8 basic facts about RoboSats and Bisq
4737 sats \ 15 comments \ @cryotosensei 26 Mar 2023 bitcoin
  1. RoboSats and Bisq are platforms where you can get your sats without having to KYC.
  2. RoboSats is short for Robotic Satoshis. It is named as such because it allows you to generate a robotic avatar when exchanging your sats.
  3. The difference between them is that RoboSats employs the Lightning Network whereas Bisq facilitates only on-chain Bitcoin payments. So, you can swap Lightning Network BTC to on-chain BTC and vice versa on RoboSats.
  4. Another difference is that RoboSats requires you to use it with the Tor browser (http://robosats6tkf3eva7x2voqso3a5wcorsnw34jveyxfqi2fu7oyheasid.onion/) while you install Bisq which is a desktop application that has an in-built payment protocol.
  5. Since RoboSats uses the Lightning Network, it has a 3 million sat limit to ensure that transactions can go through completely.
  6. Both platforms require you to have BTC first before you can buy BTC - as an assurance that you won’t waste other users’ time with empty promises.
  7. Many users use platforms like Strike, Revolut, CashApp and even PayPal to accept payments but if you are particular about your privacy, cash by mail orders, Amazon gift cards or even cash in person would be your best bet.
  8. Bisq is non-custodial and decentralised, which makes it harder to be shut down. RoboSats could be shut down if the sole operator were arrested for whatever reason.
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114 sats \ 0 replies \ @DarthCoin 26 Mar 2023
  1. Bisq also use Tor, but is built-in the protocol app.
  2. Bisq wallet can also be imported into Electrum. From there you can even open LN channels and swap into Robosats if you want, or just use / manage the funds bought from Bisq over LN. Of course make a good coin control (in Electrum is very easy).
Well done quick guide!
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90 sats \ 0 replies \ @P2P_bitcoin 26 Mar 2023
Another difference is that RoboSats requires you to use it with the Tor browser
There's an Android app ("alpha") available now.
The link for the .apk to download can be found in the release notes for each release (see the "Assets" at the bottom of the release notes).
https://github.com/Reckless-Satoshi/robosats/releases
Remember though this is alpha software.
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20 sats \ 0 replies \ @siggy47 26 Mar 2023
Good write up. Thanks
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15 sats \ 0 replies \ @BlokchainB 26 Mar 2023
Regular Bisq user haven’t used robosats yet. Good summary
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10 sats \ 0 replies \ @phantom 27 Mar 2023
There are 2 Nostr bots available for Robosats and Bisq offers:
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10 sats \ 0 replies \ @Busybe3z 27 Mar 2023
Good list dude
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10 sats \ 3 replies \ @xanny 26 Mar 2023
There's a third option too. The Orange Pill app has some bitcoiners who are happy to sell BTC for cash. I found a few around me on there.
Obviously I can't vouch for everyone on that app, and there's no reputation system, so there's an element of risk and you should start small and meet in a public place, but since it provides an easy way to meet local bitcoiners you could just hit up a bitcoiner event and mention you're interested in buying some for cash and most likely someone will help you out.
Don't get me wrong, Bisq in particular is a great platform (can't vouch for Robosats yet as I've not used it so far, but I like that it makes it more convenient to buy BTC without KYC) just throwing out more options for buying BTC without having to KYC or even leave any trail on your bank statements at all.
(I'm applying for a mortgage soon so I'm especially conscious of this. Banks look over six months of statements and can ask about certain transactions. With Bisq I sent a bank transfer to a stranger. Amazon gift cards bypass this, yes, but it limits your sellers. If I withdraw some cash, well I just needed some cash, no way to link that to any type of Bitcoin anything.)
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20 sats \ 2 replies \ @037447d9ca 27 Mar 2023
I love how "needed the cash" is socially acceptable now. It may change
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10 sats \ 1 reply \ @xanny 27 Mar 2023
Unfortunately I fear you are right. And the number of ATMs is rapidly shrinking. And the existing ones increasingly charge fees to withdraw your own money.
But for the time being at least, there exist plenty of small businesses IRL that simply don't accept card payments. Doing so often requires a long contract on top of the transaction fees they take, so for a small local business it often doesn't make financial sense.
To state the obvious, Bitcoin fixes this, but try telling your local barber shop to accept Bitcoin... maybe others can be more convincing, but I offered to setup all the software and show them how it works and explained the benefits, even demonstrated how fast and easy LN is to use by sending them some sats and they were impressed, but ultimately they were mostly put off by the volatility.
Hopefully I planted a seed still though, now they see how it's actually more efficient than card payments and with no middleman. Especially since I also let them know there's multiple sites for finding businesses that accept BTC they could list their business on for free advertising and new customers.
Anyway, until CBDCs become mandatory and the real Orwellian nightmare truly begins, there's plenty of "legit" reasons to need cash thankfully.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @BBitcoinUSA 31 Mar 2023
Most barber shops seem to be cash-only but I don’t remember seeing an ATM inside many barber shops. I am definitely not the first person to realize that, so the economics must not make sense for shop owners to have them onsite. I know ATM fees are much higher when buying Bitcoin vs. withdrawing cash from a checking account, so I’m curious what the standard fee split %’s are for the shop owner and the ATM owner/operator in a Bitcoin ATM transaction vs. a standard ATM withdrawal transaction.
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10 sats \ 1 reply \ @TNStacker 26 Mar 2023
Trying Bisq for first time now. Buy order with Amazon eGiftcard has been sitting for a few days. What kind of premiums are typical? What are typical transaction times?
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20 sats \ 0 replies \ @takaponka 26 Mar 2023
If you make your order yourself, lower the deviation if you don't want to wait. You can check all the orders with similar payment to have an idea
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10 sats \ 0 replies \ @takaponka 26 Mar 2023
Bisq is amazing, always enjoying the premium. I would say SEPA is the most convenient and with most liquidity. Cash in person or by mail is the best to protect your privacy because it leaves 0 data to third party.
Nice summary !
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @solomon1923 15 Mar
Bisq 2 will be released today.
The main differences between Bisq 1 and 2 are Bisq 1 will have:
  • No trading fees
  • No need for bitcoin buyers or sellers to have a security deposit
  • Less on-chain transactions
  • Options for buyers to receive payment on-chain or via lightning
  • Individual trades are limited to up to 0.01 BTC / 1 million sats
  • Fiat to bitcoin trades only to start with
  • Multiple trade protocols, first will be Bisq Easy
Bisq 2 is aiming to to make No KYC more accessible to no-coiners and existing bitcoiners looking to start stacking their first no KYC sats.
It will be available for download later today from https://bisq.network/
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @denationalized 28 Feb
  1. Another difference is that RoboSats requires you to use it with the Tor browser
I use Firefox with the following settings in about:config:
network.proxy.socks	localhost	
network.proxy.socks_port	9050	
network.proxy.socks_remote_dns	true
and optionally for some websites javascript.enabled true For this to work you need to have Tor installed.
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