In 2022, Bitcoin became 15 years old. The last decade has been fantastic year after year for the most popular cryptocurrency in the world. While Bitcoin was born as a privacy-focused digital currency, the story changed quickly.
Since merchants and services usually ask for ID verification to use their services, many people will look for a way of buying Bitcoin without ID verification in 2022. One way of doing that is to use bisq.network which is a decentralized exchange.
This article will demonstrate how easy it is to download, install, and use Bisq to buy Bitcoin anonymously. We won’t be demonstrating how to create an account with Bisq or register for a wallet to hold your Bitcoin.
Introduction to Bisq
The Bisq platform is built on top of the Bitcoin network. The platform allows users to trade Bitcoin in exchange for national currencies without verifying their identity or trusting a centralized authority.
It is an open-source exchange and for trading on Bisq, you will need a Bitcoin wallet like Electrum, Mycelium and other wallets that support the Bitcoin network. The exchange supports multiple desktop operating systems and is also available on android and iOS devices.
Why you should use Bisq exchange for buying Bitcoin?
Most centralized platforms and exchanges (like Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken) track your personal information, putting your identity in danger by linking it to the bitcoin you purchase and sell.
Because Bitcoin transactions are public and easily traceable, any future transactions involving those bitcoins could be correlated to you.
Bisq was developed from the ground up to avoid such privacy disasters. Another benefit of using Bisq is that critical data isn’t stored on the platform, there’s no chance of losing it (Even though scammers can hack anonymous crypto exchanges, they will not be able to use the personal data of their users.)
How to start on Bisq?
Since Bisq does not have a centralized server, you have to download the desktop software from the bisq.network. If you’re not sure which version to download, choose the one that corresponds to your operating system (Windows, macOS, Linux) for desktop.
In any case, the platform does detect the OS you are using and recommends accordingly. Once the file has finished downloading, open it and follow the prompts to install Bisq.
Once you have Bisq installed, launch it and it will take some time to connect to the Tor network and sync with Bisq’s peer-to-peer trading network. When you are connected you will get multiple pop-ups like the one shown below.
Please go through the popups and also click on the links shown in those popups to learn about penalties. Some of those important links have been listed below for you to read.
When you’ve completed that, the first screen you see should look like this:
How to set up a Bisq wallet and other accounts?
To buy Bitcoin on Bisq, you first need to create a local fiat currency account. Below the main menu Account, you would find multiple submenus; the first is the National Currency Account.
The screen is self-explanatory; therefore, we won’t be discussing it in detail. You can set up more than one local currency account on that screen.
The following submenu is the Altcoin account, wherein you need to set up this account to buy Bitcoin with an Altcoin. It supports a lot of Altcoins, to name a few Ethereum, USDC, USDT (Ethereum), and others.
Apart from the above two, the other important submenus for trading on Bisq are Backup, Wallet seed, and Wallet password. Backup is vital as all your data is stored locally in the backup directory. Therefore it is essential to update the Bisq data directory regularly.
Wallet seed has your Bisq Bitcoin wallet seed phrases. If your PC crashes or corrupts, you can always access your account using them. Therefore keep those phrases somewhere safe.
To safeguard your Bisq wallet, you can set up a password using the wallet password submenu and check your wallet address under wallet info.
How to buy Bitcoin Anonymously on Bisq?
There’s just one more point to know before you can trade with Bisq: you must send enough bitcoin/fiat/altcoins to our Bisq budget to cover a security deposit and for trading and mining costs.
Security deposits help avoid fraud, for buyers, this is usually 15% of the trade amount. Buying Bitcoin on Bisq is very simple. You need to click on Buy and then depending on the offers listed on the screen you need to click on the button Take offer as shown below.
If you still face any issues with buying Bitcoin then you can check the video from Bisq.
Summing up
There is no 100% guarantee that scammers will not hack an anonymous exchange and steal all of your funds. The risk is always there when you trade on an exchange.
If you want to keep your personal information safe when trading cryptocurrency, the Bisq crypto exchange is the one suited for your anonymous trading. When you use a DEX, remember that you will almost certainly encounter limited functionality and trade restrictions.
Keep a backup of your exchange wallet safe, and keep a written record of the seed phrases.
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