Bisq: P2P BTC ↔ XMR trading without KYC
Guide · research-based, September 2026 · not financial advice.
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What Bisq is
Bisq (bisq.network) is a decentralized, open-source P2P trading network — a desktop application, not a website. There is no company, no central server, and no account: the app connects over Tor to a peer-to-peer network where users post offers and trade directly with each other. It has operated since 2016 and is governed by a DAO; the current release line is Bisq 2 (v2.1.12, August 2026), under active development.
Bitcoin is the base currency of the network — every trade involves BTC on one side. Monero trades as the XMR/BTC pair and has historically been one of the most active pairs on the platform. To buy XMR with BTC you take (or create) an offer; the actual payment in XMR happens wallet-to-wallet outside the app while Bitcoin collateral sits in multisig escrow.
How a trade works (multisig escrow)
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Install and fund
Download Bisq from bisq.network (verify signatures), install the desktop app, and fund its built-in Bitcoin wallet. You need a small amount of BTC to cover the security deposit and fees before your first trade.
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Take or create an offer
Browse the XMR/BTC order book. Taking an existing offer starts the trade immediately; creating your own offer means waiting for someone to take it — you set the price (usually quoted as a percentage over/under market) and the payment terms.
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Both sides lock deposits in multisig
Buyer and seller each post a security deposit in BTC into a 2-of-2 multisignature escrow, and the seller's BTC for the trade goes in too. Neither side can run off with the funds; the deposits make cheating expensive for both parties.
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Pay and confirm
The XMR leg is paid directly from the seller's Monero wallet to your Monero address, outside Bisq. Once you confirm receipt in the app, the escrow releases: the buyer gets the BTC side's outputs, the seller gets theirs, and both deposits are refunded.
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Disputes
If something goes wrong, there is in-app chat with your counterparty, then mediation, then arbitration through the Bisq DAO. A pre-signed time-locked payout transaction exists as a backstop so funds can't stay locked forever if a party disappears.
Fees and deposits
- Trading fee: ~1% of trade value in total (roughly 0.12% seller / 0.88% buyer), about half that if paid in BSQ, the network's token. (Documented fee schedule; verify current figures on bisq.network.)
- Security deposit: both sides lock BTC collateral — typically around 15% of the trade amount with a ~0.006 BTC minimum (third-party figures; offer terms vary). It is refunded when the trade completes.
- Network fees: standard Bitcoin transaction fees for the escrow funding and payout transactions.
- All-in reality: third-party estimates put total Bisq trading costs around 0.8–2% depending on offer pricing and deposit size (estimate, May 2026) — but the offer's price premium/discount over market is often the biggest cost component, so read each offer carefully.
XMR on Bisq: liquidity reality
XMR/BTC has long been among Bisq's most traded pairs, but this is still a P2P order book, not a deep centralized market. May 2026 figures put Bisq's XMR liquidity around 150–300 XMR per day (third-party estimate) — fine for personal-size trades, thin for anything large. Offers can sit untaken for hours or days on quiet pairs, and prices vary offer to offer: patient traders who post their own offers near market price tend to do best.
One structural note: because Bitcoin is the base currency and every trade needs a BTC security deposit, Bisq is most natural if you already hold BTC. If your starting point is fiat or another coin, factor in the extra hop.
Honest trade-offs
- Trust: very good. No custodian holds your funds beyond the trade's multisig escrow, and the DAO arbitration path is battle-tested over many years.
- Privacy: excellent — Tor by default, no accounts, no ID. (Standard P2P caution still applies: your counterparty sees the payment details you exchange with them.)
- Speed and convenience: the weak point. Desktop app, BTC deposit needed up front, offers may wait for takers, and each trade involves several manual steps. An instant swap does in minutes what can take a day here.
- Cost: competitive for patient traders, but the 1% fee + deposit lockup + offer spreads add up; always compare against an instant-exchange quote.
- Best for: regular, privacy-conscious traders who value decentralization over speed — and anyone who wants XMR without touching a centralized service at all.