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Update faq, part i
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First 2 sections: core functions and trading details.
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m52go committed Aug 12, 2020
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39 changes: 21 additions & 18 deletions _data/en.yml
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Expand Up @@ -214,24 +214,27 @@ faq:
<a href="https://github.com/bisq-network/bisq/" target="_blank">source code</a> and
<a href="https://github.com/bisq-network/bisq/blob/master/LICENSE" target="_blank">license</a>.</p>
<p>Bisq employs three primary mechanisms to achieve security:</p> <ol>
<li>All bitcoins traded with Bisq are secured in a 2-of-2
<li>All bitcoin traded with Bisq is secured in a 2-of-2
<a href="https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Multisignature" target="_blank">multisignature</a> address.</li>
<li>Both traders are required to pay security deposits. These are refunded after trades are completed.</li>
<li>Trade disputes are handled through a <a href="https://docs.bisq.network/trading-rules#dispute-resolution" target="_blank">3-tier mechanism</a> that includes trader chat, mediation, and arbitration.</li>
</ol> <p>When trading fiat currency for bitcoin, there is always some chargeback risk, as fiat transactions can technically be reversed.</p><p>To mitigate this risk, Bisq:</p><ul><li>only supports payment methods which are known to make chargebacks difficult—this is why Bisq does not support PayPal and credit cards, for example. See <a href="#chargeback-details">more on chargeback risks</a>.</li><li>employs an <a href="https://docs.bisq.network/payment-methods#account-signing" target="_blank">account signing mechanism</a> that forces a 0.01 BTC buy limit until a buyer's integrity is verified.</li></ul>
hDifferent: "There are already other decentralized exchanges. How is Bisq different?"
<li>Trade disputes are handled through a <a href="https://bisq.wiki/Dispute_resolution" target="_blank">3-tier mechanism</a> that includes trader chat, mediation, and arbitration.</li>
</ol> <p>When trading fiat currency for bitcoin, there is always some chargeback risk, as fiat transactions can often be reversed.</p><p>To mitigate this risk, Bisq:</p><ul><li>only supports payment methods which are known to make chargebacks difficult—this is why Bisq does not support PayPal and credit cards, for example. See <a href="#chargeback-details">more on chargeback risks</a>.</li><li>employs an <a href="https://bisq.wiki/Account_limits#Account_signing" target="_blank">account signing mechanism</a> that forces a 0.01 BTC buy limit until a buyer's integrity (not identity!) is verified.</li></ul>
hDifferent: "How is Bisq different from other decentralized exchanges?"
pDifferent: >
<p>Currently no other project fits our definition of a decentralized bitcoin-to-fiat exchange. <a href="https://openbazaar.org/" target="_blank">OpenBazaar</a> is one project that comes close to mirroring Bisq's principles, but it's a general-purpose marketplace, not a specialized currency exchange.</p> <p>Most exchanges claiming to be decentralized either do not support fiat exchange, or operate with a client-server architecture and do not fit our definition. And of course there are a lot of ICO projects with whitepapers but they have not proven yet that they can deliver any working software.</p> <p>To be properly decentralized, one must avoid single points of failure:</p> <ul>
<li>Bisq does not hold any bitcoins. All are held in multisignature addresses rather than a Bisq-controlled wallet.</li>
<li>Bisq does not hold any national currency. National currency is transferred directly from one trader to the other.</li>
<li>Bisq uses a peer-to-peer network over Tor. This means there are no servers to be hacked or DDoS'd.</li>
<li>Bisq does not know traders. No data is stored on who trades with whom.</li>
<li>Bisq does not require registration. This means privacy is maintained, there are no “approval” wait times, and identity theft is impossible.</li>
<li>Bisq is not a company. It is an open-source project organized as a <a href="https://docs.bisq.network/user-dao-intro.html#what-is-a-dao" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO)</a>.
<p>Bisq is a peer-to-peer trading network, not a centralized service. It's software you run on your own hardware, not a website run by someone else. It's open-source and community-driven.</p><p>And you can trade bitcoin for fiat currencies with it!</p><p>The difference between Bisq and other so-called decentralized exchanges is as stark as the difference between owning your own home and renting someone else's—in the former case you have full control over the property, and in the latter you're always subject to the landlord's whims and demands (no matter how nice the landlord may seem to be). </p><p>With Bisq you're always the owner—not just owner of your bitcoin, but also owner of your data.</p>
<ul>
<li>Bisq does not hold any bitcoin. All bitcoin used for trading is held in 2-of-2 multisignature addresses controlled solely by the trading peers themselves.</li>
<li>Bisq does not hold any national currency. National currency is transferred directly from one trader to the other using traditional banking and payment services.</li>
<li>All Bisq data is transferred over its own secure peer-to-peer network, which is built on top of the Tor network—no central servers. This means there are no data honeypots, rendering large-scale hacks of customer information databases impossible.</li>
<li>Bisq does not know anything about traders who use its network, and no data is stored on who trades with whom.</li>
<li>Bisq does not require registration. This means user privacy is protected, and it also means there is no waiting period to have your account approved for trading.</li>
<li>Bisq is code, not a company. It is an open-source project organized as a <a href="https://docs.bisq.network/user-dao-intro.html#what-is-a-dao" target="_blank" rel="noopener">decentralized autonomous organization (DAO)</a> built on top of Bitcoin.
</li>
</ul>
<p>See a more comprehensive introduction <a href="https://bisq.wiki/Introduction" target="_blank">on the wiki</a>.</p>
hPaymentMethods: "Which payment methods are supported?"
ulPaymentMethods: >
<p>Payment methods vary by country, but here's a brief listing.</p><p>Please see the <a href="https://bisq.wiki/Payment_methods" target="_blank">payment methods wiki article</a> for more details.</p>
<ul>
<li>Advanced Cash</li>
<li>AliPay</li>
Expand All @@ -258,22 +261,21 @@ faq:
<li>US Postal Money Order</li>
<li>WeChat Pay</li>
<li>Western Union</li>
<li>Zelle (ClearXchange)</li>
<li>Zelle</li>
</ul>
<p>Please see our <a href="https://docs.bisq.network/payment-methods" target="_blank">payment methods doc</a> for more details. Different payment methods have different trading limits and trading periods.</p>
hTradingDetails: Trading Details
hTradeLimits: "What are the trade limits?"
pTradeLimits: >
<p class='font-italic'>Fiat trades</p> <p>To discourage fraud in fiat transactions, Bisq imposes limits on trade amounts. These limits are derived from the payment method's chargeback risk, <a href="https://docs.bisq.network/payment-methods#account-signing" target="_blank">its signing status</a>, and its age (i.e., the time since you created the payment account in Bisq).</p> <p>There are no limits on the number of trades you can do—just the amount per trade.</p> <p>For most bank-based payment methods like SEPA or Zelle, the maximum trade size is 0.25 BTC. For services like PerfectMoney and AliPay, it is 1 BTC.</p> <p>Lower-risk payment methods start to age as soon as they're created in Bisq. When you create such a payment account in Bisq, its trade limit will be 25% of the full trade limit. After 30 days, it will increase to 50% of the full trade limit, and after 60 days it will increase to 100% of the full trade limit.</p><p>Higher-risk payment accounts must be signed by a trusted peer in order to start aging. Until this signing, they are limited to buying 0.01 BTC. The <a href="https://docs.bisq.network/payment-methods#account-signing" target="_blank">account signing doc</a> has more details.</p><p>Note that selling limits for higher-risk payment methods are not affected by signing and follow regular account aging as described for lower-risk payment methods above.</p> <p class='font-italic'>Altcoin trades</p> <p>Altcoin trades up to 2 BTC are allowed from day one—altcoins do not have chargeback risk, so account aging is not needed.</p>
<p class='font-italic'>Fiat trades</p> <p>To discourage fraud in fiat transactions, Bisq imposes limits on trade sizes. These limits are derived from a payment method's chargeback risk, <a href="https://bisq.wiki/Account_limits#Account_signing" target="_blank">its signing status</a>, and <a href="https://bisq.wiki/Account_limits#Account_aging" target="_blank">its age</a> (i.e., the time since you created the payment account in Bisq). </p> <p>There are no limits on the number of trades you can do—just the amount per trade.</p> <p>For most bank-based payment methods like SEPA or Zelle, the maximum trade size is 0.25 BTC. For services like PerfectMoney and AliPay, it is 1 BTC. See the <a href="https://bisq.wiki/Payment_methods" target="_blank">full list of payment methods and limits here</a>.</p> <p>Trade size limits are based on risk factor of the payment method: <ul><li> Lower-risk payment methods have higher initial limits which increase over time through a mechanism called account aging (in short, account aging allows 25% of the full trade size to be traded as soon as the account is created in Bisq, 50% of the full trade size to be traded after 30 days have passed since account creation, and 100% of the full trade size 60 days after account creation). Basically, the older an account is, the bigger trades it can do.</li><li>Higher-risk payment accounts must be signed by a trusted peer in order for account aging to begin. Until this signing, they are limited to buying 0.01 BTC per trade, regardless of how old the account is.</li></ul><p>See the <a href="https://bisq.wiki/Account_limits" target="_blank"> account limits wiki article</a> or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TP5Zh6IJPVo" target="_blank">this video</a> for more details on both.</p> <p class='font-italic'>Altcoin trades</p> <p>Altcoin trades up to 2 BTC are allowed from day one—altcoins do not have chargeback risk, so account aging is not needed.</p>
hSecurityDeposit: "Why does Bisq require a security deposit?"
pSecurityDeposit: >
<p>Security deposits create incentives for both buyer and seller to follow the rules of Bisq's trading protocol. They are locked into multisig escrow along with the bitcoin being traded, and are returned to each user when the trade completes successfully.</p> <p>If a trade is disputed through a mediator or arbitrator, some or all of that party's security deposit may be awarded to the counterparty. Examples of protocol violations include a buyer failing to pay a seller, or a seller failing to acknowledge receipt of a buyer's payment.</p> <p>Most Bisq trades complete without any problem thanks in part to the incentives that security deposits create.</p><p>See <a href="https://docs.bisq.network/trading-rules" target="_blank">this document</a> for full trading rules.</p>
<p>Security deposits create strong incentives for buyers and sellers to follow the <a href="https://bisq.wiki/Trading_rules" target="_blank">rules of Bisq's trading protocol</a>. Deposits are locked into multisig escrow along with the bitcoin being traded, and are returned to each user when the trade is complete.</p><p>If a trade is disputed through a mediator or arbitrator, some or all of the offending party's security deposit may be awarded to the counterparty. Examples of protocol violations include a buyer failing to pay a seller, paying with a different account or with a different name, or a seller failing to acknowledge receipt of a buyer's payment.</p> <p>Most Bisq trades complete without any problem thanks in part to the incentives that security deposits create.</p><p>See <a href="https://bisq.wiki/Trading_rules" target="_blank">this wiki article</a> for full trading rules.</p>
hPrivacy: "How does Bisq protect my privacy?"
pPrivacy: >
<p>Bisq is standalone, open-source software that you can inspect before running on your machine, and as a result, you don't have to trust that any server is logging your personal details (as you would in the case of a website).</p> <p>As for the trading process, your payment information is stored locally on your machine, and only your trading partner (and your mediator or arbitrator, in case of a dispute) can ever see it. All data exchanged between users is encrypted and signed.</p> <p>To transmit data from one user to another, Bisq uses a P2P network built on top of Tor, which provides a high degree of anonymity. The user doesn't need to do any additional work for all of this to work—it is all integrated in the application.</p>
hTradeDuration: "How long does a trade take?"
pTradeDuration: >
<p>Trade duration is determined by the transfer times of the currencies you're using. National currency transfers can be instant (Faster Payment) or can take a few days (SEPA).</p> <p>Bitcoin transactions take about 10 minutes to confirm, and at least one confirmation is required before the buyer can send the fiat or altcoins.</p> <p>Altcoin trade periods are always 1 day (or 1 hour for Altcoins Instant trades).</p><p>Please see the <a href="https://docs.bisq.network/payment-methods" target="_blank">list of payment methods</a> for complete details.</p>
<p>Trade duration is determined by payment method. Some payment methods are instant (e.g., Faster Payment) while others can take a few days (e.g., SEPA).</p> <p>As far as Bisq is concerned, the deposit transaction needs to be confirmed once before the buyer can send payment. Bitcoin transactions take about 10 minutes to confirm, so with quick traders and quick payment method, a Bisq trade can be completed in a matter of minutes.</p> <p>Altcoin trade periods are always 1 day (or 1 hour for Altcoins Instant trades).</p><p>Please see the <a href="https://bisq.wiki/Payment_methods" target="_blank">list of payment methods</a> for complete details.</p>
hTradeCost: "How much does it cost to trade on Bisq?"
pTradeCost: >
<p>To trade on Bisq, users pay (1) trading fees to Bisq and (2) mining fees to miners.</p>
Expand All @@ -283,15 +285,16 @@ faq:
<strong>Mining fees</strong>
<p>An offer maker only pays mining fees for the trade fee transaction. An offer taker pays mining fees for the trade fee transaction, deposit transaction, and payout transaction. This is because mining fees fluctuate and it's impossible for the offer
maker to know what mining fees will be at the time their offer is taken.</p>
<p>Bisq uses <a href="https://bitcoinfees.earn.com/api/v1/fees/list" target="_blank">this service</a> to estimate fees. Users can see actual mining fees after they've created or taken an offer.</p>
<p>Bisq uses <a href="https://mempool.space" target="_blank">mempool.space</a> to estimate fees. Users can see actual mining fees after they've created or taken an offer.</p>
hOpenOffer: "Why do I need to keep my application online when I have an open offer?"
pOpenOffer: >
<p>There are no central servers on the Bisq network—so all peers are responsible for keeping their offers online.</p>
<p>If you have published an offer, your Bisq application needs to stay online so it can react when another trader wants to take your offer (the multisig deposit transaction is created in the take-offer process). Be sure you have deactivated your computer's standby mode so your Bisq application can stay online (monitor standby is not a problem).</p> <p>If your Bisq application does go offline, your offer will get removed from the distributed offerbook. It will be re-published the next time you start your Bisq application.</p> <p>After an offer has been taken and the trade process has started, neither trader needs to be online continuously, but each trader will need to be online periodically to check if any action is needed on their side (e.g. sending fiat/altcoin, confirming payment receipt, etc).</p>
hEditOffer: "How can I edit my offer?"
pEditOffer: "<p><a href=\"https://github.com/bisq-network/bisq/releases/tag/v0.7.0\">Version 0.7.0</a> introduced offer editing in the Portfolio > My open offers section without paying additional fees.</p>"
hBank: "Will my bank know I'm buying bitcoins?"
pBank: >
<p>There have been reports that some banks have closed client accounts when they sense Bitcoin activity.</p> <p>The reference text (sometimes called "reason for payment" or similar) of the bank transfer used to trade with Bisq must always <span class='font-italic'>only</span> include the Bisq trade ID, which is a random sequence of characters, just like many other purchase IDs. Putting anything else as a "reason for payment" is considered a violation of the trade protocol and will result in a dispute.</p> <p>To avoid problems, we recommend setting up a dedicated bank account for buying and selling bitcoins. If the bank were to block this account, it would cause fewer problems for you than if the bank were to block your primary account.</p> <p>Never mention anything else other than the Bisq trade ID in the subject field.</p>
<p>There have been reports of banks closing accounts upon suspecting bitcoin activity.</p> <p>As a result, Bisq requires that there be absolutely no mention of "Bisq" or "Bitcoin" or anything else other than the trade's ID (which is an alphanumeric code that looks like a generic invoice/purchase ID) in the "reason for payment" section of bank transfers. </p><p> <a href="https://bisq.wiki/Trading_rules#Enter_only_the_trade_ID_in_payment.E2.80.99s_.22reason_for_payment.22" target="_blank">This rule is strictly enforced</a>, and putting anything else in the "reason for payment" field is considered a violation of the trade protocol and will result in a dispute.</p> <p>We recommend setting up a dedicated bank account for buying and selling bitcoin in case any issues arise.</p>
hDisputeRsolution: Dispute Resolution
hArbitrationProcess: "How does dispute resolution work?"
pArbitrationProcess: >
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