Crypto isn’t dead, it’s course-correcting toward adoption.

Binance Peer-Peer (P2P) Transfers: A True Use Case of Cryptocurrency

4 min readNov 23, 2022

When it’s all said and done, November will go down in the records of history as a pivotal moment in time for cryptocurrencies. In what is still largely an unfolding development, FTX, one of the largest centralized crypto exchanges in the world filed for bankruptcy, plummeting from the valuation it once held north of USD 30bn.

So, is crypto really dead?
Word on the street is that it is.

The market capitalization of crypto has erased over $2tn of investor funds, and the coming weeks will ascertain the extent of the damage done by FTX as regulators get deeper into the specifics of what went wrong.

While so much should be said of the incident, the key takeaway for me remains a matter of establishing fair value for cryptocurrencies through mainstream adoption of its use cases.

The central conversation related to crypto at this point in time is synonymous with recognizing crypto as an emerging asset class with speculative value. The utility value of cryptocurrencies is much broader than simply trading them in a marketplace.

This brings me to the topic of what exactly the utility value of cryptocurrency is. The possibilities are seemingly infinite when blockchain technology is considered in terms of use cases. From trustless transactions to decentralized financing and tokenization of digital assets, we have barely scratched the surface of understanding how these technologies will transform our everyday lives.

However, if we were to pick on the basis of adoption, industry readiness, and viability in today’s context, peer-to-peer payments are arguably the most fundamental use case for crypto.

Limitations of Centralized Payment Transfers

A P2P transfer is essentially any method that enables trustless transactions between two or more parties.

In a traditional sense, banking infrastructure is used to make payments and transfers, which results in a number of limitations. The first challenge is the fee structure that exists to incentivize banks for bearing the cost of trust. Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin natively solves for this use case by ensuring that on-chain transactions are immutable.

Delays are another challenge faced by traditional payments and transfers due to the unavailabilities of banks and practical reasons such as distance to the nearest service branch. With the advent of mobile and internet banking, many of these frustrations have been solved for. However, cryptocurrencies remain a more efficient and scalable model for use.

If you are from Sri Lanka, where I’m from, or are familiar with the recent economic climate of the small island state, restrictions on banking and volatility in the value of fiat currencies are other limitations of traditional banking.

In the past year, the Sri Lankan Rupee lost nearly 50% of its value against the US Dollar, and as a result, banks enforced transaction restrictions to limit the outflow of foreign exchange. Due to the centralized nature of the traditional banking system, your money is controlled by third-party service providers, an important problem that decentralized cryptocurrencies solve.

Payment delays are yet another limitation of the traditional banking system. Foreign payments could take up to two weeks to be completed, another major area that cryptocurrency P2P transfers address by offering instant transfers. Transactional completion for most crypto transfers takes less than five minutes.

Advantages of Binance P2P Transfers

Binance is the world’s largest crypto exchange and facilitates highly convenient peer-to-peer transfers through its P2P platform which can be accessed using this link.

The Binance P2P platform allows users to convert their local currencies to stable cryptocurrencies such as BUSD, USDC, or USDT. These stablecoins are pegged against the value of the USD and can be transferred reliably without major fluctuations in value.

Transfers take less than five minutes to be completed and cost as little as $1 for a transfer of any value (when using the TRC20 protocol). Binance also ensures the secure completion of buying and selling on its P2P platform by offering escrow services and a well-orchestrated process. Customer support is available for new users to get familiar with the platform and resolve their questions.

Binance supports a wide variety of currencies globally, enabling transfers to be sent anywhere in the world instantly, with low transaction costs.

Guide to Making Your First P2P Transfer on Binance

If you want to try out the Binance P2P platform, the resources below can point you in the right direction and guide you step-by-step.

Disclaimer

As with any emerging technology, blockchain and cryptocurrency have many inherent risks that must be navigated safely. P2P transfers is one of the safest use cases of cryptocurrencies, however, it’s worthwhile to do your own research and assess the protocol yourself. I’m not a financial advisor and may not be privy to the legal and financial implications of using cryptocurrency in your country of residence.