When Peer-To-Peer Crypto Transfers Beat Exchanges

You might think that trading cryptocurrencies must necessarily involve the use of exchange platforms, right? If you want to buy or sell X coin, you must find a company that handles it and accepts your payment method. Well, this is usually the easier option for beginners, but it’s not the only one. Instead of keeping every transfer outside your hands, peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto transfers offer a more direct way to move digital money between wallets.

That’s the raison d'etre of cryptocurrencies, actually. Bitcoin is called, in its whitepaper, “A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System,” and it has good reasons for it. Depending on a company, institution, or government to store and move your funds isn’t always a good idea. Let’s explore this topic a bit more.

How P2P Crypto Transfers Work

A  peer-to-peer crypto transfer happens when one non-custodial wallet or address sends cryptocurrency straight to another non-custodial wallet (totally under their owner’s control). A network formed by hundreds or thousands of nodes (independent computers) records and verifies the transaction.