Acquiring bitcoin without having to hand over your details and the rights to your firstborn seems to get header each day; regulated exchanges don’t have the freedom they once had, so building your non-KYC stack comes with considerable effort and cost.
If you’re the type that wants to buy bitcoin, but you want to avoid the KYC creep that comes along with dealing with exchanges, which is understandable. Having to hand over not only your money but your contact details and personal identification to get some bitcoin is annoying.
Bitcoin is a globally traded asset, and you should not need permission to access it. If you can find a willing trader to swap bitcoin for fiat currency, that’s all that should matter, but this is easier said than done. Sure, bitcoin does have a growing P2P market, but the P2P offers might not always be in support of your fiat on-ramp, charge relatively high fees or have limited purchase amounts.
If you’re looking for a new fiat to bitcoin on-ramp but don’t want to deal with a host of sellers and would be willing to trust one 3rd party as long as you don’t need to KYC, then the voucher route could be a better option for you.
A route that is getting easier to access with chatbots. If you’re a telegram user keen on purchasing bitcoin through the app, then shoot the BitcoinVoucherBot a text.
What is BitcoinVoucherBot?
@BitcoinVoucherBot is an automated Telegram bot that makes it possible to purchase bitcoin on-chain, Lightning or Liquid in chat using a confidential procedure. The system is designed for bitcoiners who want to make purchases between chains and avoid using an exchange to increase privacy and reduce the friction of dealing with bitcoin on different layers.
What are the benefits of using the telegram bot?
- No-web procedure; You don’t take the risk of making a web request, where your data otherwise can be sniffed and acquired.
- No additional apps are required; you don’t need to download or install anything on your mobile; and Telegram.
- No registration is required
- No IP address will be gathered
- No cookies set
- Pure Telegram procedure
- In-app chat with support
- Only spot price, no additional spread
What is a bitcoin redeemable voucher?
A bitcoin redeemable voucher is a shopping voucher (similar to the gift vouchers and cards you’ve purchased with large retailers like Amazon, Apple with iTunes, or obile phone data cards). The only difference is that with the voucher code you receive, you can use this to redeem a specified amount of bitcoin.
What bitcoin vouchers are available for purchase:
- Bitcoin on-chain vouchers (that can be sent to a standard bech32 address through an on-chain transaction)
- Bitcoin lightning network vouchers can be redeemed immediately with wallets supporting LN-URL.
- Bitcoin Liquid Network vouchers that can be sent to a supported Liquid Network wallet
When you purchase any of these vouchers, they will have an expiration date and have to be redeemed within 25 days. The voucher codes are delivered electronically through the encrypted Telegram chat and can be redeemed through the chatbot.
Note: If you do not redeem the voucher within the time frame, you will lose that money.
How does the BitcoinVoucherBot work?
Once you launch Telegram and activate the bot all you need to do is follow a guided procedure for purchasing single vouchers and chose the amount you prefer. The first choice you will need to make is the type of bitcoin you would like to acquire be that
- 🔗 – On-chain bitcoin
- ⚡️ – Lightning Network bitcoin
- 💧 – Liquid Network bitcoin
Once you’ve picked the type of bitcoin you would like, you need to follow the prompts and select the amount you would like to purchase.
The system will then ask you which fiat payment method you wish to use, depending on the voucher you could pay with a:
- Bank transfer (SEPA)
- Revolut
Select the method you prefer and settle the displayed balance to the account provided by the bot.
When the payment is cleared, the system automatically creates the voucher at the current price of bitcoin/Euro exchange at that precise instant. The voucher will be displayed in the chat and you can follow the prompts or scan the QR code to redeem the funds into the preferred wallet you would like to use for this exchange.
Fees on your purchase
A commission of 5% is applied to the price (no spread is applied), and the miner fees are added as well for on-chain vouchers.
LN vouchers have no transaction fees on redemption and their commission can vary from 3% to 5% depending on which type you choose.
Once the voucher is issued it will be denominated in bitcoin and sent to the user through a text message on Telegram. In order to ensure maximum transparency, the voucher itself shows the bitcoin price at the moment the voucher is issued and the exact amount of the service fee.
There is no hidden cost and no spread involved. The price matches the real-time spot price of most liquid exchangers available at the time of purchase.
How to DCA with BitcoinVoucherBot
This feature makes it possible to configure a regular purchase plan to automatically get vouchers issued with a certain frequency. For example, you can plan to purchase a small voucher amount daily or weekly or monthly.
Once you configure the frequency you prefer, the system runs itself and will issue vouchers on the planned days. You will need to pay the full balance upfront and each voucher is transmitted to the user on the designated day.
This kind of plan makes it possible to do the dollar cost average (DCA) while remaining non-KYC.
If you would like to access this feature simply select accumulation plan facility is in the menu or type into the chat /ap to get started.
Note: When setting up an accumulation plan, you need to have a credit inside the facility (refill voucher), and this is used to configure the plan. When you choose the plan you prefer, after confirmation, each order will be scheduled following the chosen plan.
The first date is always the day after the configuration has been performed.
The system will buy and send the vouchers at predetermined dates and you will just receive them in your chat. The price will be the market price at the moment the voucher has been issued.
To keep up to date, you can always check the schedule by issuing the /myorders command, which shows the last 10 orders scheduled or executed.
The tag you will see is:
- OC-A: Onchain type A
- LN-A or LN-D: Lightning network
- LQ-D: Liquid network
Note: The accumulation plan cannot be changed after being issued, so once you commit you have to go all the way.
Get the app
There you have it; now, you can leverage vouchers and your Telegram to start acquiring bitcoin without having to hand over your identification or tie yourself to a specific service provider.
Sure, you’ll have to pay a premium for this additional privacy, but for those who want to build a non-KYC stack, it’s worth the cost.
If you’d like to learn more about the app or give it a try check out the links below.
Note: If you found this guide helpful and want to support us, you can use the referral link to scan the QR code 😁
Are you a bitcoin privacy bro?
Are you using non-KYC bitcoin exchanges? Which app is your favourite? Do you have one you’d like us to cover? Let us know in the comments down below.