Review XCH4NGE — A New P2P Platform For Buy and Sell Crypto Worldwide, Alternative LocalBitcoins
Hi there everyone, today I want to introduce you something new. I don’t review about ICO but this is a new Peer to Peer platform (P2P). This platform will become new LocalBitcoins competitor.
XCH4NGE is a P2P platform (based in the UK) that provides selling, buying, store cryptocurrency services and will be directly connected with banking services.
INTRODUCTION
XCH4NGE is a new cryptocurrency platform (based in the UK) which allows you to buy, sell, and store bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), litecoin (LTC), bitcoin cash (BCH), and ripple (XRP).
Want to find out more? Read on for my hands-on experience with their P2P platform.
ADVANTAGES
- Support available 24/7 (via live chat).
- P2P platform that only requires verification once.
- Account setup (incl. full verification) takes about 15 minutes.
- P2P platform for multiple cryptocurrencies.
DISADVANTAGES
- Fewer sellers than alternatives (e.g., LocalBitcoins).
- Prices aren’t competitive (more than 2.5%).
- Website doesn’t look great (but is currently being redesigned).
WHAT IS XCH4NGE?
XCH4NGE is a UK limited company (based in London) which was established on the 22ndJanuary 2018. The sole listed director is Sarfraaz Patel.
Their mission is “to make cryptocurrency accessible for everyone” and “become the ideal entry point to the digital asset ecosystem”.
But what makes them unique? When I asked, they told me they wanted to be a “one stop shop” for everything crypto-related. Quite ambitious it seems!
They launched their peer-to-peer (P2P) platform in November 2018 to UK residents. This appears to work a lot like LocalBitcoins, where you’ll buy cryptocurrency from other users – not directly from XCH4NGE.
However, this P2P platform is just the first stage of their platform. There are other services they’re aiming to launch in 2019:
- Mobile Application (Q1 2019): Will initially include their P2P platform, but will be expanded include all their upcoming services.
- Cryptocurrency Exchange (Q3 2019) This’ll be reminiscent of something like Binance (i.e. crypto-to-crypto) and will include a broader selection of cryptocurrencies to buy and sell.
- Banking (Q4 2019): They’re working with the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to obtain an e-money license. If they get this, they’ll be able to offer UK bank accounts services to verified users. That’s a big deal if they can pull it off.
HOW’S IT WORK?
After beta testing their P2P platform in October 2018, they launched their peer-to-peer (P2P) platform in November 2018 to UK residents.
Signing up and verifying your identity doesn’t take long (15-20 mins). You’ll need to provide:
- Your name, address, email, and phone number.
- Bank details.
- Scanned copy of your ID (passport or driving license).
- Selfie of yourself, holding your ID, and a piece of paper with ‘EXCH4NGE’ and the date.
XCH4NGE utilise a “leading UK credit agency” to perform KYC verification, which means that there’s less of a chance you’ll be exposed to stolen or laundered funds when buying or selling bitcoin (BTC). Because everyone using their platform is verified, buyers and sellers can save time and make transactions more securely (i.e., with less risk of fraud).
Once I signed up, I was disappointed to find that XCH4NGE’s P2P platform was quite bare. When I checked, there were only 3 bitcoin (BTC) sellers online.
The ripple (XRP) market was a little more active – but not by much.
When I tested the buying process (about 10:00 AM on a Sunday), I wasn’t actually able to find a seller online (even though their opening hours said otherwise).
WHAT’S THE BUYING PROCESS?
When you want to purchase from a seller, you’ll see something like this.
When you’re input how much you want to purchase at that Price / BTC, just select ‘Request Purchase’ and you’ll be taken to a screen like this.
Before any payment details are released, you’ll now need to wait for the seller to confirm the order. If they don’t confirm the order within 5 minutes, the order is automatically cancelled (and you’ll see something like this).
If the seller does confirm your order, you’ll be provided with payment details (account number, sort code, and a reference).
Once you’ve paid the seller and they confirm receipt on XCH4NGE, the coins should be released shortly after to your XCH4NGE wallet.
SUPPORTED CRYPTOCURRENCIES
XCH4NGE currently supports the following cryptocurrencies:
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- Ethereum (ETH)
- Litecoin (LTC)
- Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
- Ripple (XRP)
They’ve told me they are looking to support more cryptocurrencies in the near future. However, they’re not quite ready to reveal what these new additions will be.
FEES
Buyers don’t directly pay any fees to XCH4NGE when buying cryptocurrency on their platform. However, XCH4NGE charges sellers a fee of 0.75% when they make trades on their platform. That’ll get passed along to the buyer in the form of an inflated bitcoin (BTC) price.
When I checked, the best price available on XCH4NGE was £2899.06 (per BTC). At the time, that was about 2.6% above the mid-market rate (as determined by Preev). If I wanted to buy more than £18, the next best price was 4.6% above the mid-market rate. This will fluctuate. I managed to find someone selling at about 2.5% above the mid-market rate on a weekday.
That’s not great. There are numerous alternatives which offer more competitive rates (between 1% and 2%). Here’s an overview of your best options in the UK.
To be absolutely clear, that’s not the fault of XCH4NGE. The competitiveness of the prices on XCH4NGE are dictated by the users on their platform – not them. Over time, I expect their rates will become more competitive. Over January 2019, they are looking to onboard more sellers (to improve liquidity).
While the above is not technically untrue (they don’t directly charge buyers anything), I think claiming that there aren’t any hidden fees for buyers is misleading – it’s just baked into the market rate for each cryptocurrency. If they wanted to be transparent about this, I’d expect something which highlights the % above the Bitcoin Price Index (or similar) in the interface.
LIMITS
Supported Fiat Currencies GBP
Daily Transaction Limit £50,000/day
Deposit Minimum Set by blockchain*
Deposit Maximum Uncapped
Withdrawal Minimum (BTC) 0.002 BTC
Withdrawal Minimum (Altcoins) See Here
Withdrawal Maximum Uncapped
*If the blockchain allows you to send/receive that amount, it will be accepted into your XCH4NGE wallet.
PAYMENT METHODS
XCH4NGE currently only supports GBP UK bank transfers (via Faster Payments).
GBP payments between UK accounts utilising Faster Payments means that most transactions shouldn’t take longer than 5-10 minutes.
SUPPORTED COUNTRIES
Only UK residents can use their platform at the moment.
However, they’re looking to rollout their platform to (parts of) Europe and India beginning early February 2019, with other regions to follow sometime afterwards.
ALTERNATIVES
XCH4NGE’s closest competitor is LocalBitcoins
Localbitcoins is a popular and well-recommended P2P platform which allows you to buy and sell bitcoin (BTC) with whatever payment method you want (in-person or online).
Although it is cheaper than XCH4NGE, you will need to verify your identity (which usually requires sending them a picture of yourself and an ID) with most people you deal with on LocalBitcoins. This sucks, as it does add time/effort to the process (unless you buy/sell to the same person).
Looking for the best UK options? Check out my recent post about the 5 cheapest ways to buy bitcoin (BTC) in the UK.
CONCLUSION
I’m excited to see how XCH4NGE’s platform develops. If they can pull off their roadmap (e.g., getting an e-money license), then they could become a serious contender in the space.
But in its current state? I won’t be using it and wouldn’t recommend it.
When I can buy bitcoin from verified brokers on Bittylicious and Solidi (who both have great reputations), what’s the advantage of using XCH4NGE? It seems like LocalBitcoins, but with all the best things about it removed (e.g., privacy, choice of payment method, etc.).
Despite charging lower fees to sellers (0.75%), the rates offered to buyers (when I checked) weren’t as competitive as alternatives (at least 2.5% to buy more than £18). I couldn’t find a seller who was online to take my buy order either. Double whammy.
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