n July this year, Localbitcoins changed its verification policies by making to less private as investors had to give information based on how much bitcoins they have traded in the past. The new verification process introduced a 4-tier system distinguishing accounts by trade and transaction volume. Higher the volume, the more information a trader would have to fill out, including proof of residence. This has made users question whether the platform is decentralized anymore or not.
Localbitcoins started in 2012 in Finland had a privacy-friendly verification system, but from the past few months, that has changed considerably. To make things even worse, the company failed to execute the new verification system successfully. Several users have reported that the company was unable to respond to their complaints.
The company generally replies to a complaint in 5-7 days, but several users claimed that they did not receive a reply in months. Localbitcoins also appointed Sebastian Sonntag as the new CEO of the company. The company also removed several payment methods for facilitating peer-to-peer service. There have also been reports of company suspending accounts without any warning.
