In Russia there are a lot of websites where you can buy BTC or other popular cryptocurrencies with no KYC. They are kind of in a gray zone legally so it might be risky to use them for large sums, but for small sums they are quite reliable. Also there are telegram bots for P2P exchange. In large cities like Moscow there are physical offices where Bitcoin can be bought for cash. I’ve seen a couple of ATMs on the maps, but don’t know if they are active. Even if they are they are quite rare.
Discussion
Thanks, that's very interesting. ATMs worked well in Prague for non KYC the lat time I checked. But there are no "grey" websites here as far as I know. Only KYC stuff. Larger sums are problematic with any of these.
The offices trading bitcoin for cash... neat! Also I don't know about any of that here.
The largest Russian aggregator of these sites is https://www.bestchange.com It includes not only local Russian sites, but also international ones, but a lot of those are restricted by laws of their jurisdictions. I have heard that good international options for buying with no KYC are HodlHodl, Bisq and RoboSats, but haven't tested them myself yet. A lot of info on these services can be found on the YouTube channel BTC Sessions.
I have tried... well installed... bisq, but it is very restrictive with new users and also a bit too complex. Though I get why, it's just not worth it, when ATMs are less complicated and I can buy bigger sizes no problem.
It's good to know that bitcoin (market) works perfectly well even in more adversary conditions. My guess is it is going to be harder to trade bitcoin in EU without KYC in comming years.
Same here. Installed and launched Bisq, was scared by confusing interface and never returned to it since.
Agree on Europe's direction, though some individual countries might go in the opposite direction and adopt super laissez-faire policies around Bitcoin and crypto.
I think I will probably learn to use more hardcore platforms like RoboSats (which is P2P and works over Tor) this year just out of curiosity and as a preparation for the times I might need it.