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If you learned crypto in Kenya a few years ago, you probably learned it on LocalBitcoins, Paxful or Yellow Card. All three are now closed to ordinary users. The good news is that the core idea they popularised — P2P tradingPeer-to-peer: you buy crypto directly from another person and pay them via M-Pesa or bank; the platform only holds the coins in escrow. Glossary trading with M-Pesa and P2P escrowThe platform locks the seller's coins while you pay. Coins are released only when the seller confirms your M-Pesa payment arrived. Glossary — lives on inside bigger platforms, and some of those markets are busier than the old ones ever were.
What happened to Paxful, LocalBitcoins and Yellow Card
The three closures had different causes, but the timeline tells the story of a market moving from standalone P2P sites to big exchanges and business-only infrastructure.
- 9 Feb 2023LocalBitcoins announces it is closingThe Finnish platform cited the 'very cold' crypto winter and a falling market share. New sign-ups stopped at once.
- 16 Feb 2023LocalBitcoins suspends tradingUsers could only log in to withdraw, with 12 months to do so.
- Apr 2023Paxful suspends its marketplaceCo-founder Ray Youssef paused the platform during a dispute between the founders; it later resumed.
- 1 Oct 2025Paxful announces its wind-downPaxful said it would wind down by 1 November 2025 because of past misconduct by former co-founders and compliance costs, adding that it was not insolvent.
- 29 Oct 2025Yellow Card announces retail app closureWithdrawals stayed open until 31 December 2025.
- 1 Jan 2026Yellow Card app goes dark for individualsThe company now serves businesses only.
LocalBitcoins was the original. People still search “local bitcoin Kenya” hundreds of times a month, but the site has not offered trading since February 2023.
Paxful was the big one for Africa. Its own wind-down notice said it had connected over 14 million users in more than 140 countries since 2015. When it closed, many Kenyan traders lost their main venue for gift-card and M-Pesa trades at the same time.
Yellow Card was different: not a P2P marketplace but an app where you bought and sold stablecoins with the company itself, including through mobile money. Its retail closure removed one of the few direct crypto-to-M-Pesa apps. Yellow Card still operates as a business-to-business payments company, which is why you will still see the brand in the news.
If you still had a balance on a closed platform
Start from the company’s own website and the email address you registered with — never from a link someone sends you. LocalBitcoins’ 12-month withdrawal window ran out in February 2024. Paxful and Yellow Card set their own end dates for withdrawals, and we could not confirm what either does with balances left after those dates, so contact their support through the official domains (paxful.com and yellowcard.io) and keep copies of every reply. No genuine support team will ask for your password, your seed phrase or an “unlocking fee”.
What to look for in a replacement
Before you move your trading, check each candidate against the things that actually protected you on the old platforms.
- A live KES market with M-Pesa as a payment method — not just a 'supported country' line.
- Enough depth that ads fit your amount, from small first trades to larger ones.
- Escrow and an in-app appeal, so disputes are decided on evidence.
- Verified merchants with visible order counts and completion rates.
- Clear fees published by the platform, not by a YouTuber.
- A licensing path in Kenya under the VASP Act 2025 — no platform is publicly listed as licensed yet, so watch this.
The licensing point is new. Since the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act 2025, platforms serving Kenyans need a VASPVirtual Asset Service Provider: any business that exchanges, stores or transfers crypto for customers. Kenya licenses them under the VASP Act 2025. Glossary licence from the CBK or the CMA. We explain the rules in our regulation guide.
The alternatives compared
We checked each platform’s KES market directly. Ad counts change through the day; treat them as a snapshot.
| Platform | KES and M-Pesa | Feels like | Our review |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binance P2P | Hundreds of KES ads; M-Pesa, Paybill, Airtel Money, banks | The biggest market, strict name rules | Binance |
| Bybit P2P | Dozens of KES ads; M-Pesa, Paybill, Pochi la Biashara, banks | A solid second market | Bybit |
| OKX P2P | Dozens of KES ads; M-Pesa Paybill, M-PESA Safaricom, banks | Good backup, clear merchant stats | OKX |
| NoOnes | Lists KES among its off-ramps; we did not count offers | Closest to old Paxful | NoOnes |
| Bitget P2P | A handful of KES ads with M-Pesa | Thin, but usable for small trades | Bitget |
| KuCoin P2P | Three KES ads on one side | Too thin to rely on | KuCoin |
NoOnes deserves a closer look because many former Paxful traders went there. It was launched by Paxful co-founder Ray Youssef and works like the old marketplace: offers from individual vendors, many payment methods, escrow. Its fee page lists marketplace fees that vary by payment category, a BTC/USDT swap at 0.09–0.15% plus a provider fee, and cash-out options to bank and mobile money. Read our NoOnes review before you move money there.
Remitano, another name Kenyans search for, still runs P2P markets in several countries, but we could not confirm a live KES market when we checked, so it is not in the table. If you try it, look at the KES order book and payment methods yourself before you deposit anything.
Exchange P2P is where most of the KES volume went. The trade-off is stricter rules: Binance, for instance, requires the payer’s name to match the verified account name exactly, and its guidelines say P2P fees range from 0% to 0.35% depending on the market. For a first trade on any of them, follow our guide to buying crypto with M-Pesa.
Want to buy without a P2P counterparty?
If you have a Visa or Mastercard that works online, our top-ranked exchange sells crypto directly — no stranger on the other side.
What you gain on exchange P2P
- Far more KES ads and tighter prices on USDT
- Ads from about KSh 1,000 on Binance
- Crypto stays in an account you can also trade, convert and withdraw from
- Strict name-matching rules that block many third-party scams
What you lose compared with Paxful
- Gift-card trading is largely gone
- Your old feedback and badges do not carry over
- Account restrictions during investigations, as in the April 2026 Binance freezes
- Mostly USDT; fewer ads for Bitcoin directly
Moving your trading history and reputation
On P2P, reputation is money: buyers pick sellers with long histories, and serious merchants get better terms. Losing years of Paxful feedback hurts.
NoOnes is the only platform we found that openly invites you to bring it along. Its “Import feedback” page asks traders to move their profile from any peer-to-peer platform and promises priority support and fee discounts for active traders. How much of your old history is accepted, and how it is verified, is decided case by case.
Binance, Bybit and OKX start you from zero. You build a record order by order, and on Binance the route to a verified badge is the in-app merchant application, which shows the requirements you meet and adds a security deposit in some fiat zones. Our P2P guide explains how merchants are judged.
Practical tips while you rebuild, especially if you want to become a Verified merchantA P2P trader who passed extra checks and posts many ads. Usually faster and safer than a brand-new account, but still not risk-free. Glossary again:
- Start with small trades with verified merchants to build a clean completion rate.
- Use the same name everywhere: your National ID, Safaricom line and exchange account.
- Keep your own spreadsheet of trades, M-Pesa codes and order numbers — useful for tax and for any merchant application.
My Paxful balance was moved automatically to another exchange.
Closing platforms ask users to withdraw their own coins before a deadline. Paxful told users to withdraw during its wind-down; LocalBitcoins gave 12 months; Yellow Card kept withdrawals open until 31 December 2025. No legitimate exchange “received” your old balance — anyone who says otherwise wants a fee.
Scams posing as Paxful
Dead brands are perfect cover for fraud: people remember them, and the real company is no longer there to warn you. These are the patterns to watch for.
| Scam | How it works | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| “Paxful withdrawal portal” | A site asks for your old login and a fee to release a balance | Real closures never charge to withdraw |
| “Paxful Kenya agents” on WhatsApp | Agents offer trades at great rates, paid by M-Pesa | No escrow, no platform, no recourse |
| “LocalBitcoins Kenya” Telegram groups | Admins match buyers and sellers privately | You send M-Pesa first; the coins never arrive |
| Fake “Yellow Card app” | A look-alike APK collects ID photos and deposits | Yellow Card no longer offers a retail app |
| Recovery services | Promise to recover lost Paxful funds for a fee | Nobody can reverse blockchain transfers |
The rule is simple: if the brand has closed to the public, anything using its name to take your money is fake. Report such accounts to the platform they appear on and forward scam texts to Safaricom on 333. For the wider picture, read crypto scams in Kenya, and if a P2P trade goes wrong, our M-Pesa reversal scams guide explains what to do next.
