Bisq Decentralized Exchange Review

Bisq is a DEX platform that lets you swap between crypt coins and also supports trades based on fiat currencies. This exchange was introduced by Manfred Karrer, who has since stepped down, and now the activities of the platform are taken care of by the decentralized autonomous organization.

Bisq overview

Here are the main features of this exchange:

• Cryptocurrencies and countries supported

Apart from Bitcoin, this platform supports coins like Monero, BSQ, Ether, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Dai Stablecoin, and others. It supports different languages like English, German, Dutch, Portuguese, Hindi, Italian, Arabic, Spanish, Polish, etc.

• Native token

The native token of this platform is known as BSQ. It is a colored coin with a value equivalent to 100 satoshis. Those who own this token have the power to take part in the governance functions of the platform.

• Funding methods

You need to have an adequate amount of BTC in your wallet to cover the mining and trading fees as well as the security deposit. The default deposit is 15% of the trade amount, with the minimum value being 0.006 BTC.

• Wallets supported

This exchange has its own wallet. Here, you can store your fees and security deposit while swapping coins.  

How does Bisq work?

On this exchange, you can perform the following tasks:

1. Trade tokens

You have two options in this regard. You can either make or take an offer. Offer makers get lower trading fees, better prices, and get to set their own terms.  

2. Configure a national currency account

When you land on the Buy BTC screen, you will see that the take offer buttons are disabled for the offers. This is because the payment pathway has not been configured yet. You need to set up a payment mode you are comfortable with. The payment mode determines the offers you can take, as well as the transaction processing speed. 

3. Encrypt your wallet

You can encrypt your wallet with a password so that only you are able to access your funds. For this, you need to navigate to the account section and set the password. You should also note down the seed words of the wallet. This way, you can restore your wallet and all its coins into a new wallet if needed.

What can you buy on Bisq?

Those who follow the trade protocol of this platform and interact with the DAO publish their information on the Bitcoin blockchain and send additional data to the P2P network. Some of the popular coins on this exchange include BSQ, XMR, ETH, DOGE, LTC, DAI, DASH, DCR, DOI, GRIN, and LBC.

Is Bisq safe?

This platform lets you protect your wallet with a password and a seed phrase. It has its own security team that looks for bugs, builds countermeasures, optimizes information footprint, finds attack vectors, acts as a knowledge base for security-related matters, and performs security audits. 

User reviews

On Trustpilot, this platform has a moderate rating of 3.2 out of 5. Users have stated that the exchange is suitable for beginners due to the video tutorials. They have also praised the low trading fees.

Bisq fees, compatible wallets, and transactions

While making or taking an offer, you need to pay a fee to the DAO in terms of BTC or BSQ. By using BSQ, you can get a discount of approximately 50%. The combined trading fee for BTC is 0.8% while that of BSQ is 0.4%. You need to conduct transactions using the Bisq wallet.

What are the ways to trade on Bisq?

To trade, navigate to the Buy BTC page, and choose to create an offer. Then, you can select a trading account, and set the amount and price. You can choose which token to use for the trading fee and confirm the transaction.

Customer support

There is a support team that handles individual support cases. They also maintain the documents and the support-related articles. You can use the Matrix bisq.chat channel if you face any issues.

Should you trade on Bisq?