The peer-to-peer Bitcoin trading platform, LocalBitcoins, announced today the launch of its mobile app.
The app is now available to download on Android, with an iOS version still under development, according to a press release. The company did not provide a specific launch date for the iOS app.
Founded in 2021, LocalBitcoins has played a leading role in providing a platform for Bitcoin trading in emerging markets. It currently dominates the peer-to-peer trading space in Latin America and Russia, for example, with a wide lead over up-and-coming competitors such as Paxful and Binance P2P. For example, In Russia, traders swapped less than 5 BTC last week on Paxful, but LocalBitcoin users traded over 40 BTC in the same period of time.
Before today, LocalBitcoins traders had to access the platform from a web browser and a not-so-user-friendly interface. Third-party apps that attempted to use the LocalBitcoins market also failed for security reasons.
In contrast, Paxful and Binance P2P offer apps on Android and iOS with user-friendly interfaces and features that make the overall user experience more robust, such as a cryptocurrency wallet for Paxful or the spot, peer-to-peer, and futures trading functions on the Binance app.
"We are continuously listening to the needs of our customers worldwide, [and] many of our customers had been hoping for a mobile app as an option. And as a result, we developed one," said Jukka Blomberg, LocalBitcoins’ chief marketing officer.
The app appears to have the same functionality that the platform offers on its desktop version. It will support 190 countries, more than 100 payment methods, a Bitcoin wallet, biometric security, fee-free user-to-user transactions, and multi-language user support.
The peer-to-peer Bitcoin market continues to thrive, especially in areas where spot trading is restricted or prohibited. According to data from peer-to-peer market analysis website Anacoinda, 32,373 peer-to-peer trades were made on LocalBitcoins in the last 24 hours for a total of about $10.5 million.