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The official reason, "crypto-winter", seems like bullshit to me. LocalBitcoins started in 2012 when volume was way lower and price was under 100$. Seems more li

The official reason, "crypto-winter", seems like bullshit to me. LocalBitcoins started in 2012 when volume was way lower and price was under 100$. Seems more likely that they were pressured into shutting down.

m00dy 4y ago
exactly. LocalBitcoins used to work great in Europe and Thailand from the first person experience.
- bflesch 4y ago
  AFAIK it was basically forbidden in Germany after some point.
  - m00dy 4y ago
    I will cash out some this easter in Berlin and I have done it previously.
capableweb 4y ago
Their own expenses was probably way lower before, and as the platform gained popularity, so did their expenses. Once revenue started going down after the peak ~2017, probably their expenses were harder to reduce and so the platform was harder to keep running.
fallingknife 4y ago
Absolutely they were pressured. They could not be shut down legally through the courts. It is legal to buy and sell bitcoin. It is legal to provide a platform for people to meet up and do legal business. Basically it's Craigslist.
- flangola7 4y ago
  So who had leverage to pressure them?
  - fallingknife 4y ago
    Who hates crypto, and anonymous (untaxable) financial transactions the most? The government, of course.
    - flangola7 4y ago
      They're not doing anything illegal. What is the leverage?
      - fallingknife 4y ago
        A small company will not survive a federal investigation even if they did nothing wrong. The lawyers fees involved will be in the 10's of millions before you can even get to the stage where a judge can rule on it.
        flangola7 4y ago
        Unless they were charged with something I don't see what they would be paying at all. If you're not in court what legal fees would you be paying? Kraken is not what I would call a small company either.
        fallingknife 4y ago
        You have obviously never been involved in litigation. Actually being in court is the tip of the iceberg. Just look at the xrp lawsuit. Been dragging on for years and still hasn't gone to court. Lawyers are billing by the hour the whole time. And what does this have to do with kraken?
      - olalonde 4y ago
        Source? The average person unknowingly breaks at least three federal criminal laws every day. If you operate an international peer-to-peer Bitcoin exchange, that number is probably a lot higher. They might just have gotten an email from a 3 letter agency politely asking them to shutdown.
shp0ngle 4y ago
look at their volumes. It’s tiny. https://coin.dance/volume/localbitcoins https://coin.dance/volume/localbitcoins I don’t know if it’s because people are not using bitcoin anymore or if there’s something else now, I haven’t really used bitcoin in ages.
- olalonde 4y ago
  This chart shows they are doing 6M$ volume per week. This amounts to 3M$ annual revenue per year at 1% fee. That's a good chunk of money even if it looks tiny in comparison to Coinbase.

m00dy 4y ago

exactly. LocalBitcoins used to work great in Europe and Thailand from the first person experience.

bflesch 4y ago
AFAIK it was basically forbidden in Germany after some point.
- m00dy 4y ago
  I will cash out some this easter in Berlin and I have done it previously.

capableweb 4y ago

Their own expenses was probably way lower before, and as the platform gained popularity, so did their expenses. Once revenue started going down after the peak ~2017, probably their expenses were harder to reduce and so the platform was harder to keep running.

fallingknife 4y ago

Absolutely they were pressured. They could not be shut down legally through the courts. It is legal to buy and sell bitcoin. It is legal to provide a platform for people to meet up and do legal business. Basically it's Craigslist.

flangola7 4y ago
So who had leverage to pressure them?
- fallingknife 4y ago
  Who hates crypto, and anonymous (untaxable) financial transactions the most? The government, of course.
  - flangola7 4y ago
    They're not doing anything illegal. What is the leverage?
    - fallingknife 4y ago
      A small company will not survive a federal investigation even if they did nothing wrong. The lawyers fees involved will be in the 10's of millions before you can even get to the stage where a judge can rule on it.
      - flangola7 4y ago
        Unless they were charged with something I don't see what they would be paying at all. If you're not in court what legal fees would you be paying? Kraken is not what I would call a small company either.
        fallingknife 4y ago
        You have obviously never been involved in litigation. Actually being in court is the tip of the iceberg. Just look at the xrp lawsuit. Been dragging on for years and still hasn't gone to court. Lawyers are billing by the hour the whole time. And what does this have to do with kraken?
    - olalonde 4y ago
      Source? The average person unknowingly breaks at least three federal criminal laws every day. If you operate an international peer-to-peer Bitcoin exchange, that number is probably a lot higher. They might just have gotten an email from a 3 letter agency politely asking them to shutdown.

shp0ngle 4y ago

look at their volumes. It’s tiny. https://coin.dance/volume/localbitcoins https://coin.dance/volume/localbitcoins I don’t know if it’s because people are not using bitcoin anymore or if there’s something else now, I haven’t really used bitcoin in ages.

olalonde 4y ago
This chart shows they are doing 6M$ volume per week. This amounts to 3M$ annual revenue per year at 1% fee. That's a good chunk of money even if it looks tiny in comparison to Coinbase.