In the shifting sands of Bitcoin regulation, where familiar pillars like Paxful have crumbled and others have fortified themselves behind KYC walls, a simple question echoes through the corridors of the ecosystem: where do we go to simply trade?
For many, the answer has arrived not as a standalone app, but as a message. A Telegram bot.
Enter Max Musumeci and Bitcoin Voucher Bot. What began as a clever, compliant marketplace nestled within Switzerland’s privacy-friendly thresholds is now undergoing its most radical evolution. As the winds of MiCA begin to blow across Europe, threatening to standardize and surveil, Max is not just adapting; he’s decentralizing.
In this exclusive interview, we sit down with the developer to explore why he’s betting big on a peer-to-peer future, how he’s building an entire privacy ecosystem within a chat interface, and what it means for the soul of Bitcoin when every Telegram user can become their own node of economic freedom.
First Steps
- When Bitcoin Voucher Bot was launched, the regulatory landscape was quite different. What motivated you to build a completely no-KYC solution within Telegram, and how has your vision evolved as we’ve witnessed platforms like Paxful and Agoradesk shut down and Relai transition to full-KYC compliance?
The BVB was launched when the no KYC regular threshold in Switzerland was 1000chf/day for all Swiss regulated operators. The platform in fact used existing compliant Swiss intermediaries for executing the transactions. The platform itself is not an exchange but just a marketplace where different providers are connected.
The platform has always been completely compliant with swiss regulations, since each provider is. The platform is offering a better solution for people who do not appreciate using a standard app due to their lack of privacy and censurability.
The system also allowed using a lightning network as a way to get the Sats. The platform since this year is running the new 1000/month threshold as it was decreased in Switzerland.
In its centralized version Bitcoin Voucher Bot operated as a marketplace connecting users to third-party Bitcoin providers rather than functioning as a direct exchange.
In recent weeks, the platform integrated a new peer2peer facility whose goal is to make people easily reach one another and conduct changes between them without intermediaries but in a safe environment.
Starting Jan 2026 the BitcoinVoucherBot platform will become completely Peer2Peer and automatized, so matching demand and offer and the centralized part will be removed. Everyone is responsible for their transactions.
Building Bitcoin Voucher Bot
- You chose to build on Telegram rather than creating a standalone application. Can you walk us through the security considerations of this decision? How do you balance Telegram’s inherent limitations (like phone number dependencies) with the privacy guarantees your users expect?
A Telegram app is more resilient and less censurable than a standard playstore or applestore one. Moreover it respects the idea of lightning as a message. There was nothing similar on the market and we got a lot of congratulations for having had such an idea, because a lot of people use Telegram and the possibility to have an app ready to go and integrated in the most used messaging platform can be an advantage.
By the way, in the last month we integrated the Peer2Peer Market into telegram (as a minidapp) but, to make everyone happy, we also made the facility available both on the Web and on Onion. In such a way everyone can access the peer 2 peer market the way he wants.
- Your bot offers on-chain, Lightning Network, and Liquid Bitcoin options. What percentage of users choose Lightning versus on-chain, and what does this tell you about Lightning adoption in Europe? Have you noticed any patterns in how people use these different rails?
At the beginning the most were on-chain. Then step by step there was an increase of Lightning especially during the high mining-fee period. Liquid has instead been the minority. Nowadays with low miner fees, the distribution is around 60% on-chain, 35% lightning and 5% liquid.
In the new integrated Peer2Peer marketplace, instead, all is only Lightning. The power and efficiency of lightning networks nowadays allows a fully Lightning system.
- Bitcoin Voucher Bot in the Peer2Peer part connects users directly. How is the fee model and how are economic incentives for both sellers and buyers?
There is a 1.5% service fee. Then all users can sell and purchase while setting the margin they wish. Meaning that you can sell Bitcoin and configure a fee on top of market price (so that you are incentivized to sell) or if you want to buy Bitcoin, you can set a discounted price to stimulate people to sell their Bitcoin to you.
This is nice because everyone should have advantages in running the trade in a good and correct way without having to trust someone. This is also is very coherent with the ethical spirit and philosophy of Bitcoin
- With European regulations like MiCA coming into force, how do you see the future of Bitcoin exchanges in general and what is your opinion about that?
Starting October 2025, BVB has become a Peer2Peer platform where parties may exchange directly without intermediaries in the profound spirit of Bitcoin. The platform maintains all operations secure and safe for both the parties involved by using timelocks and contracts.
The European regulations are more and more oppressive and will lead to difficulty in getting people freedom. So I suppose that all centralized platforms will lose customers while decentralized p2p ones will gain more and more users.
- What are the limits for exchanges between the parties inside the peer2peer market of the Bitcoin Voucher Bot?
At the moment while still in beta, we set a maximum amount of 500k sats per single order or trade. So this is the hard limit for now. This is just for testing purposes in case some bug may arise. In a later stage the limit will be raised so that anyone will be able and free to agree the desired amount with their counterparty during a trade. Each user has the responsibility to carry the business he can afford.
Larger Ecosystem
- Beyond Bitcoin vouchers, you offer VPN services, P2P swaps. You’re clearly building an ecosystem around financial privacy. Where do you see the Bitcoin Voucher Bot in five years? And how do you see financial privacy evolving?
Yes the platform sells VPN vouchers which can be paid in Lightning and comes in just some minutes with a fully automatized procedure. Moreover, thanks to third providers, users can swap from LN to OC and vice versa, and also refer the platform to other people. The idea is to provide easy and efficient services from your mobile.
All the services are always integrated from API calls to external providers in order to create a swiss-knife tool bitcoin centered. We always welcome new providers entering the marketplace with additional services for the users.
