I continue to review LocalCrypto (former LocalEthereum) and rank it on the “Execution” (Solution- Validity- Equity- Team) sub-rating.
This non-custodial P2P OTC platform works, basically, as following:
- offers are posted for everyone to find;
- a trade is opened when a trader responds to an offer;
- after two parties’ introduction they chat about the transaction;
- once the parties are ready to proceed, the ether is placed by a seller to an escrow account;
- all payments are made outside of the platform;
- an arbitrator (LocalCrypto staff member) can be involved in case a dispute is raised by one of the party.
Extract: “LocalCryptos charges a 0.25% fee for the maker (the person who placed the offer listing) and 0.75% for the taker …” (“Solution” is “b+”)
LocalCrypto reports on its site about $60–80 th. in trade daily as well as more than 100,000 registered users from about 100 countries. It accounts for about $26 million in yearly volume on this platform and (given 1% both-sides fees) for $260th in revenues.
LocalCrypto is run by LocalEthereum Pty Ltd, which is located in Richmond, Australia. Michael Foster is its founder and current CEO. According to Michael Foster’s September 2019 interview they have a team of six and a number of contractors and agencies working with them.
However, not much known about this team in general and its founders, including Michael, in particular, who (as far as I was able to check) doesn’t have accounts in any of major social networks and do not reveal his contact information. Therefore, I’m forced to reduce “Team” rating to “c+” until further clarification.
Obviously, a couple hundred thousands in revenues are not nearly enough to run a company with number of employees exceeding 2–3 in any of the developed countries. That indicates either a major underreporting in LocalEthereum’s revenues or a presence of outside / inside investors. Nonetheless, it’s clear that this company needs a major (10x) boost in its users base to survive and to grow. (“Equity” is “c+”)
LocalEthereum Pty Ltd was registered 01–03–2018 as “Australian Private Company” (“Limited By Shares”) under ACN (Australian Company Number) 624 744 654. At this stage I do not a factual basis to seriously question this company’s “Validity”. However, its secrecy (although fully understandable and, might be even substantiated under present legal and political circumstances for a non-custodial P2P platform) might be a source of some public discomfort or even concerns. Hence, “b”.
Result for “Execution” (Solution- Validity- Equity- Team): b+/b/c+/c+
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