Binance P2P Beginner's Guide: How to Buy and Sell Crypto Safely

Main Takeaways

• P2P is a peer-to-peer marketplace for buying or selling cryptocurrencies directly with other Binance users using your preferred local currency, price, and payment method.

• The platform lets you trade directly with others using over 1,000+ payment methods and 100+ fiat currencies with escrow service.

• There are low fees when buying or selling from ads already posted.

Learn all you need to know about Binance P2P, a direct way to buy cryptocurrencies from other sellers, merchants, and vendors. We've got you covered from the terms you need to know to the exact steps to getting started.

Have you ever seen the term P2P while trading and wondered what it means? Maybe you’ve even come across it on the Binance website. It’s a common concept when it comes to buying and selling cryptocurrencies, and it’s one worth getting to know. In our beginner’s guide, we’ll introduce exactly what P2P is, provide a cheat sheet of must-know terms, and finally show you how to get started as a P2P buyer and seller.

What Is P2P Trading? How Does it Work? 

P2P trading, also known as peer-to-peer or person-to-person trading, is one of the most common ways users can buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrency. P2P trading is also in line with Bitcoin’s founder Satoshi Nakamoto’s idea of Bitcoin being a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. Originally, it allowed you to trade directly with another party without using centralized exchanges. Buyers and sellers can conduct trading via any payment method both agree upon. P2P soon became a popular mode of crypto trading due to a lack of trading options during crypto’s early days.

However, older P2P models also came with risks. In-person and online trading sometimes led to thefts, threats, and scams., Binance started Binance P2P to make P2P trading safer for new traders.

Binance P2P

Launched in 2019, Binance P2P was created to enable P2P currency exchange transactions with local currencies. The service is a peer-to-peer marketplace that allows you to directly trade cryptocurrencies, with other Binance users using your preferred local currency, price and payment method.

With Binance facilitating the process and providing some safeguards, the P2P trading process significantly improved. The platform today is the easiest gateway to access crypto with over 100 local currencies available to users, and over 1,000 flexible payment methods.

P2P Beginner’s Glossary

What is a maker?

A P2P maker is a user who posts trade advertisements on the Binance P2P platform.

What is a taker?

In the P2P sense, a taker is a user who buys or sells assets using existing advertisements. 

What is a P2P merchant?

P2P merchants are users who offer to buy or sell cryptocurrencies directly to other users on the Binance P2P platform. These merchants typically provide liquidity to the marketplace and often have higher trading limits and more flexible payment options compared to regular users. Verified by Binance for trust and reliability, merchants can enjoy additional benefits and earn by providing fiat currency payment solutions. 

Interested in becoming a Binance P2P Merchant? Check out our article How Do I Become A Binance P2P Merchant?

What is a funding wallet? 

Binance has various wallets for different trading purposes. Originally, when users started P2P trading on Binance, they had access to a P2P Wallet. Now, Binance has migrated P2P Wallets to Funding Wallets. Crypto purchased from P2P trading will be transferred to your Funding Wallet. To sell crypto via P2P trading, you need to transfer your funds to Funding Wallet first. The balance shown on your Funding Wallet includes the total crypto balance from your P2P buy/sell orders, Binance Pay, Binance Card, Binance Gift Card, and Binance Pool.

What is a P2P Ad and how to create one on Binance?

An ad, or advertisement, is when a P2P user broadcasts their trading requirements. An ad consists of ad type (buy or sell), the crypto asset the user is willing to trade, fiat currency for the ad, total crypto buy/sell amount, price, order limit, payment window, preferred payment method(s), user nickname, and terms and conditions.

To learn how to post ads, check out our article, How to Create An Ad To Buy Or Sell Crypto on Binance P2P.

What is an order limit? 

An order limit is the minimum and maximum amount of fiat or crypto assets that can be bought or sold in a specific ad. For example, if you post a BNB/USD P2P buy ad and set 100 USD as the lower limit and 500 USD as the upper limit, this limits the taker to sell within 100 - 500 USD equivalent of BNB to you in each order.

What is a payment window?

Payment windows are the time period set by a maker that they want to send/receive payments in. They can range from 15 minutes to 6 hours long. You can check a user’s payment window by clicking on their ad.  

What is a nickname?

A nickname is an alias that a user can have on Binance in order to trade. All users that post ads (makers) need to set a nickname in order to do so.

What is release time?

Once the buyer has completed the payment, the seller has to release the crypto within the release time. If the release time is up and the crypto isn’t released, Binance customer service agents will follow up on the trade. You can check a user’s Avg Release Time by clicking on their nickname and checking their profile. Avg Release Time indicates the average time the user has taken to release crypto when a buyer has completed payment on their buy ads.

What is pay time ?

If a buyer has agreed to a trade, they must complete the payment by the pay time if they are using a non-instant payment method. If the seller does not receive the payment within the pay time, Binance customer service agents will follow up on the trade. You can check a user’s Avg Pay Time by the same method as mentioned for release time. This indicates the average time the user has taken to make a payment to a seller on their Sell ads.

What is 30d trades?

30d Trades refers to the number of trades the user has completed in the past 30 days.

What is 30d completion rate?

30d Completion Rate = 1 - total number of canceled orders in the last 30 days / Total number of completed orders in the last 30 days. 

If you are a buyer and cancel an order, it will affect your completion rate, whereas the seller’s rate will be unaffected. 

What is an appeal?

An appeal is used when the buyer and seller disagree or dispute, and Binance investigates. During an appeal, all crypto involved in the trade is locked. 

For more information on our appeals process, check out our article, All You Need To Know About the Binance P2P Appeals Process.

What Are the Benefits of Trading on Binance P2P?

Binance P2P directly addresses some of the risks previously seen with peer-to-peer trading. With the benefits of trading on Binance P2P, the process is greatly simplified for new and old traders alike.

Escrow

Binance P2P has a holding mechanism for any cryptocurrencies waiting to be transacted. This escrow service adds another layer of protection that comes with using Binance P2P. Using escrow minimizes the possibility of thefts, scams, and other actors stealing your assets without completing their part of the transaction. 

1000+ payment methods

Binance P2P provides a wide array of payment options, with over 1,000 local payment methods available, including traditional bank transfers and digital wallet payments. This ensures that most users can find a suitable way to use the platform.

Other platforms typically offer only a small number of ways to pay, making the process inaccessible to potential users.

Quick transaction times

With Binance P2P, long waiting times are a thing of the past. It’s now possible to complete transactions in as fast as 15 minutes for specific merchants while enjoying the security of Binance’s platform.

24/7 customer support

If you ever run into a problem while trading P2P, Binance is always there to help. Binance can promptly take on customer help requests in many different languages with a global customer support network. 

Step-by-Step guide to start trading on Binance P2P

If you’re looking to get started with Binance P2P, you can easily do so in six simple steps: 

1. First, head to Binance and register an account if you haven’t done so already.

2. Complete the Identity Verification process next. Make sure to have all the necessary documents as you complete this step. 

3. When Binance has verified your account, you can set up your preferred payment method(s). As previously mentioned, Binance P2P now supports more than 1,000 payment methods, so take your pick. 

4. As a buyer, you are now ready to start trading on the Binance P2P platform.

5. If you plan on selling your crypto on the P2P platform, you will have to transfer crypto to your Funding Wallet first.

6. Now, head to Binance P2P and choose an ad according to your requirements. 

Trading on Binance P2P

With Binance P2P, even more people can access cryptocurrencies with their local fiat currency. On-ramping into crypto hasn’t always been easy, but the process is now much easier with 100+ fiat currencies supported and 1,000+ payment methods. On top of that, P2P users benefit from Binance’s support and safeguards.

Further Reading

• How to Buy Crypto Through Binance P2P on the Website and the App.

• How to Sell Crypto Through Binance P2P on the Website and the App.

• How to Post Trade Ads on Binance P2P Through the Website and the App.

• And more on the Binance P2P FAQ.

Disclaimer: Your use of Binance P2P services and all information and other content (including that of third parties) included in or accessible from Binance P2P services is at your sole risk. Our only responsibility is to handle crypto transactions. All payments are final upon completion unless otherwise required by law. The Binance P2P platform has neither the right nor obligation to resolve any disputes arising from a completed payment. Neither the Binance P2P platform nor merchants shall be responsible for your loss in a completed payment.