What P2P is and how it works

Key points

• In P2P you buy crypto from, or sell it to, another person. The payment in euros goes straight from one account to the other, outside the platform.
• While the trade lasts, the platform sets aside the seller's crypto.
• The seller releases it once they see the money in their account. If something is wrong, either side can open a dispute.
• Almost every scam tries to get you to release before you are paid, or to have the money come from someone else.

How a trade works

P2P stands for peer-to-peer. On Pitiklini, a trade follows these steps:

1. Someone posts an ad. It says which crypto they buy or sell, the price, the amount limits, the payment methods and the time to pay.
2. Another person accepts the ad and a trade opens. From that moment, the platform sets aside the seller's crypto.
3. The buyer pays with the method in the ad, within the time limit, and marks the trade as paid.
4. The seller checks that the money has reached their account and releases the crypto, which goes to the buyer.

If the time runs out before the trade is marked as paid, it cancels itself and the crypto goes back to the seller. You need a verified identity to post or accept ads.

What the platform does and does not do

The parties to each trade are the two people making it. Pitiklini hosts the ads and the chat of each trade, sets aside the crypto while it lasts and resolves disputes.

The euros do not go through the platform: they go from the buyer's account to the seller's. That is why Pitiklini cannot cancel or refund a payment. What it can do, in a dispute, is decide who gets the crypto that was set aside.

Paying and getting paid without surprises

If you buy:

• Pay from an account in your own name, and only with the method in the ad.
• When you make a bank transfer, your bank will tell you whether the name you enter matches the holder of the receiving account. This is verification of payee. If it does not match, do not pay, and ask in the trade chat.
• Mark the trade as paid only once you have really paid, and keep your bank's receipt.

If you sell:

• Release only when you see the money in your account. Check it by signing in to your bank as you always do, not through a link someone sends you.
• Check that the payment comes from an account in the name of the person in the trade.
• A screenshot, a receipt or a "transfer sent" email is not money in your account.

Common scams

• Fake receipts. You are shown a screenshot, or get an email that imitates a bank's. Until you see it in your account, you have not been paid.
• Payments from someone else. Someone other than your counterparty pays you, sometimes with money stolen from another victim. When the victim claims it back from their bank, the payment may be reversed. You are then left without the money and without the crypto. If the name does not match, do not release, and open a dispute.
• Payments that can be reversed. Some methods let the payer ask for a refund later. Keep that in mind when you choose an ad.
• Leaving the platform. Whoever asks you to keep talking on another app, or to pay outside the trade, wants to leave no trace. Talk only in the trade chat: it is your evidence if there is a dispute.
• Fake support. Nobody from the Pitiklini team will ask you to release a trade, to pay again or for your codes. Disputes are handled inside the trade itself.
• Pressure. Being pushed to release right away, or to pay a trade that has already expired, is a warning sign.
• Lending your account. Someone may offer you money to receive payments in your account and buy crypto for them with it. If so, they are using you as a money mule. According to Europol, money mules are accomplices to the crimes that money comes from, because they help launder it.

If something goes wrong

• You paid and the crypto is not released. Open a dispute from the trade. The crypto stays set aside while the Pitiklini team reviews it.
• The trade is marked as paid and you have not been paid. Do not release, and open a dispute.
• In the dispute, provide your bank's receipt and explain what happened. The team reviews the evidence from both sides and decides.
• If it was fraud, tell your bank and report it to the police. In Spain, you can do it online with the Policía Nacional or the Guardia Civil (in Spanish).

What it costs

The P2P fee, if there is one, is on the fees page, with the date it applies from. Whatever a payment method charges is set by each person's bank or payment service.

Sources

• Pitiklini's terms and conditions, where they cover P2P.
• "New Verification of Payee service launches for free on 9 October 2025", from the Bank of Spain.
• European supervisory authorities' factsheet on crypto fraud and scams (January 2026; the link leads to the Spanish version).
• "Money muling", from Europol.