4 Best LocalMonero Alternatives in 2024

The LocalMonero platform made it possible for users to set up peer-to-peer trades to purchase and sell Monero privately. The platform mediated disputes between buyers and sellers, and had an arbitration bond system designed to prevent fraud. 

Unfortunately for the Monero community, LocalMonero announced that they were starting to shut down their platform in May 2024, and the process will be finalized in November 2024. 

LocalMonero provided a vital service to the Monero ecosystem, as it made it possible to purchase XMR with fiat currency in a highly private manner. Since Monero is specifically designed to provide a high level of privacy, the ability to get onboarded into XMR privately is an invaluable service.

Thankfully, there are still ways to buy XMR anonymously. In this article, we will explore the best LocalMonero alternatives in 2024, which allow users to buy XMR without identity verification.

Best LocalMonero alternatives in 2024

There isn’t much choice when it comes to buying Monero without KYC if you want to use fiat currency. At the time of writing, there is only one platform that provides this functionality. 

However, there are quite a few options you can use if you want to buy Monero with other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. 

1. Haveno – The only way to buy XMR anonymously with fiat

Haveno is a non-custodial decentralized exchange protocol that offers a high degree of privacy – all the traffic between users on Haveno uses the Tor network. On Haveno, users can post ads to buy or sell Monero using their payment method of choice (including fiat currency). 

Although Haveno is currently the only real alternative to LocalMonero, setting it up is not exactly beginner-friendly, especially in an era where you can get started with most crypto wallets and apps in seconds. Installing Haveno and understanding how it works will be an intimidating process for most users, but it’s worth the time if you want to buy and sell Monero privately.  

Currently, the only fully functional mainnet instance of Haveno is Haveno-reto. If you’re interested in getting started with Haveno, we recommend you read the blog posts published by “Nihilist”, starting with “How to acquire and use Monero”. This guide provides a privacy-focused approach for setting up a Monero wallet and purchasing XMR using Haveno. However, as we’ve already mentioned, the process is fairly technical. 

2. Bisq – Decentralized platform for crypto-to-crypto trades

Bisq is a decentralized platform that enables users to trade Bitcoin for fiat currencies or other cryptocurrencies. It is highly focused on privacy and security, making it a favored choice among dedicated Bitcoin enthusiasts. The platform does not require any identity verification, and all user data is stored locally on the user’s computer.

Users install Bisq as a desktop application, and each Bisq node operates as a Tor hidden service, offering significantly greater privacy compared to standard web-based cryptocurrency trading platforms.

As a non-custodial platform, Bisq ensures that users retain full control of their private keys at all times. Trades are facilitated through a 2-of-2 multisignature wallet escrow system. To minimize the risk of fraud, both the buyer and the seller must provide a security deposit for each trade.

Monero is one of the cryptocurrencies supported by Bisq. If you want to learn how to get Monero on Bisq, we recommend you read the official trading Monero guide on the Bisq Wiki. 

3. Majestic Bank – No-KYC crypto exchange with Monero support

Majestic Bank is a no-KYC platform where users can exchange between different cryptocurrencies without having to provide personal information. When it comes to Monero, the platform currently offers the XMR/BTC and LTC/XMR trading pairs.

The platform’s trading volume is not exactly massive – at the time of writing, the XMR/BTC trading pair has a daily trading volume of roughly $250,000. Still, the liquidity should be good enough if you’re not making trades in the tens of thousands of dollars.

The Majestic Bank platform is also available on the Tor network for users who want the highest level of privacy. 

However, it’s important to keep in mind that Majestic Bank is currently only a crypto-to-crypto exchange. At the moment, the exchange does not offer any way to buy Monero with fiat currency or sell Monero for fiat currency. 

4. Serai – A Monero-friendly DEX currently in development

Serai is a decentralized exchange platform that’s currently in development. Serai implements a system of concentrated liquidity pools and allows users to make cross-chain swaps between Monero, Bitcoin, Ethereum and the Dai stablecoin. The platform will support Cake Wallet, which is a multi-currency crypto wallet that’s popular in the Monero community.

The Serai platform will be fully decentralized, and is implementing collateralized multisig wallets and a custom cryptographic stack to ensure a safe experience for traders.

Of course, Serai isn’t available for use yet, but we still feel that it’s worth highlighting as it’s a promising project that could make the experience of exchanging between Monero and other major cryptocurrencies as intuitive as using Uniswap. 

The bottom line

At the moment, Haveno is the only real alternative to LocalMonero. Although there are multiple other platforms where you can privately exchange between Monero and other cryptocurrencies, Haveno is currently the only no-KYC platform that facilitates peer-to-peer trades between Monero and fiat currency.

If you’re interested in more ways to acquire crypto anonymously, make sure to check out our article highlighting the best ways to buy Bitcoin anonymously in 2024.