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

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Main Takeaways

• Binance P2P is a peer-to-peer marketplace for buying or selling crypto 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 over 125 fiat currencies with escrow service.

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

Have you ever seen the term P2P while trading or stumbled upon it on the Binance website and wondered what it means? It’s an important concept when it comes to buying and selling crypto, and one worth learning about in detail. 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 and How Does it Work? 

P2P trading, short for peer-to-peer or person-to-person trading, is one of the most common ways users can buy, sell, and trade crypto. P2P trading is also in line with Bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto’s idea of Bitcoin being a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. One of its foundational principles was to allow people to trade directly without using centralized exchanges. P2P soon became a popular mode of crypto trading due to a lack of trading options and platforms during crypto’s early days.

However, older P2P models also came with risks. In-person and online trading sometimes led to theft, threats, and scams. To address these, Binance’s P2P platform was launched to make peer-to-peer trading safer for all traders.

What is Binance P2P?

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

With Binance facilitating the process and implementing various safeguards, the P2P trading experience has significantly improved. Today, the platform is one of the easiest and most accessible gateways to the world of crypto, offering users over 125 local currencies and more than 1,000 flexible payment methods.

Binance P2P Beginner’s Glossary: Key Terms You Need to Know

1. Who is a P2P maker?

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

2. Who is a P2P taker?

A P2P taker is a user who buys or sells assets using existing advertisements. 

3. Who is a P2P merchant?

P2P merchants are users who offer to buy or sell crypto 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 demonstrated 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?

4. What is a Funding Account? 

In the early days of Binance P2P, users engaging in peer-to-peer trading on Binance relied on a separate P2P Wallet. Eventually, we migrated P2P Wallets to Funding Accounts for users’ convenience. Crypto purchased via P2P trading will be transferred to your Funding Account.

Similarly, to sell assets via P2P trading, you will first need to transfer them to your Funding Account. The balance of your Funding Account shows the total crypto balance including P2P buy/sell orders, as well as other services like Binance Pay, Binance Gift Card, and others.

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

A P2P Ad, or advertisement, is a tool for P2P users to broadcast their trading requirements. The information that goes into a P2P Ad is type (buy or sell), the crypto asset the user is willing to trade, fiat currency they wish to trade for, 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.

6. 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, the prospective takers will be limited to selling from 100 to 500 worth of USD in BNB to you in each order.

7. What is a Payment Window?

A Payment Window is the period set by a maker that they want to send or receive payments in. Periods can range from 15 minutes to 6 hours.

8. What is a Nickname?

A Nickname is an alias that a user can set on Binance in order to trade. All P2P makers must set a nickname before they can post ads on Binance P2P.

9. What is Release Time?

Once the buyer has completed the payment, the seller has to release the crypto within the specified Release Time. If the release time is up and the crypto isn’t released, Binance customer service agents will follow up on the trade.

A user’s Avg Release Time indicates the average time the seller has previously taken to release crypto when a buyer has completed payment on their buy ads. You can check a user’s Avg Release Time in their profile by clicking on their nickname. 

10. What is Pay Time?

If a buyer has agreed to a trade, they must complete the payment within the Pay Time – if they are using a non-instant payment method. If the seller does not receive the payment within the specified Pay Time, Binance customer service agents will follow up on the trade. 

The Avg Pay Time indicates the average time the buyer has previously taken to make a payment to a seller on their Sell ads. You can check a user’s Avg Pay Time in their profile by clicking on their nickname. 

11. What is the 30d Trades metric?

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

12. What is the 30d Completion Rate?

The 30d Completion Rate refers to the ratio of orders that have been completed within the last 30 days to the total number of orders:

30d Completion Rate = Completed orders in the last 30 days/ Total number of orders in the last 30 days.

If you decide to cancel an order as a buyer, you will find that the cancellation will affect your completion rate, while the seller’s completion rate will remain unaffected. 

14. What is an Appeal?

An Appeal is a procedure used to raise an investigation by Binance if there is a disagreement or dispute between the buyer and seller. During an Appeal, all crypto assets involved in the trade will be locked. 

For more information on the Binance P2P 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 inherent in off-exchange peer-to-peer trading. With Binance P2P, the process is greatly simplified for new and experienced traders alike.

1. Safeguarding transactions with escrow

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

2. Over 1000 payment methods

Unlike other platforms that typically only offer limited payment options, Binance P2P supports over 1,000 local payment methods, including traditional bank transfers and digital wallet payments. This ensures that most users can find a suitable way to use the platform.

3. Fast transactions

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

Users can also utilize Binance P2P Express for an even more streamlined process, facilitating direct peer-to-peer transactions and minimizing the time and effort needed to find suitable trading partners.

For more information on our Binance P2P Express, check out our article, What You Need to Know About P2P Express.

4. 24/7 customer support

If you ever run into a problem while trading P2P, rest assured that Binance is always there to help. Binance can promptly take on customer help requests in multiple languages through its global customer support network. 

Binance P2P Fees: What You Need to Know 

Binance P2P charges competitive fees from takers or makers for every completed order to ensure cost-effective trading. Though these fees may vary depending on the market, rest assured that we will always ensure transparency of our fee structures for seamless peer-to-peer crypto transactions. 

For more information on transaction fees, head over to the Fees & Transactions Overview page. Also, please note that your payment service providers may charge additional fees. 

Step-by-Step Guide to Starting to Trade 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 Account first.

6. Head to Binance P2P and choose an ad that fits your requirements to start trading. 

Trading on Binance P2P

With Binance P2P, even more people can access crypto with their local fiat currency. On-ramping into crypto is now much easier with over 125 fiat currencies and 1,000 payment methods available. 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.