Face-to-face (payment method)

Bisq can help users arrange face-to-face (F2F) trades to buy and sell bitcoin.

Done correctly, this may be the only payment method that can be both private and anonymous. But there are a number of things you should consider when doing a F2F trade on Bisq.

F2F trades are technically very similar to online trades. In fact, to carry out a F2F trade, you follow the exact same process within the Bisq software as you would for any other trade. The difference is in how the buyer pays the seller: instead of paying through a financial intermediary (like a bank or other money transfer service), the buyer meets the seller in real life and pays with cash.

Setting up a F2F account in Bisq

When setting up a F2F payment account in Bisq, you will be asked to enter the following information:

• Country
• Currency
• City (this will be displayed with the offer)
• How would you like to be contacted by the trading peer (Please. state the method of contact you would be happy with eg; Telegram, Matrix, Email, Phone. Please do not list your actual contact details)
• Additional information (for example where you would like to complete the trade.)

You can only select one currency for a single cash-by-mail account. If you would like to trade with more than one currency, please create separate accounts for each currency.

Define any special terms, conditions, or details you would like to be displayed with your offers in the 'Additional Information' field. Users can see this field before taking the offer by clicking the info icon of the offer.

Consider setting up separate F2F accounts for buying and selling so you can specify special instructions for each.

Making a F2F offer

Make sure to state any special terms or conditions in the 'Additional Information' field of the payment account before making an offer. The person taking the offer will be accepting these terms and conditions by taking the offer. For example you could include that you are looking to complete the trade in Starbucks within the city center.

Please note it is against Bisq rules to use the 'Additional Information' field to include advertising offers with a way to contact you prior to the trade. For example you cannot list on an offer; a website, an email, or a Matrix/Keybase/Telegram user name. Doing can result in a penalty should someone take your offer and request for you to be penalized.

Taking a F2F offer

Make sure to check the offer maker's terms and conditions before taking a F2F offer. If you cannot fulfill the terms, do not take the the offer. If you have specific terms you would prefer, consider making your own offer instead.

Meeting your trading partner

Doing a transaction face-to-face means you’ll be coming within close proximity of a stranger to exchange relatively substantial value.

Be safe

People do local, in-person commerce all the time, all over the world. Incidents are rare, but they do happen. You should be cognizant of risks and do your part to minimize potential harm.

Guard your data. When you set up a face-to-face payment account in Bisq, you’ll need to provide contact information so you can arrange a meeting with your trading partner. Make sure this information isn’t traceable back to your property or identity.

Meet in a neutral public place. Meeting your trading partner in a place with witnesses and security cameras significantly reduces the chance of an incident.

Don’t bring more than you need. Even in a public place, incidents can still happen, but you can limit the chance even further by limiting valuables on your person that would interest a thief in the first place.

Bring backup. Consider bringing a friend with you. Also, depending on the laws in your area & your own comfort, consider carrying a concealed tool for self-defense. Even pepper-spray can hobble a criminal just enough to get you out of immediate danger.

Validate payment

Face-to-face trades are usually settled with cash. Cash is wonderfully anonymous, but it can be counterfeited. Be sure you know the basics of detecting counterfeit currency. For example, there are several characteristics of US dollar bills one can examine to quickly determine fakes with high accuracy.

You could look for tools like counterfeit pens to do the work for you, but make sure you do thorough research before picking one. Counterfeit pens, for example, are often not reliable.

If you’d rather not take the chance of carrying or accepting cash, consider meeting at a bank where you can validate a buyer’s payment on the spot.

Ensure you follow Bisq protocol

Ultimately, the deal will be completed in Bisq. Buyers must mark payment as sent before sellers can release assets.

Buyers should bring a laptop with them so they can mark the payment as sent. Otherwise, the buyer will end up paying the seller and have to walk away without the bitcoin they paid for (since the seller won’t be able to acknowledge receipt of payment before the buyer acknowledges they sent payment).

Sellers should bring a laptop with their Bisq client running no matter what. Once they receive a legitimate payment, they’ll need to mark the payment as received so the assets are released to the buyer. No buyer will want to walk away after paying without proof of a complete deal.

Disputes

The lack of verifiable actions makes handling face-to-face disputes much harder.

This is why we highly recommend that both parties bring laptops and acknowledge their ends of the deal on the spot.

Otherwise, the same dispute process is in place for F2F trades, but be advised that mediators and arbitrators often won’t have a way to settle disputes. In such cases, aggrieved traders can send deposit funds to the donation address and make an appeal to the Bisq DAO.

Having said that, mediators and arbitrators may attempt different tactics to get a handle on the situation. For example, they may ask a potential scammer for ID verification, which is a request a real scammer probably wouldn’t comply with.