Frequently Asked Questions

Hodl Hodl is a global P2P Bitcoin trading platform that allows users to trade directly with each other, and it doesn't hold user's funds, locking it in multisig escrow instead, which minimizes the possibility of theft of Bitcoin, and reduces trading time. Because Hodl Hodl does not hold any money (neither Bitcoin, nor fiat) it is not subject to complex compliance procedures. All trades happen directly between user's Bitcoin wallets.

On Hodl Hodl, all trades occur directly between buyers and sellers, and without a middleman involved. Every time a contract is created between two parties, Hodl Hodl generates a unique multisig escrow Bitcoin address. The seller sends Bitcoin directly from his wallet to the multisig escrow address, and when the Bitcoin is locked in escrow, the buyer sends fiat to the seller. Then the seller releases the locked Bitcoin from escrow using his payment password, and the buyer receives the Bitcoin directly into his wallet.

• Anonymous - Global P2P trades without KYC/AML.
• Cheap - Low fee: Max 0.5% per trade; discounted fee applies for referrers and referrals.
• Secure - Multisig (P2SH) contracts, you control a key to the funds in escrow.

• Sign up with an e-mail and a password.
• Click on the confirmation link you received in your e-mail.
• You are good to go!

No. As mentioned previously, all trades on the Hodl Hodl trading platform happen directly between user’s Bitcoin wallets. So to use Hodl Hodl, you only need to have a Bitcoin wallet.

There are different trading fee rates available on the Hodl Hodl trading platform:

1. Trading fee of 0.5% for every registered user.
2. Trading fee of 0.45% for referrals that registered on Hodl Hodl with a referral code. This also applies to users who have referred at least one active trader.

More information is available in your Dashboard.

On Hodl Hodl, you can create offers and engage in contracts with 0 to 6 transaction confirmations. The more confirmations you choose - the more time it will take for the transaction to be confirmed. The Bitcoin is locked in multisig escrow in the Bitcoin blockchain, and the time it takes for the Bitcoin transaction to be confirmed depends on the blockchain confirmation times. Only 'Experienced traders' are able to set 0 confirmations required for a trade.

Bitcoin.

Hodl Hodl is a global P2P trading platform, therefore any fiat currency in the world is available. It's entirely up to the users who create the offers to decide which payment methods and fiat currencies they accept.

Hodl Hodl supports more than 100 different payment methods. More information is available in the "Payment methods" section.

Yes, Hodl Hodl supports SegWit:

• Native Bech32 SegWit addresses: Send and receive funds directly to and from escrow with Bech32 addresses.
• P2SH-P2WSH SegWit multisig escrow addresses: When trading on Hodl Hodl, every multisig address is generated in SegWit format.

The main priority of Hodl Hodl is keeping your funds and data safe.

Hodl Hodl does not process any private information, therefore there is no need to worry about your data. To start trading on our platform, you only need to provide a valid e-mail address and create a password.

Hodl Hodl does not have any access to your funds. During a trade, the bitcoins are locked in multisig escrow, which requires 2 (out of 3) keys to release the funds, which means that no transaction can happen without the signature of one of the contract parties, therefore, even if something happens to the trading platform, your Bitcoin will remain unaffected.

No, we are not holding your funds. At Hodl Hodl you are trading directly with your counterparty. We only hold one out of the three keys to the multisig escrow, which ensures safe trading for both buyers and sellers.

Hodl Hodl uses 2 of 3 multisig technology where only 2 keys are required to successfully sign the release transaction, and 2 out of those 3 keys belong to the counterparties involved in the contract, therefore it is possible to sign and broadcast the release transaction entirely without Hodl Hodl’s involvement. However, in order to do that, one has to be technically apt.

In case you’re concerned that Hodl Hodl may go down, and you want to take precautionary measures, you need to do the following:

1. Open the browser console (press F12) and watch the data being sent to the server when you create your payment password.
2. After you enter your payment password, you will see, among other things, an encrypted version of the private key being sent to the server.
3. You may copy that encrypted key, then use the same algorithm that Hodl Hodl uses, and decrypt the key by using your payment password.
4. You would then need to write some code that would construct a release transaction, and use that key to sign it, and then broadcast the signed transaction.

However your counterparty needs to repeat the same steps — in fact, the transaction cannot be broadcasted until it’s fully signed, so step 4 assumes that you already have a partially signed transaction.

Trusted Devices is an advanced level of security for your account. When it’s enabled, you're only allowed to log in from trusted devices, and every time you try to log in from a new device, you are required to confirm it through email before being able to log in. To enable the functionality, go to the "Profile" tab in your "Profile settings" and mark the checkbox "Trusted devices only".

After turning on this security feature, every time a new device attempts to access your account, you will immediately be sent an email containing a unique code, which you'll have to enter on Hodl Hodl in order to access your account from the new device. Otherwise, you would not be able to log in.

In case the device has already been confirmed, you do not need to verify it again. Also, after you have entered the code, you will have an option to not remember the device. Therefore, the next time you log in from that device, you must confirm it again.

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is an advanced level of security for your account. It requires you to enter a 6-digit code every time you log into your account. To use 2FA, Hodl Hodl requires you to have a device with a 2FA application installed. We advise you to use Authy or Google Authenticator.

Go to the "Two-factor authentication" tab on your "Profile settings" page and follow the instructions.

You can use one of your backup codes that you had saved in order to sign in, they were created when you initially set up Two-factor authentication. Otherwise, you can contact the support of the 2FA application you were using.

The administrators of Hodl Hodl have no right to reset your 2FA or help you in any other way.

Invalid tokens are sometimes caused by incorrect device clock settings. Your clock must show the correct local time, time zone, and date to work properly. Phones must be set to use internet time to make sure the clock is synced properly. If you do not wish to sync your clock, Android phones have an option to correct for time errors inside the Authenticator app properties.

You can check the user’s profile before trading, here you’ll find:

• Reputation and user reviews;
• Statistics from previous trades;

Reputation and reviews are critical in P2P trading, you can learn about the experiences of other people who have traded with this person before.

Also, it is important to know the trading statistics of the user. For example, on the user’s profile, you can see how many trades they have done before, if there were any disputes, the traded amounts etc.

Since an important part of offering trades involves you receiving requests from new users - you can limit the potential damage new users could do to you by setting a first trade limit. This feature limits your first trade with new users to the exact amount you set. Also, offers with first-trade limits are less attractive to fraudulent buyers.

Never release Bitcoin in favor of the buyer if you have not received the payment, even if the trader is reliable, "Verified" and trusted with a great reputation, since no one can be held responsible if the payment never arrives. In other words, release the Bitcoin in favor of the buyer only if you have already received the funds, otherwise, you would only have yourself to blame.

To avoid any fraud associated with the payment, and to protect yourself as much as possible, you should be aware of any and all risks associated with each payment method you consider.

We suggest that you research your desired payment method, read its "Terms & Conditions" then research and learn about other users' experiences/acc before using the payment method yourself.

On the 'Profile settings' page, go to the 'Change password' tab.

Don’t worry. On the "Sign in" page, click "Forgot your password?' and follow the instructions.

On the "Sign in" page, click "Didn't receive confirmation instructions?" and follow the instructions.

On the "Profile settings" page, go to the "Profile" tab, there you will find a section with further instructions. Then confirm the change by clicking the link we sent to your old email address.

Hodl Hodl allows you to share your reputation from other P2P trading platforms with our traders. Go to the "P2P Profiles" tab on the "Profile settings" page and follow the instructions.

Once you have successfully submitted your request, the administrator will review your profile (takes up to 24 hours), and your nickname from another P2P trading platform will be displayed on your profile at Hodl Hodl.

Go to your "Account settings" and select the "Notifications" tab, and follow the instructions.

• Green - the user is online.
• Yellow - the user was online recently.
• Grey - the user is offline.

"Verified" users have completed the verification process by providing us with all of the necessary documents and information. Since voluntary verification has been removed, the users who had previously completed the process will continue to be granted all of the associated benefits. However we are not accepting new applications for verification.

You do not need to complete verification to trade on Hodl Hodl, and we no longer perform voluntary verification.

Users with Strong Hodler status have an outstanding reputation. In most cases they have helped the platform grow and develop. These users may be the most reliable traders for you to trade with.

Yes, to block another user, go to their profile page and press the "Block user" button. Blocking a user means:

• They won't be able to see your offers in the offer list.
• They won't be able to view your offers or create new contracts with you.
• You will see the blocked status on their profile page.
• The blocked user won't see that you blocked them.
• You can still view their offers and create new contracts with them.

If a badge saying "Blocked" is placed on your profile page, this means you have been blocked by Hodl Hodl's administrators.

You can still access your account, but with the following limitations:

• You are unable to create new offers and contracts;
• Your offers are temporarily inactive;
• You can still complete ongoing contracts.

Our support team usually sends an email explaining the reason for the block. If you have not received any information about being blocked, please contact us at [email protected].

If you have broken the terms of service or any other rules associated with using the platform, we reserve the right to ban your account. This implies that you would not be able to log into your account and use any of Hodl Hodl’s services as long as your account remains in banned status. Our support team usually sends an email explaining the reason for the ban. If you have not received any information, please contact us at [email protected].

Your account can be deleted in the following cases, either you have deleted it at your sole discretion, or the administrators of the platform have deleted your account for violating the terms, or in accordance with the GDPR (more info in our Privacy Policy). In case your account was deleted, you will not be able to restore it.

Our support team usually sends an email explaining the reason for the deletion. If you have not received any information, please contact us at [email protected].

Go to "Account settings" in the drop-down menu under your username, scroll to the bottom of the page, and click the "cancel your account" text. Note that your account will be permanently deleted and you will not be able to restore it.

The rating system shows the amount of trust other traders have in your counterparty. It shows whether he has been fulfilling his obligations to other parties, whether he has been making fast payments, is responsive, etc. The rating system is a useful tool for traders - it is information about how the trader has behaved in the past. With a public rating and reputation, users are incentivized to continue being a good trader in the future. Every review on Hodl Hodl consists of two parts: a rating given by the reviewer, and an optional comment.

The rating for each user is calculated as an arithmetic average of all ratings given to that user by other traders.

You can leave feedback about your counterparty after successfully completing a contract, or after a dispute has been resolved.

The referral program is a way to earn a reward by referring users to Hodl Hodl. You can invite users through your referral link, you will receive a certain percentage of the trading fee from every contract that the users you refer successfully complete. Please note: if the trading fee for the trade is 0%, for example, due to a promotion or discount, then zero reward is earned.

You will always get paid a certain percentage of the Hodl Hodl trading fee from the trades completed by the users you have referred. Also, you have an opportunity to reduce your own trading fee. To do this, you need to invite at least one active trader, then your trading fee will be permanently decreased from 0.5% to 0.45%.

Users who register using a referral code or link will always have a reduced trading fee of 0.45%.

All information about the referral program can be found in the Dashboard.

In order to invite a user you need to:

• Open the page with the referral program in the Dashboard.
• Copy your referral link or code, and share it with other users.
• After your referral successfully completes a trade, you will immediately get paid a percentage of the Hodl Hodl trading fee.

“Referrer” – a user who invites other people to join the Hodl Hodl trading platform.

“Referral", "Referree”, "Joined User”, or “Referred User” – a user who has registered on the Hodl Hodl trading platform using the referral code.

"Active Trader” – a user who’s had at least one contract end successfully in the past 3 months.

Every time your referral completes a trade, you automatically get paid a percentage of the Hodl Hodl trading fee, as long as you had first saved a Bitcoin address in your “Dashboard settings” which you receive your referral commission to, this must be done before your referral starts the contract. The exact percentage of the Hodl Hodl trading fee you earn, as well as the amount of Bitcoin you have earned, is shown in your referral Dashboard.

The reward is sent to the release address you provided in your "Dashboard Settings". In case you have not provided a release address before your referral started the contract, you won’t get paid from this trade.

An offer is a proposal to buy or sell Bitcoin on Hodl Hodl. To create a contract, users need to accept someone's offer.

To create your offer, you can click the “Create your offer” button located above the offer list, as well as on the “My Offers” page. To enable an offer, you need to check the “Enabled” checkbox at the bottom of the offer creation / editing page.

You can create any number of offers you would like. The only limitation is the amount of simultaneously enabled offers you can have. For more information, check the "Limits" section.

An exchange rate based price is a way to set the price for your offer by tying it to the current exchange rate of one of the popular exchanges, with the option to include a markup. Unlike an exchange rate based price, a fixed price never changes, unless the owner of the offer edits it and changes the price manually. A fixed price offer is manually set, and is a specific price value.

The price of Bitcoin shall not deviate more than 500% from the market rate, regardless of the way the price is set up (EG. an exact number, tied to an exchange rate, an expression). This rule does not apply to private offers.

When creating and editing an offer, the creator of the offer can specify the balance of that offer - that is the total amount of funds, in fiat (or cryptocurrency) equivalent, that he wants to buy or sell through this offer. The balance will decrease after each completed contract. As soon as the balance is zero, the offer will become inactive until the creator of the offer updates this field.

You can set a limit for the first trade with users that have not traded with you before.

The stop-loss feature allows you to set a minimum BTC price for your trade, and will temporarily disable your offer if the market price drops under this price. The offer will only be reactivated if the price rises above the stop-loss price. This feature is not available for fixed price offers.

The payment window is time within which the payment must be made and the contract completed. After the bitcoins are deposited in escrow, and after the deposit transaction reaches the required number of confirmations according to the contract terms, the countdown begins. If the contract has not been completed within the specified time period (the payment window), it is possible to cancel the contract or start a dispute.

The working hours determine the time period that your offer will be active and visible to other traders in the offer list and/or available by the link. If the field "start" and "end" have the same value, your offer will be available 24/7.

• Type is the payment method type. For example, a “SEPA (EU) bank transfer” payment method is a “Bank wire” payment type, and payment methods such as “QIWI” and “Yandex Money” belong to “Online payment system”.
• Method is the specific method used for the payment. It can be a payment system such as “PayPal” or “QIWI”, etc.
• Name of your instruction is the name of the instruction that allows you to find your payment details in the future, without needing to fill in everything again. This can be any name that you find convenient, other users will not see this name.
• Payment details are your necessary payment data, such as: account number, account name, or other necessary data for the buyer to make the payment with the selected payment method. This data will only be visible to the buyer after the bitcoins are locked in escrow and the status of the contract has changed to “In progress”.

No, Hodl Hodl will remember your payment instructions, they can be found under the name you had saved them under before, and the next time you create an offer or contract with the same Payment method, you will be able choose your payment instructions from the dropdown list.

The payment details that you specify when creating an offer or contract are ONLY shown to your counterparty in the necessary payment statuses of the contract. ONLY AFTER the contract status has changed to “In progress” (after successfully depositing the funds into escrow) the seller’s payment details are visible to the buyer. When the contract has been completed or cancelled, your counterparty can no longer access your payment details.

Note that the description of the offer is visible to all users, even if they are not authorized.

Yes, you can make your offer private. This means that other users will not see it in the offer list, it will only be available by the link. To make your offer private, you need to check the “Private” checkbox on the offer creation or editing page.

Yes, if you would like to make your offer temporarily unavailable, click the “Disable” button on the offer page. To activate the offer, click the "Enable" button.

Go to the “My offers” page, open the offer and click “Delete”.

• "Active" – the offer is visible to other users in the offer list and/or available by the link.
• "Inactive" – the offer is not visible to other users in the offer list and not available through the link, for example, due to insufficient offer balance, exceeding the limit for active contracts, or working hours.
• "Disabled" – the offer is not visible to other users in the offer list and not available through the link. To activate it, you need to enable it.

Enabled offers can automatically change from “Active” to “Inactive” status, and vice versa, in the following cases:

• Offer hours. If the offer has working hours, then during these working hours, it will be "Active", otherwise the status will be "Inactive".
• Limit for active contracts has been exceeded. In the event that you have reached your limit for active contracts, your offer will become “Inactive”, until the moment you’re able to start a new contract according to your limits. For more information, check the “Limits” section.
• Offer balance - if you have traded, or have active contracts for, your entire offer balance, then your offer becomes “Inactive” until you update the offer balance field in the offer’s edit page.
• Suspension of account. If your account has been suspended, your offer(s) become “Inactive”.

In any case, the reason for “Inactive” status can be seen on your offer’s page.

A contract is a trade to buy or sell Bitcoin. When a user accepts an offer on the Hodl Hodl trading platform, a contract is created.

You can have as many simultaneous active contracts as your limit level allows. More information is available in the “Limits” section.

The minimum trade amount is 0.00025 BTC.

The trading platform receives fees in Bitcoin only. All fees are deducted from the deposit upon release and only if the contract is completed successfully. The amount the seller initially sends to escrow includes their respective trading fee. Upon release, the buyer receives Bitcoin minus their respective trading fee.

For example, if there's a trade for 1 BTC at $10,000 (the price is $10,000, and the contract value is $10,000), the seller's trading fee is 0.5%, and the buyer's fee is 0.45%.

The seller deposits 1.005 BTC in the escrow address (0.005 BTC seller's trading fee). The trading platform withholds 0.0095 BTC from the funds locked in escrow; in turn, the buyer will receive 0.9955 BTC (0.0045 BTC buyer's trading fee), while the buyer is asked to send $10,000 to the seller. This way both the buyer and the seller will pay their respective commission amounts.

On the contract creation page, before accepting the offer, you can enter the trade amount in fiat, or Bitcoin. If a cryptocurrency is used as the payment method, you can enter the trade amount in cryptocurrency. In the field to the right you will see: amount to be deposited, how much the buyer will receive, the trading fee, the buyer’s part of the fee and the approximate transaction fee (Bitcoin network fee).

The transaction fee (or Bitcoin network fee) is deducted when the bitcoins are released from escrow, the amount depends on the network status and the preferences you have set.

Navigate to the "Dashboard", then switch to the “Settings” tab and scroll down to the “Other settings” section, where you will find the options for "Type of transaction fee". You can choose Low, Medium, High, or Custom, depending on how fast you want the network to confirm the release transaction to your wallet.

If the buyer and the seller have different fee rates, for example, 0.5% for the seller and 0.45% for the buyer, each party will pay their respective fee.

The intermediary fee is a fee charged by the partner if any contract party performs the deal through the partner's means, e.g., the Trezor Suite application, or has been referred to the platform by that intermediary.

The intermediary fee of Trezor is 1% and is entirely paid by the Trezor referred user or equally divided between parties if both contract parties have been referred by Trezor.

The payment password is the password used to encrypt the keys that are required to generate and access escrow. From the trader’s perspective, the payment password is used to deposit and release Bitcoin, to and from escrow. Every trader is asked to create a payment password during the first contract, it can also be done in the Dashboard settings.

The account password is the password that you use to access your account and make changes to your profile.

The payment password is used to encrypt the key to an escrow address, and to deposit Bitcoin into escrow and release Bitcoin from escrow.

The payment password may be changed in the 'Settings' tab of your 'Dashboard' settings.

• Pending - The beginning of a contract workflow. Both parties are confirming their payment passwords in order to generate a unique multisig escrow address.
• Depositing - The seller is currently in the process of sending Bitcoin to the multisig escrow address.
• In progress - The Bitcoin is now locked in the multisig escrow address, the buyer can now safely send the payment to the seller.
• Paid - The bitcoins are still locked in escrow, the buyer has indicated that he sent the fiat payment (or cryptocurrency depending on the payment method) to the seller.
• Completed - The seller has released the Bitcoin from escrow to the address specified by the buyer. The contract is finalized.
• Disputed - One of the counterparties has started a dispute due to problems or miscommunication.
• Resolved — Dispute has been resolved. Resolved disputes cannot be revised or reversed.

You can only cancel a contract at certain stages:

• "Pending" - Both the seller and the buyer can cancel the contract.
• “Depositing" - The seller can cancel the contract until the transaction has 1 confirmation. If 30 minutes has passed and the escrow has not been funded, then the depositing window has expired, and both parties can cancel the contract.
• “In progress" - Only the buyer can cancel the contract. If the payment window has expired, both parties can cancel the contract.

Neither party can cancel the contract in the other stages.

If a contract was cancelled before the bitcoins were sent to the escrow address, then the contract's status changes to “Cancelled” and both parties may continue creating new contracts.

If a contract is cancelled, and the bitcoins were already sent to the escrow address, or were sent after the contract was cancelled, the seller has the option to refund the bitcoins directly to his Bitcoin address, which he specifies during the refund process. Refund transaction fees for delivering the bitcoins to the seller’s address are deducted from the amount locked in escrow.

In the event of sending the wrong amount of bitcoins to the escrow address, the contract will automatically be cancelled as soon as Hodl Hodl successfully broadcasts this transaction and the seller will be able to refund the bitcoins right away.

Yes, you can speed up the transaction by using RBF (Replace by fee) functionality in the Bitcoin wallet you are using (Note: not all wallets support this feature). By using this functionality you will be able to resend the transaction with an increased transaction fee.

You should try contacting your counterparty in the contract's chat. When the payment window expires, you'll be able to cancel the contract if the status is “In progress” or start a dispute if the status is “Paid”.

The deposit transaction ID is an ID of the transaction sent from the seller's wallet to the escrow address. By clicking on the "Deposit transaction ID" link, you'll be able to see details about the transaction on the blockchain.

The release transaction ID is an ID of the transaction sent from escrow to the buyer's address, or back to the seller's address (if the contract was cancelled). By clicking on the "Release transaction ID" link, you'll be able to see information about the transaction on the blockchain.

This is where you'll receive your bitcoins when your contract (to buy) is complete. This is also where you will receive Bitcoin if the contract was cancelled or if the dispute was resolved in your favor. Everytime you create a contract you are able to change your address.

You are able to change your Bitcoin address anytime, however, your existing contracts will use the address that was specified in your trading settings at the moment the contract was created, or the address that you entered on the contract page when creating the contract. Also, if refunding the bitcoins back to yourself, you may change the receiving address.

Every user's profile has the metric “High volume trades”, this is the number of trades with an amount that is greater than or equal to 0.3 BTC.

A dispute is a contract status that indicates there are issues that both parties are unable to resolve by themselves. If you or your counterparty start a dispute, the support manager will contact you in the contract's chat within 12 hours after the dispute was started. In case you have been involved in a dispute, please familiarize yourself with the dispute rules.

In case of a dispute, the parties are contacted by a support manager in the contract's chat window, and given further instructions on the dispute resolution process.

After all of the required information has been received and analyzed, the support manager will make a decision and decide whether to allow a refund of Bitcoin back to the seller, or to allow the buyer to release the Bitcoin to his own wallet address.

During the dispute process, the bitcoins remain locked in escrow.

No, the counterparty may not review you while the contract status is disputed, only the winner may submit a review. However, your trading statistics in your profile do contain information about disputes and their outcomes.

You can find a full list of the payment methods available at Hodl Hodl on the "Payment Methods" page in the Dashboard.

Please note that when you search for payment methods that are NOT on this page, this search is based on the country selected, therefore you may return no results, despite the payment method existing, because the payment method only operates in a certain country.

You are always able to propose a new payment method, and after moderation, it might be added to the list of supported payment methods.

Open the “Payment methods” page in the Dashboard and go to the “Add payment method (moderated)” tab and fill in every required field.

Note: The name of the payment method must be written exactly as the company represents itself (e.g. the correct version would be "PayPal", an incorrect version would be "paypal").

The administrator of the platform will consider your request within the next 72 hours after you have proposed it. Afterwards, you will receive a notification about the status of your request.

We apply limits to users for the sake of improving the overall user experience, specifically your safety and level of comfort when using our trading platform.

Some of the unique features offered by our platform could potentially become a target of any of the well known spam & scam cases in the crypto-community, so we have taken the necessary steps to reduce this possibility so that unfair users cannot harm you. User limits help protect users.

We give each user a specific limit level, and depending on this level, specific limits are applied.

Each user is limited by:

• The total number of contracts a user can simultaneously have
• The total number of enabled offers a user can simultaneously have (we do not limit the total number of offers you can have - only enabled offers)
• The maximum amount of bitcoins that can be traded in a single contract

In the table below, we have provided detailed information about the limits and conditions applied to each limit level

You can find information about your current limit level in the Dashboard.

To reach the 2nd limit level, a user has to complete all of the following conditions:

• Successfully complete 10 contracts;
• Complete trades with 5 different users.

To reach the 3rd limit level, a user has to complete all of the following conditions:

• Successfully complete 50 contracts;
• Reach 0.5 BTC in total traded volume.

These requests are considered on an individual basis. If you would like this, please send a request to [email protected].

The price of Bitcoin fluctuates regularly, and we reserve the right to change the limits and conditions provided above, so that they are consistent and relevant to the prices.

If any changes are expected to occur, or do occur, we will immediately inform you through our primary contact methods.