It’s not every day you hear about someone taking four round-trip flights from Dublin to Prague to buy bitcoin.
Or a barber at a bitcoin castle meetup charging sats for a haircut. Or someone holding up a frozen octopus bought through a bitcoin app.
But these stories aren’t urban legends; they’re real and they’re happening through Vexl, a nonprofit, privacy-first peer-to-peer trading platform.
To understand what makes Vexl different, Lightning News sat down with Vexl’s Head of Growth Grafton; who shared the mission, stories, and vision behind the platform that’s quietly building circular bitcoin economies worldwide.
- And we began with a simple but important question: what is Vexl, and how does it stand out from other peer-to-peer trading platforms?
Vexl is a nonprofit app that lets people buy and sell bitcoin privately with friends and friends of friends. No KYC, no middlemen, no data collection.
What makes it different is the way it works: instead of relying on reputation scores or anonymous strangers, Vexl connects you through your web of trust or your (social graph).
That means you see offers from people you’re already connected to directly or through mutual contacts, which makes trading more natural, safer, and closer to how cash works in the real world.
- Vexl emphasizes privacy and the concept of building a “web of trust.” Could you explain why these principles are so important to the platform’s vision?
Bitcoin was built to be peer-to-peer cash, not a product for financial institutions. Privacy matters because money without privacy is surveillance.
Trust matters because trading with people in your circle is how real economies grow, and that is what we have truly seen.
I only trade with people that I am direct friends with or have mutual contacts with.
This gives me peace of mind that I know the trade is going to go smoothly. We believe this is closer to the spirit of bitcoin than any regulated exchange could ever be.
Memorable Stories
- We’ve heard there are some incredible stories connected to Vexl, involving horses, fish, an octopus, and even a donkey. Could you share one or two of the most remarkable experiences from the platform?
I mean, this is the most fascinating part of the app. Originally, we planned for it to be just for buying and trading bitcoin.
However, we soon discovered that people wanted more. They wanted to grow local circular economies, to trade things other than bitcoin, and to earn bitcoin along the way.
I think in the first week after the marketplace went live, we started to see offers for things like raw milk and honey, and it just grew from there until we eventually added a dedicated marketplace feature for products and services.
You can see this now in the app — you open it and choose: I have a product and I want bitcoin, or I have bitcoin and I want a product.
For me, one of the most remarkable stories I’ve ever heard and personally experienced was when I met a taxi driver in Dublin, Ireland.
He told me he’d been saving his cash tips for years under his mattress and wanted a way to buy bitcoin without having to KYC on an exchange.
As a foreigner living in Ireland, he couldn’t purchase from exchanges anyway. We swapped contacts, and he quickly found one of my friends who was willing to sell him bitcoin.
But because he didn’t have much of a network in Ireland yet, he actually made several trips to Prague to meet one of my friends and buy bitcoin in person.
To me, this is one of the most amazing stories because it shows how much bitcoin means to some people, and what they’re willing to do to acquire it without permission or KYC.
I met him for coffee while he was in Prague, because I was blown away by his story. He showed me a photo of his family with his wife and three children. In the photo, his wife was holding a pregnancy test, and he said: “This is why I did it — not for me, but for them.”
I mean, imagine that: taking four round-trip flights from Dublin to Prague just to buy bitcoin without KYC.
Most peer-to-peer apps require you to trade with strangers using a bank account or something that connects to your real name. But on Vexl, you always trade with people you can trust.
For me, I knew he was a trustworthy guy, and now I always have a great taxi driver in Dublin when visiting. We remain in contact and speak often, and I would even consider him a good friend now.
- What’s the most unexpected or creative trade you’ve seen happen through Vexl?
I mean, I’ve seen a lot over the years now, but I mean, things like plumbing and heating services stick out because that is like what I want.
I don’t want to look on the Internet for a plumber who has Google reviews and try to determine what’s real and what’s fake reviews.
If I need one or an air conditioner repairman, I would love to be able to find one through friends and friends of friends.
I mean, that’s basically what we do anyway, we’re all familiar with that right? I mean, we meet somebody and we share our experiences, and then we want our friends to have a good time.
So I think one that surprised me most is recently, I was looking for a physiotherapist and had a difficult time finding one, much to my surprise, but one day I opened (vexl), and there it was low and behold, a physiotherapist offering their services on Vexl for Bitcoin and we had quite a few mutual friends.
These are the kind of stories that I think are truly amazing. It shows people understand what is possible with (vexl) and are interested in building something different and better than what we currently have, which is gamified ratings systems full of stars and empty trust. I want a world where I am always getting quality trades with people I can trust.
- How do these unique trades reflect the culture of peer-to-peer bitcoin transactions?
Well, as bitcoiners, we believe in value for value, and I think that’s what Vexl allows us to do. When I connect with people who are connected with me through mutual friends, it’s kind of like having my little support network of people who have skills and services and who trade something that we all value with each other.
Take Hairtoshi, for example. Recently, I was at a Bitcoin event in Germany, and fiat currency was banned for three days. The only thing that you could spend was Bitcoin.
I got a haircut with Bitcoin, and this is absolutely part of our culture. It was one of the best haircuts I’ve ever had in my life, and I’m not joking, and what it made me realize is that this is exactly the world that I wanna live in.
I struggle to find a good barber, and I’ve been too many, many different ones over the years, but I found the best barber at a Bitcoin event in the middle of nowhere, at an old historic castle.
I paid 21,000 satoshi for a haircut, and I walked away satisfied. I think that this is what we all want to experience, and we all experience our whole life when asking our friends for advice.
Well imagine not having to ask every time, you just pull up on Vexl and you see a network of people and their skills and services that are in your network and you can see how many mutual friends you have and you can vouch for each other and create a true circular economy that’s based on real experiences and trust with people that you know, but it’s all done in a way that’s private and not annoying.
No one gets messages when you join Vexl. It’s truly a purely peer-to-peer economy that we can create with this. And by the way, if you want to follow the barber I’m talking about, his X account is @Hairtoshi_2
The Octopus Purchase
- There’s a fascinating example of someone buying an octopus using bitcoin through Vexl. Can you tell us the full story behind that trade?
I mean, this was a wild one. So I’m browsing Vexl, and I see the offer for frozen octopus. Someone, I guess, had been fishing in Croatia or somewhere else, and I couldn’t believe it was frozen octopus for sale on Vexl…. why? It had to be a joke, right???
But it wasn’t because a few days later, I saw a guy on Twitter holding the octopus up in his hands and saying look what I bought on Vexl.
I think we were all shocked that something like that was possible, and this is what happens. It never ceases to amaze me that people take tools and build things with them, and that’s exactly what Vexl is.
It’s a tool. It’s an open source tool, so if someone takes Vexl even further and builds something better than we always think, mission accomplished.
We’re not a business trying to make money; we’re a foundation trying to create tools that empower the individual with the freedom to transact, and that is what people are doing. Here is a link to the tweet: https://x.com/dedabitcoiner/status/1799051354100682988.
- How did the community respond to this kind of transaction, and what does it say about the possibilities that Vexl enables?
Well, you know your network is your net worth, so you’ll never see something that isn’t in that network.
You won’t see anything from my network unless you’re friends with me. What’s cool is that you can see what you and your friends are building together—your own little economy—and how you can help each other.
I always tell people: it doesn’t matter what skills you have, post an offer. Show your network what you can help them with, because value-for-value is so important, and it goes both ways. If you’re a craftsman, let people know.
Or if you know a craftsman who isn’t into Bitcoin yet, it’s a great way to bring them in. The possibilities are endless—graphic design, IT development, all kinds of things. Let your community know what you can do, and you’ll start seeing booming local circular economies based on real-world reputation and trust.
I know this is what I want, and it’s what a lot of my friends want too. I’m sure you’d want it as well. I’ve seen things like pickled jalapeños for sale in Botswana, or people offering to help set up GrapheneOS or a Bitcoin node. Friends like helping friends, but Bitcoiners—well, we like helping our friends even more…
And yeah, people loved it. The story became a kind of legend inside our team and community. It showed that Bitcoin doesn’t have to be abstract or intimidating—it can be as simple as buying dinner.
Building Trust and Community
- Vexl operates without public ratings or user reviews, which is a distinct difference from many other platforms. How does this approach help build genuine trust between users?
Stars and ratings can be faked or manipulated. Trust in Vexl comes from mutual contacts: “I don’t know you, but we share a friend who knows both of us.” That’s stronger than five stars from strangers.
- Could you share an example where the Vexl community played a crucial role in the success of a trade or in supporting a user?
In Namibia, our good friend Okin has built a whole bitcoin circular economy. His community uses Vexl not just to buy and sell bitcoin, but to swap goods and services.
The community’s trust in each other keeps that system running. But with the recent launch of clubs, we are seeing even more communities start to grow.
The Einundzwanzig club in Germany is a great example. It’s a large community with amazing people who are real bitcoiners focused on building real communities and helping each other out.
- Have you seen instances where Vexl has made a meaningful difference in someone’s life, whether financially or otherwise?
Yeah absolutely, Vexl truly removes the hurdles that a lot of people face when they first get into Bitcoin, which is I don’t know how to buy it or I don’t know what to do and through (vexl) you can truly make good connections, and those people can help you learn about bitcoin and they can help you buy Bitcoin for the first time the way it was intended.
I mean, if we had had these tools years ago, we would all be in a better position, but most people are incentivized to give away their personal data in order to buy bitcoin on exchanges, in which your permission can be revoked at any time, your bank accounts can be closed, and your business can be turned away.
I think this is where (vexl) really does make an impact in people’s lives, from my taxi driver friend in Dublin to individuals who have had their bank account frozen for buying or selling bitcoin. Vexl is truly permissionless.
There is no middleman. There is no one collecting fees. There is no one lining our pockets with money. It’s tender for Bitcoiner, and I think the biggest impact is that people are making real connections based on real-world reputation, and I know that I protect my reputation because it’s one of the most valuable things that we have.
It is the way that people perceive us and the trust that people put in us. There’s no room for scammers in my friends list, and if somebody in my friends list scams someone else, well, I am certainly going to inform all of my friends not to trade with that individual in the future.
Looking Ahead
- Where do you see peer-to-peer bitcoin trading evolving in the next few years, and how is Vexl preparing for that future?
Yeah, I mean, as Vexl continues to grow. I really believe that more and more people will use our platform. You know we are a nonprofit. We don’t have big marketing budgets to put up ads on billboards or sponsor football stadiums.
We are word-of-mouth. We are Bitcoiners, and we believe in proof of work, and you can’t just expect convenience to be provided for you without giving up all of your privacy.
Nothing in this world is truly convenient without a cost, but at (vexl), I think we have a solution to that, we have beautiful UI that is intuitive and easy to get started, but as (vexl) continues to grow, I think we will start to see a marketplace where you can truly get the things you need and you can know that you’re going to have a good experience and that’s where it sets us apart is that you don’t need a bank account to buy bitcoin you need friends and you need cash.
- Are there any upcoming features, partnerships, or initiatives from Vexl that users should be excited about?
Yeah, our focus has always been on supporting the community and helping Bitcoin communities grow all over the world. We’ve got some big things planned.
One of the latest is Vexl Clubs, a new initiative that helps people bootstrap and strengthen their local communities. They’re not open to just anyone; they’re for groups who are genuinely interested in building local circular economies with the right kind of people.
Beyond that, we put a lot of energy into education. We’ve created quizzes, games, and fun activities that meetups can use as a ready-to-go kit. The goal is to get people talking, asking the right questions, and taking the right steps, not just to buy bitcoin without KYC, but to actually move toward true self-custody.
For the Wider Audience
- If you could send one message to people who have never used a P2P bitcoin platform, what would it be?
Stop giving your passport to strangers online just to get your own money. With P2P, you can trade bitcoin privately, in cash, with people you know or can trust through mutual friends. It’s simpler, safer, and more human than any exchange.
- Finally, why do you think stories from Vexl resonate so strongly with online communities, and what makes them worth sharing?
Because they’re real. A horse or an octopus bought with bitcoin isn’t just a transaction; it’s a story that sticks in your head. People love these stories because they show bitcoin in everyday life, not just on trading screens.
That’s what we want more of: more stories, less staring at screens, building cool stuff, and sharing it with your friends.
Conclusion
And that’s exactly what Vexl is bringing to life; from frozen octopus trades to cross-border friendships, it shows that bitcoin isn’t just charts and exchanges; it’s stories, it’s local, it’s personal.
What sets the platform apart isn’t just privacy or the absence of KYC, but the stories that come out of it: a taxi driver flying across countries for his family’s future, a barber cutting hair for sats in a castle, or a physiotherapist discovered through mutual friends.
These aren’t just transactions; they’re proof that bitcoin’s original vision, peer-to-peer cash, still thrives when trust and community take center stage.
In a world where exchanges demand passports and algorithms decide who we trust, Vexl reminds us of something simple: sometimes the best way forward is to trade with friends, build with community, and let reputation, not institutions, be the foundation.
