LocalTrade Crypto Exchange Review: Is This Platform Safe or a Scam?

When you hear the name LocalTrade, it might sound like just another crypto exchange trying to get your attention. But behind the clean website and the promise of low fees lies a platform with serious red flags - and not just a few. If you're considering using LocalTrade to trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, or any other cryptocurrency, you need to know the truth before you deposit a single dollar.

What Is LocalTrade?

LocalTrade is a cryptocurrency exchange that started in 2017 and claims to operate globally. Its website is localtrade.cc. It offers 48 cryptocurrencies and over 100 trading pairs. The platform supports trading on desktop and mobile - with apps for iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, and Linux. It also gives developers API access and integrates with tax tools like Koinly and CoinLedger.

On the surface, that sounds fine. But look closer, and things fall apart.

The Big Problem: No Regulation

This is the single most important thing you need to understand about LocalTrade: it is not regulated by any government authority.

That’s not a small detail. It’s a dealbreaker. In today’s crypto world, regulation isn’t just paperwork - it’s protection. Regulated exchanges like Coinbase or Kraken are required to follow strict rules about how they handle your money, store your funds, report suspicious activity, and protect your identity. They can be audited. They can be held accountable.

LocalTrade has none of that. FxVerify, a trusted source for financial platform reviews, explicitly states that LocalTrade “does not appear to be regulated by any government authority at this time.” That means if something goes wrong - if your funds disappear, if customer support ghosts you, if the site shuts down - you have no legal recourse. No regulator will step in. No government will refund you.

And this isn’t just a theoretical risk. It’s happened before - repeatedly - with unregulated exchanges.

Trading Fees: Too Good to Be True?

LocalTrade charges a flat 0.20% fee for both maker and taker trades. That’s lower than the industry average, which often sits around 0.3%-0.5%. On paper, that looks great. But here’s the catch: most legitimate exchanges offer volume-based discounts. The more you trade, the lower your fees go. Binance, for example, drops fees to 0.075% or even lower for high-volume traders.

LocalTrade doesn’t offer that. And that’s not because they’re generous - it’s because they don’t expect serious traders to stick around. High-volume traders need reliability, liquidity, and security. LocalTrade delivers none of that.

Trading Volume: The Numbers Don’t Add Up

Here’s where things get really suspicious.

CoinGecko once listed LocalTrade’s 24-hour trading volume at $463 million. But CoinMarketCap - the other major crypto data site - labeled LocalTrade as an “Untracked exchange” during the same period. That means CoinMarketCap didn’t trust the numbers enough to include them.

Why does this matter? Because fake volume is one of the oldest tricks in the crypto scam book. Exchanges inflate their numbers to look more popular, more liquid, more trustworthy. It’s a way to lure in new users who think, “If so many people are trading here, it must be safe.”

When two trusted data providers disagree this badly, it’s not a mistake - it’s a warning.

User Reviews: A Pattern of Scams

If you dig into user reviews, you’ll find a disturbing pattern.

On Reviews.io, LocalTrade has an average rating of 1.4 out of 5 stars based on 18 verified reviews. That’s not bad - that’s catastrophic.

One user, Fali Pupa (reviewed August 19, 2025), wrote: “Terrible experience with this scam broker that cost me dearly.” They then promoted a company called BROADOAK-CAPITAL as a “recovery service.”

Another user, Leonardo, said they “went through the worst period of my life” and promoted Cipher-forensics.com as a way to get their money back.

A third user, anonymous, said their “trust in investing in bitcoin shattered” after using LocalTrade - and then recommended Arbix.is as an alternative.

This isn’t coincidence. This is a known scam tactic. Fraudulent exchanges encourage victims to post negative reviews - but only if those reviews include links to other “recovery” services. Those services? Often scams themselves. They take your money under the guise of helping you recover your lost crypto - and then vanish too.

This pattern is so common that cybersecurity experts have named it the “recovery scam cycle.” LocalTrade fits it perfectly.

Deposit Methods: No Credit Cards, Only Wire Transfers

LocalTrade only accepts bank wire transfers to deposit funds. No credit cards. No PayPal. No cryptocurrency deposits.

That’s unusual. Most exchanges let you buy crypto directly with a card or transfer Bitcoin from your wallet. Wire transfers are slow, expensive, and irreversible. If you send money to LocalTrade and realize it’s a scam, you can’t cancel the transfer. Your bank won’t help you. The exchange won’t respond.

This setup makes LocalTrade dangerous for beginners and risky even for experienced traders. It’s designed to trap you - not serve you.

Customer Support: Promised, But Never There

LocalTrade claims to offer 24/7 live support, phone support, and even in-person training sessions. Sounds impressive, right?

But every user review that mentions customer service describes silence. No replies. No resolution. No help.

If your account is frozen, your withdrawal is stuck, or your funds are gone - you won’t get help. The support team either doesn’t exist, or it’s a facade.

And the fact that users are being directed to third-party “recovery” companies? That’s not customer service. That’s a trap.

Website Traffic: Zero Engagement

SimilarWeb data shows LocalTrade ranks 584 out of 589 crypto exchanges for organic traffic. That’s almost dead last.

Even worse: the site shows a 0% bounce rate, 0.00 pages per visit, and 00:00:00 average visit duration. These numbers are mathematically impossible for a real website. They suggest either the data is manipulated - or the site isn’t being visited by real people at all.

A real exchange with 100,000+ users doesn’t have zero engagement. If nobody is using it, why does it still exist?

Why LocalTrade Still Exists

You might wonder: if it’s this bad, why hasn’t it been shut down?

Because it doesn’t need to be. It’s already made its money.

Scam exchanges like LocalTrade don’t make money from trading fees. They make money from deposits. They lure people in with low fees and fake volume. They encourage users to deposit fiat currency. Then they disappear - or freeze withdrawals - and vanish with the cash.

The fact that LocalTrade has been around since 2017 doesn’t mean it’s legitimate. It means it’s been running long enough to collect money from hundreds, maybe thousands, of victims.

And now? There’s no sign of updates, no new features, no regulatory progress. It’s been silent since 2021.

What Happens If You Use LocalTrade?

Here’s what you’re risking:

• Your money - permanently lost, with no way to recover it
• Your personal data - possibly sold or leaked
• Your trust in crypto - shattered by a platform that pretends to be real
• Your time - wasted on a platform that won’t help you when things go wrong

And if you’re in the U.S.? You might be violating tax or financial laws by using an unregulated platform. The IRS and FinCEN don’t care if an exchange is “easy to use.” They care if you’re reporting your crypto activity correctly. Using LocalTrade makes that nearly impossible.

What to Do Instead

If you want to trade crypto safely, stick with exchanges that are:

• Regulated in the U.S., EU, UK, or other major jurisdictions
• Transparent about their fees and trading volume
• Accepted by major data trackers like CoinMarketCap and CoinGecko
• Used by real people - not just scam victims

Examples: Coinbase, Kraken, Binance US (if you’re in the U.S.), Gemini, Bitstamp.

These platforms may charge slightly more. But they protect your money. They answer your questions. They’re still here tomorrow.

LocalTrade? It’s a ghost.

Final Verdict: Avoid LocalTrade Completely

LocalTrade is not a crypto exchange you should use. It’s not risky - it’s dangerous.

No regulation. Fake volume. Zero user trust. Scam recovery links. No customer support. Impossible traffic stats. And a complete lack of updates for years.

This isn’t a platform. It’s a warning sign.

If you’ve already deposited funds, stop trading. Document everything. Contact a forensic crypto recovery firm - but don’t pay upfront fees. And report it to your local financial authority.

If you haven’t deposited yet? Don’t start. Walk away.

The crypto market has enough legitimate opportunities. You don’t need to risk your savings on a platform that’s already been exposed as a scam.