Red Hat, Fedora, Debian, and even Qubes OS to support an even wider crypto community. Just download the particular application from their website, install it, and you will be good to go.

Simple and sound trading experience

The thing about Bisq is that it is a Bitcoin-focused trading platform. And that is why you will not find many cryptocurrencies available on the platform except for very few, and that too the popular ones. Moreover, Bisq has also kept things simple and sound when it comes to their trading experience. In case you are a professional or institutional-grade trader who loves playing with settings, customizations, signals, and whatnot, you might be a little disappointed with the trading layout of Bisq.

But if you are a moderate or simple trader who simply wants to execute trades by analyzing the charts, you will love your experience at Bisq. Bisq offers a simple chart with the option to select different timestamps, and that is pretty much it. You can zoom in and zoom out, too, as per your preferences or compare two different charts in order to make a final decision.

Decentralized, private, and safe

Bisq is unquestionably one of the safest cryptocurrency exchanges due to their mechanism based on the P2P network. The decentralized exchange does not store any sort of data on any central network or servers, which automatically exterminates any chance of hacking or breaching attempts. When it comes to storing your data, it is stored in offline local disks, keeping it away from the internet to again protect your integrity. All in all, you will not have to worry about your funds or identity theft while using Bisq, and you can enjoy a flawless trading experience.

Learning materials, guides, and whitepaper are available

There is no denying that Bisq is a little different from the traditional crypto exchanges and the way they work. Well, for that, Bisq has provided a lot of learning material, guides, tutorials, wikis, and a blog to answer your questions and help you get started with ease. There is even a whitepaper available that allows you to understand how each of the features of the platform works and what it is designed for. And if you have any doubts regarding the source code of Bisq, you can also visit their GitHub page and evaluate the entire code yourself without anything hidden.

Different benefits of the Bisq ecosystem

Bisq has created an efficient ecosystem that does not only benefit traders but contributors and developers too. With the help of the native token of the exchange, known as BSQ, the platform allows users to join their ecosystem and enjoy the benefits. For starters, if you buy and hold BSQ tokens as a trader, you can enjoy discounted trading fees when you pay with BSQ. And as a contributor, you can earn BSQ by doing valuable work required on the platform. Bisq offers their developers free-hand and fluid collaboration to let them showcase their skills in the best way possible.

Huge community spread across social media

It is actually a good idea to stay connected with the platform’s officials, contributors, and actual users in order to share your ideas, get updates, and share your problems. In this case, Bisq has got a big community that has spread across several social media platforms, including GitHub, Twitter, Reddit, Matrix, and Telegram. You can join any of the channels, or all of them, to see what is happening and what new you could see in the future regarding Bisq.

Supported cryptocurrencies on Bisq

Diversity within cryptocurrencies has always been a problem for Bisq as the platform does not support a lot of cryptocurrencies or allow users to trade them. There are only a few popular names that you can trade on Bisq with Bitcoin, or else you will only find fiat currencies. But it is also a good thing for those users who want to stay a mile away from risky assets or the coins that are vulnerable. Popular coins at least have a whole community supporting them, lowering the chance of dramatic moves.

To give you an idea, the following are the cryptocurrencies that you can trade on Bisq:

And a few more. Besides the digital currencies, Bisq supports a lot of popular fiat assets like USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, and more to help users from all nations trade in their local currencies. Unfortunately, Bisq might not be the best choice for you if you want to diversify your portfolio with new coins or penny assets. You will only find popular digital assets there with the ability to trade them instantly.

BSQ – Native Bisq Token

BSQ is the native token of the Bisq exchange that is created to keep the self-sustaining system of the exchange up and running. The primary purpose of BSQ is to give authority to the usual users of the Bisq exchange instead of a third-party organization or ruler that would dictate the changes on the exchange. This way, traders and developers both get to present their ideas and have necessary infrastructure improvements with time. Traders holding BSQ get a few benefits, like discounted trading fees, and the contributors working towards the betterment of the exchange get to earn BSQ that they can later exchange or hold as they like. This whole ecosystem is only possible by the distribution of BSQ and provides equal benefits to everyone contributing at least a little towards the platform.

Bisq Customer Support

Bisq is a decentralized exchange, meaning there is no party or organization involved in its management. Everything is based on the P2P network of the users themselves, having no institution to take control over things. That is why Bisq does not have a dedicated support system that the users can use. Meaning if you are facing a problem, you will not be able to live chat with the officials (which there are not), submit a ticket, or send an email. 

The only option that is left for you is to create a support topic and wait for the other users to reply to you. You can have a whole discussion there and ask questions until you are satisfied. Or you can simply visit the FAQ section to explore how things work with interacting with any users. Of course, this is not the best way of dealing with the users who are using their finances on the platform, but that is how most decentralized exchanges work. But the best thing is, Bisq has massive communities on a lot of social platforms, so you can easily get help from any of them in case you face any problem.

Bisq Mobile Support

Unfortunately, Bisq is not available on mobile devices for users who love the portability. As Bisq is a web-based system, the platform has only made sure to support different computer operating systems, leaving all mobile devices stranded. But what they have done here is develop a mobile application for Android and IOS users that only sends them notifications regarding their accounts. The application is available by the name of Bisq Notifications on the Google Store and App Store and is mainly for sending users important updates and notifications. 

You can get quick price alerts, trade confirmation messages, dispute messages, and many other types of notifications. This way, if you find any important message, you can quickly log into your computer and manage your account accordingly without missing out on anything. But for that, you must also be near your computer.

Bisq fees

Bisq charges different fees for various transactions, whether that is trading, depositing, or withdrawing. Take a look below to learn how the fee system works at Bisq and how much you have to pay.

Bisq Trading Fee

Bisq charges a fixed trading fee of 0.1% for makers and 0.7% for takers if you pay with Bitcoin. If you want to pay using BSQ, the native token of the exchange, you receive almost 50% discount on the trading fee. Keep in mind you will also have to pay the mining fee for on-chain transactions. Bisq also requires their users to put a deposit as an escrow that is refunded in full after the transaction is processed. 

Bisq Deposit Fee

Depositing crypto via external wallets or other exchanges are absolutely free. A specific fee might be charged when depositing fiat assets to the platform. Bisq has not specified an exact fee on their payment method page, but from our tests, you can expect to pay a fee of 1%-3% depending on the chosen method. It is also essential to consider the trading period and per-trade limit if you want to use specific payment methods.

Bisq Withdrawal Fee

The same scenario goes with Bisq withdrawals, as the platform has not specified a fixed fee for different types of withdrawals. In case of crypto withdrawals, you will be required to pay a mining fee which may vary depending on the network conditions.

What do the reviews and ratings show?

Bisq has got excellent ratings across several reviewing platforms, proving even further that they are going in the right direction. On TrustPilot, one of the most popular reviewing sites, Bisq has got an average rating of 4.3 stars with only around 15% 1-star reviews. The only bad experiences of the users were with third-party sellers on the P2P network of the exchange, which resulted in delayed or no transactions at all. Also some users have also complained about higher mining fees which can be hectic to pay for a trader.

But overall, Bisq has got many satisfied users with good reviews due to their unprecedented security and privacy. Bisq has also got an average rating of 3.5 stars on a platform named CryptoWisser, which only reviews web 3.0 platforms.

How does Bisq compare with the competition?

Bisq has its own pros and cons when compared to other decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges on the internet. Compared with the DeFi swap of Crypto.com, they do not allow the users to govern the exchange with the DAO mechanism. But Bisq offers full authority to their users who contribute to the betterment of the platform and invest in BSQ tokens. But on the other hand, Bisq is incomparable to some decentralized exchanges like Uniswap due to the diversity they offer. While Bisq only offers around 30 cryptocurrencies to their users, Uniswap has over 400 assets that you can trade back and forth without any restrictions.

Lastly, there are no liquidity pools available on Bisq, which introduces the increased mining fee for the traders. And, of course, other exchanges utilize liquidity tools to tackle this problem efficiently. But in terms of safety and security, Bisq is significantly ahead of their competition as they use a P2P network and store all the data locally on disks without the use of any server. Lastly, Bisq has a very great payment system where they allow users to deposit fiat with 20+ payment methods. But the crypto exchanges like Curve or Uniswap do not support fiat at all and only allow the users to make deposits via crypto wallet.

How safe is Bisq?

Safety, security, and privacy are probably the most critical aspects of Bisq, as the platform does not compromise a bit within these areas. They have even taken decentralization to the next level by implementing the P2P structure that is run on the computers of the users themselves. Bisq claims that they have not left any weak spots for the hackers or ill-minded geeks to take advantage of and take control of the platform. Every data of the user is stored locally on disks and is not accessible through any server. Bisq does not even hold on to the funds of their users as they use 2-of-2 multi-sig wallets for storing all the money. 

The whole source code of the platform is available on the official GitHub page of Bisq. Anyone can go through it and see how invulnerable they are, and there is nothing to hide from the users. Lastly, users do not have to verify their identities on Bisq and submit several official documents, which most users are reluctant to provide. So, in the end, you can rest assured your funds and identity will always be safe with them.

What makes it unique?

The thing that sets Bisq apart is their unique way of decentralizing the system and creating an ecosystem benefiting all users. First of all, Bisq uses a P2P network, so you won't have to worry about your funds or identity being stored on hackable servers. You will always be protected with their flawless security system, ensuring peace of mind.

With Bisq DAO, you can earn BSQ tokens or halve your trading fee by contributing your services or simply holding BSQ tokens. You also get governance rights to handle the exchange and keep it updated with the latest requirements and needs.

Conclusion

There are many reasons why people are moving away from centralized exchanges, including restrictions, hacking attempts, strict regulations, verification requirements, limits, and more. Decentralized exchanges can be an efficient solution for this problem which gives you a straightforward option to trade without worrying about any of the aspects mentioned above. Bisq has taken decentralization to a whole new level with their security features, optimal trading layout, and the DAO they have created.

You can download the computer app right now and get started without any ID or verification. You will be able to deposit funds using several fiat methods or crypto deposits. With ultimate protection and privacy, you also get the chance to join the ecosystem of Bisq and profit further by contributing or simply holding their native token, BSQ.