Binance P2P: Announcing the Winners of our 1,000 BUSD Reddit AMA Giveaway
On September 15, 2021, the Director of Binance P2P was invited to discuss questions and concerns from our global users during a two-hour LIVE AMA session on the Binance Reddit community. Thank you to everyone who tuned in; we received some valuable suggestions and tips to improve the Binance P2P experience. If you missed the event, here's a quick recap of the top questions, feedback and tips provided by the community.
QA Recap
1. Why should we trade on Binance P2P instead of spot trading?
The biggest reason to trade with P2P is the freedom that it provides. The two are totally different forms of trading. P2P trading is between 2 individuals which allows you to choose your trading counterparty, customize the price, payment method and timing of the trade. It gives the buyer and seller a lot more freedom but it is also less efficient compared to trading in the spot market via a matching engine. Trading in the spot market is a lot more efficient and standardized, but itâs less customizable and you canât choose who to trade with. Another reason is that not all traditional financial institutions are willing to provide direct service to the crypto industry. P2P supports more than 300 payment methods, providing an opportunity for users to buy and sell crypto with their preferred payment method.Â
2. With the introduction of P2P, Binance must have gained a lot of new users all over the world. So what measures is Binance taking to protect new users from scammers?Â
Before going into what we've done, please keep this in mind, do not trust anyone asking you to release the crypto without confirming the fiat money is in your accountâs available balance. Once the seller confirms that the fiat is received and releases the crypto, the crypto is no longer in escrow and there is very little that the platform can do.
Since the beginning of this year, weâve decreased the scam rate by 10X. Below youâll find some of the important things weâve been doing to combat bad actors on our platform:Â
We are constantly improving our risk engine with new policies and data to suspend suspected scammers from posting ads, conducting trades or withdrawing from the platform. We look at many dimensions and use techniques like machine learning to pick out the user with a high probability of being a scammer. This is a balancing act since scammers and new users look very similar at the beginning from a risk control perspective. That being said, we try to make sure we donât cause collateral damage to our users while catching as many scammers as possible. Since scammers are constantly evolving, we are always updating our risk management policies because what works now might not work 2 months down the road.Â
For users that are more risk averse, weâve created a verified merchant program for advertisers that are willing to verify their source of funds and trading experience with us. These users are typically more trustworthy, strictly vetted and highly unlikely to be scammers. You can find these âmerchantsâ with a yellow check mark next to their nickname.
Weâve even created a higher tier of âPROâ merchants. These merchants have provided a security deposit and some have integration with a licensed payment gateway in their respective region. You can find them by the red âPROâ batch next to their nickname. We recommend all Binance newbies to make their first P2P trades with âPROâ merchants.Â
If you donât like the available offers from our verified merchants, you can always view other counterpartiesâ trading stats like completion rate and total orders. This can help you better judge whether the advertiser is trustworthy. Always remember, if the deal is too good to be true, itâs probably a scam!Â
3. I'm a bit confused about the "time to pay" countdown. There are two parts to this countdown. (1) Countdown with the time that we set waiting for the buyer to pay and (2) that same countdown waiting for the seller to send accept the payment. Can you elaborate on this and how it affects the seller and buyer?Â
The 1st type of countdown is set by the advertiser and if the buyer doesnât pay OR CLICK âMARKED AS PAID â after they complete the payment, the order will be automatically cancelled. The 2nd type of countdown requires the seller to confirm payment and release the coin before the countdown ends. If the seller fails to do so, the buyer can file an appeal to request release.
4. What should we do when P2P sellers/buyers send payments with receipts, but the money gets delayed for more than 15 mins. This causes the transaction to be canceled and the payment still manages to be pushed through after the 15 mins time frame.Â
This is a common problem that we see. Once you (the buyer) make the payment, you can click on âTransferred, Nextâ. You donât have to wait until the transaction goes through. If the seller does not receive the fiat money, they will not release the coin. If you fail to indicate youâve sent payment, the order will be canceled and you might suffer a loss, so please always click on the âtransferredâ button as soon as you pay. We enforce this measure because there are a lot of âcoin lockersâ that click buy but never pay, which freezes the sellerâs assets till the order is canceled. In case that mistake was made unintentionally, please contact our Customer Support team ASAP. We canât guarantee weâll recover the funds but weâll try our best to coordinate a voluntary return of crypto or fiat from the counterparty.
5. Are there any plans to increase the speed of Binance P2P transactions?
Sometimes the limitation is on the payment gateway. For example, bank transfers in some regions can take a few hours or up to days. So the seller needs that time to confirm the payment. In the case of unresponsive advertisers, hereâs what we suggest you do:Â
Trade with Pro merchants. These merchants are verified and experienced traders that know what theyâre doing so their release time is typically faster.Â
Before you commit to a trade, check the advertiserâs average release time.Â
As mentioned in the past, we are currently implementing a feature that allows users to chat with advertisers before the trade. Hopefully, this can help users pick suitable traders for their transactions.Â
6. How do you encourage new merchants to join Binance P2P? Do you have any programs designed to train people who are interested in P2P?
We actually have a few masterclasses designed to help interested P2P users kickstart their journey with Binance P2P. You can check them out here!
Winner List
A big thank you to everyoneâs questions, comments and pro-tips. Your input has been incredibly valuable and insightful. Now, letâs congratulate our top 10 winners!Â