Buying and selling bitcoin peer-to-peer as a company

Sources checked 9 November 2026. This page is education for a company that buys or sells its own bitcoin in the UK or the US. It is not legal, tax, accounting or investment advice, and it does not say whether to use peer-to-peer methods. Classification depends on the facts of each arrangement.

P2P versus an exchange

Companies usually compare three paths. The labels overlap. Nothing here recommends a particular provider.

For the usual path through a provider into company multisig, see buying bitcoin as a company. For sales under a written policy, see selling or rebalancing.

Counterparty fraud

In a P2P deal the main operational risk is that the other side does not perform, or performs with stolen funds or stolen bitcoin. Common patterns in both countries include:

• Taking pounds or dollars and never sending bitcoin, or sending from an address that is later contested.
• Sending bitcoin, then reversing or reclaiming the fiat payment through a bank, card or payment-app dispute.
• Impersonating a known trader, using look-alike payment details, or diverting settlement through compromised email (business email compromise and payment diversion fraud).
• Pressure to settle outside the agreed channel, skip a test payment, or move to a personal account.

Practical controls, as general practice rather than a rule: deal only with a counterparty the board has approved; verify payment details out of band; use accounts in the company's name only; send a small test where the design allows; wait for adequate bitcoin confirmations before releasing value; and stop if anyone asks you to bypass dual control. See scams aimed at companies and sending bitcoin safely.

The limits of escrow

Escrow means a third party or a multi-party script holds value until agreed conditions are met. It can reduce the chance that one side absconds after the other has paid. It does not remove risk:

• An escrow agent can be compromised, insolvent, slow or biased. Read who can release, freeze or seize funds, and under which law.
• A multisignature escrow still needs clear rules for who holds which keys, what happens on dispute, and how timeouts work. A timeout that lets one key spend alone recreates a single point of control. We do not recommend single-signature arrangements for company treasury funds.
• Escrow does not prove the fiat payment is final, or that the bitcoin was not obtained through fraud.
• A business that provides escrow or arranges exchanges for others may itself need registration or a licence where it operates. Do not assume a platform label such as escrow or P2P means it is registered. Check the relevant register before relying on it.

The limits of privacy

P2P is sometimes described as private. For a company that is usually the wrong framing in both countries:

• Bitcoin amounts and addresses appear on a public ledger. Counterparties, banks, accountants and investigators can often link flows when fiat and on-chain records are combined.
• Company law and tax record keeping still apply. Hiding a trade from the company's own books is not a privacy feature; it is a control failure.
• Banks and regulated cryptoasset firms still apply customer due diligence when pounds or dollars move through them. A P2P bitcoin leg does not remove source of funds questions on the fiat leg.
• Tools that mix or obscure coin history create their own banking, tax and reputational problems for a company treasury. This site does not treat them as a normal treasury control.

Country rules differ on registration, tax forms, payment rails and sanctions screening. Choose your country.

UK: own treasury versus a service for others

Keep two situations apart:

• The company buys or sells its own bitcoin for its treasury, using its own funds and its own keys or custodian. On the FCA's published perimeter for own account investing, that is not, by itself, the same as offering cryptoasset services to others. See also our UK regime page on holding your own bitcoin.
• The company exchanges, arranges exchanges, or holds keys for other people by way of business in the UK. Regulation 14A of the Money Laundering Regulations defines a cryptoasset exchange provider to include "exchanging, or arranging or making arrangements with a view to the exchange of, cryptoassets for money or money for cryptoassets" (and related services). The FCA expressly lists peer-to-peer providers in that scope. Those businesses must register with the FCA before they start.

Source: legislation.gov.uk: Money Laundering Regulations 2017, regulation 14A: cryptoasset exchange providers, FCA: Cryptoassets: who needs to register (updated 4 November 2026), FCA: Cryptoassets: AML / CTF regime.

The FCA says it looks at commercial element, commercial benefit, relevance to other business, and regularity or frequency when deciding whether activity is by way of business. In the FCA's words, "Peer-to-peer transactions carried out on a personal basis do not require FCA registration." Anyone doing the activity by way of business in the UK does. As of the FCA's September 2026 enforcement note, there were "no solely FCA-registered peer-to-peer crypto businesses operating in the UK", though a small number of registered firms carry on P2P activity as part of a broader range of registered activities.

Source: FCA: FCA and partners continues crackdown on illegal crypto trading (17 September 2026), FCA: FCA leads first crackdown on illegal crypto trading (updated 18 May 2026).

UK: payment reversals

Confirmed bitcoin transactions are not reversed by a bank or card scheme. Fiat payments often can be delayed, recalled, disputed or reimbursed under separate rules. That mismatch is a core P2P risk:

• If the company buys bitcoin and pays first, it can lose the pounds and receive nothing.
• If the company sells bitcoin and delivers first, a later fiat recall or fraud claim can leave it without the pounds and without the bitcoin.

Authorised push payment (APP) fraud reimbursement rules apply to eligible Faster Payments and CHAPS payments. The Payment Systems Regulator says the protections apply to individuals, microenterprises and charities, with stated limits and exceptions (including a maximum level described as £85,000 in the consolidated policy). Civil disputes are treated differently from APP fraud. The rules do not apply to payments that take place across other payment systems in the way the PSR describes, including examples that move value into cryptocurrency after a bank transfer. Exact coverage for a particular company payment depends on the facts.

Source: Payment Systems Regulator: APP fraud reimbursement protections, Payment Systems Regulator: PS25/5: APP scams reimbursement requirement, consolidated policy statement (May 2025, PDF).

UK: business records

HMRC's CRYPTO manual puts the onus on the taxpayer to keep records of each cryptoasset transaction. Exchanges may keep records only for a short time or may cease to exist. For a P2P trade there may be no exchange file at all. As a practical minimum, keep the type of cryptoasset, date, whether bought or sold, number of units, value in pounds sterling at the transaction date, the valuation method applied consistently, bank statements, wallet addresses and blockchain transaction identifiers, plus counterparty details and dual control approval.

Source: HMRC: CRYPTO10400: Introduction to cryptoassets, record keeping, HMRC: CRYPTO40100: Conversion to sterling and accountancy.

HMRC does not treat cryptoassets as money or currency. For a company, profits and gains fall within Corporation Tax under the trading, loan relationship, intangible fixed asset or chargeable gains rules, depending on the facts and the accounting. Whether repeated P2P activity is a trade is a separate question addressed in CRYPTO40150.

Source: HMRC: CRYPTO41050: Corporation Tax on cryptoassets for businesses, introduction, HMRC: CRYPTO40150: Is the business trading in cryptoassets?.

See company tax on bitcoin and the accountant's corner.

UK: source of funds and when a registered provider may be simpler

Even when no exchange account is opened, pounds usually still move through a bank. Build a source of funds pack before large settlements: board authority, counterparty identity, trade confirmation, wallet evidence and the sterling trail. See banking and source of funds. If the counterparty is itself a UK cryptoasset exchange provider or custodian wallet provider, check registration on the FCA register. Registration is not a recommendation or endorsement.

Source: FCA: Firm Checker, FCA: Financial Services Register, FCA: Cryptoassets: AML and CTF regime (registration, no FSCS or Ombudsman cover).

For many small UK companies, an FCA-registered exchange, broker or OTC desk is operationally simpler than P2P, even when fees look higher: one onboarding process, exportable statements, clearer answers for the bank and the accountant, and withdrawal workflows that match a company multisig process. Do not choose P2P in order to avoid company checks.

US: own account versus money transmitter activity

FinCEN's 2013 and 2019 convertible virtual currency guidance distinguish a user from an exchanger or administrator. A user obtains virtual currency to purchase goods or services, or otherwise for its own purposes. An exchanger is "a person engaged as a business in the exchange of virtual currency for real currency, funds, or other virtual currency". Exchangers and administrators are generally money transmitters under the Bank Secrecy Act unless an exemption applies. Users are not MSBs on those facts alone.

Source: FinCEN: FIN-2019-G001: business models involving convertible virtual currencies (PDF), FinCEN: FIN-2013-G001: persons administering, exchanging or using virtual currencies, 18 March 2013, FinCEN: FIN-2014-R001: virtual currency mining operations (a user for its own purposes is not an MSB).

FinCEN's 2014 mining ruling states that a corporation can be a user when it uses bitcoin solely for its own purposes, including converting it for its own investment, so long as it is not accepting and transmitting value for others. The same ruling warns that transfers to third parties at the behest of counterparties may still be money transmission and need close scrutiny.

Source: FinCEN: FIN-2014-R001: virtual currency mining operations (a user for its own purposes is not an MSB).

If the company advertises as a place for others to buy or sell, takes a fee or spread for arranging other people's trades, holds keys for customers, or operates a matching or escrow service for others, the analysis changes. An MSB generally must register with FinCEN within 180 days of starting business. States add their own money transmitter and virtual currency laws. New York's BitLicense requires a licence for virtual currency business activity involving New York or a New York resident, and exempts merchants and consumers that use virtual currency solely to buy or sell goods or services or for investment purposes. Other states differ. This site has not checked every state.

Source: FinCEN: Money services business definition and registration, FinCEN: MSB Registrant Search, New York DFS: Virtual currency businesses and the BitLicense (23 NYCRR Part 200), Cornell LII: 23 NYCRR 200.3: licence requirement and exemptions.

US: IRS treatment and records

The IRS says that for US tax purposes digital assets are property, not currency. General tax principles for property transactions apply. Every acquisition and disposal needs a US dollar value worked out in a reasonable, consistent way. Corporate returns ask whether the company had digital asset transactions during the year.

Source: IRS: Digital assets (page reviewed or updated 2 September 2026), IRS: Digital assets, IRS: Notice 2014-21: virtual currency is treated as property for federal tax purposes.

When the company sells or otherwise disposes of bitcoin held as a capital asset, capital gain or loss reporting uses Form 8949 and then flows to Schedule D of the corporate return, subject to the form instructions for the year. Keep, for each unit or lot: type of asset, date and time acquired, number of units, dollar fair market value or cost when acquired, wallet or account, and for each disposal the date, dollar amount realised, fees and the units identified.

Source: IRS: About Form 8949, Sales and Other Dispositions of Capital Assets, IRS: Instructions for Form 8949 (2025): digital assets and Forms 1099-DA, IRS: Revenue Procedure 2024-28: allocating unused basis to wallets and accounts (PDF).

Form 1099-DA and P2P counterparties

Brokers that take possession of digital assets sold by customers must report certain dispositions on Form 1099-DA for transactions on or after 1 January 2025, with basis reporting for covered securities phased in for transactions on or after 1 January 2026. The IRS says "the final regulations do not include reporting requirements for brokers commonly known as decentralized or non-custodial brokers that do not take possession of the digital assets being sold or exchanged". A private P2P counterparty that is not acting as a broker usually will not issue Form 1099-DA. Corporations are generally treated as exempt recipients for broker reporting, but the company must still report its gains and losses whether or not any information return arrives.

Source: IRS: Digital assets (page reviewed or updated 2 September 2026), IRS: Instructions for Form 1099-DA (2026): covered securities, basis reporting and exempt recipients, IRS: Understanding your Form 1099-DA, IRS: About Form 1099-DA, Digital Asset Proceeds From Broker Transactions.

See company tax on bitcoin (US) and the accountant's corner.

US: OFAC sanctions screening

US persons are generally prohibited from dealing with sanctioned persons, entities and jurisdictions under OFAC rules. That duty does not disappear because settlement is peer-to-peer or on-chain. OFAC's October 2021 virtual currency industry brochure describes screening practices that include customer and transaction screening against OFAC lists, attention to wallet addresses, IP and other available data, and risk-based controls. The brochure is aimed at virtual currency businesses, but a treasury company that chooses its own P2P counterparties still needs a sanctions answer that counsel has reviewed: who is screened, against which lists, before fiat or bitcoin moves.

Source: US Treasury OFAC: Sanctions compliance guidance for the virtual currency industry (October 2021, PDF), US Treasury OFAC: Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN).

Open point: what screening is proportionate for a non-MSB treasury company that settles occasional P2P trades is fact-specific. This page does not set a programme design.

US: payment-reversal risks

Confirmed bitcoin is not reversed by a card network or bank. Fiat rails differ, which matters when the company buys or sells:

• Card payments: card networks generally allow chargebacks. A company that sells bitcoin and is paid by card can lose the dollars after the bitcoin has left.
• ACH: ACH credits and debits can be returned under Nacha rules in defined windows. Settlement is not instant in the way a confirmed bitcoin transaction is.
• Wires: completed domestic wires are often difficult to recall. Errors and fraud disputes still arise; treat finality as a banking fact to confirm for each rail, not a slogan.
• Instant bank P2P apps (for example Zelle): a July 2024 US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations staff report describes Zelle payments as generally not reversible once sent, in contrast to many ACH payments that institutions can sometimes stop and to card chargeback mechanisms. Authorised scam payments and unauthorised transfers are different legal categories.

Source: Nacha: Limitation on Warranty Claims: return time frames for unauthorised ACH debits, Nacha: Risk Management Topics, 1 October 2024: standard two banking day return period and questionable credits, US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations: Majority staff report on Zelle: A Fast and Easy Way to Lose Your Money (23 July 2024, PDF), CFPB: Ask CFPB: getting money back after an unauthorized transfer or missing funds.

The CFPB explains error-resolution timing for unauthorised electronic fund transfers under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act and Regulation E. That framework is not a general right to unwind every voluntary P2P payment that later looks like a bad bargain. If the company is the seller, a buyer's later bank dispute can still interrupt the dollar side after bitcoin has moved.

Source: CFPB: Ask CFPB: getting money back after an unauthorized transfer or missing funds.

US: banks, source of funds and when a regulated provider may be simpler

US banks apply Bank Secrecy Act customer due diligence, including beneficial ownership rules for legal entity customers when accounts are opened. Expect questions when large or unusual dollars move to or from a P2P counterparty. Keep board authority, counterparty identity, trade confirmation, wallet evidence and the dollar trail together. See banking and source of funds.

Source: eCFR: 31 CFR 1010.230: beneficial ownership requirements for legal entity customers.

For many small US companies, a FinCEN-registered exchange or broker with the state licences that matter is operationally simpler than P2P: written confirms, exportable statements, withdrawal allow lists, and a clearer story for the bank and the accountant. Registration or a BitLicense is still not deposit insurance, and bitcoin at a provider is not covered by FDIC insurance. See rules and insurance.

Source: FDIC: Fact sheet: what the public needs to know about FDIC deposit insurance and crypto companies, SIPC: What SIPC protects (not digital assets that are not securities), FinCEN: MSB Registrant Search.

A practical review record

1. Confirm the company is buying or selling its own bitcoin, not arranging trades or holding assets for others.
2. Record board authority, size limits, approved counterparties and who must jointly approve settlement.
3. Agree in writing the price basis, fees, which side pays first, confirmation depth and what happens on delay or dispute.
4. Verify the counterparty and payment details independently. Prefer company-named accounts only.
5. In the US, record what sanctions screening was done before settlement. In the UK, check FCA registration where the counterparty claims to be a cryptoasset business.
6. If using escrow or a platform, read release and timeout rules and check the relevant register or licence.
7. Complete dual control on the bitcoin leg. Prefer the company 2 of 3 multisig. Do not use single-signature company custody.
8. File sterling or dollar valuation, bank evidence, transaction IDs and approvals with the accounting pack the same day.
9. Tell the bank in advance about unusual size or a new counterparty pattern, using the source of funds pack.

Open points to check with advisers

• UK: whether the company's actual pattern of P2P trades is by way of business under the MLRs, or remains own-account treasury activity; whether frequent buying and selling is a Corporation Tax trade (CRYPTO40150); how APP reimbursement, card chargebacks and receiving-bank recalls apply when the company is buyer or seller on a specific rail; whether a named escrow or matching platform is a registrable UK cryptoasset business.
• US: whether any part of the arrangement is money transmission or a state-licensable virtual currency business, including activity that touches New York or other licensed states; how Form 8949 lot identification and basis allocation apply to coins moved between the company multisig and any broker; what OFAC screening is proportionate for occasional treasury P2P; how ACH returns, card chargebacks, wires and instant P2P apps allocate loss when the company is the bitcoin seller or buyer.

Read next

• Buying bitcoin as a company, providers, checks and the test transaction.
• Selling or rebalancing, policy triggers and tax links.
• Banking and source of funds, the pack banks ask for.
• Scams aimed at companies, patterns that overlap with P2P fraud.
• Company tax on bitcoin, UK and US disposal rules.

Sources

Primary sources only. Each link was checked on 9 November 2026. Rules change, so confirm the current version with your adviser.

1. legislation.gov.ukMoney Laundering Regulations 2017, regulation 14A: cryptoasset exchange providers
2. FCACryptoassets: who needs to register (updated 4 November 2026)
3. FCACryptoassets: AML / CTF regime
4. FCAFCA and partners continues crackdown on illegal crypto trading (17 September 2026)
5. FCAFCA leads first crackdown on illegal crypto trading (updated 18 May 2026)
6. Payment Systems RegulatorAPP fraud reimbursement protections
7. Payment Systems RegulatorPS25/5: APP scams reimbursement requirement, consolidated policy statement (May 2025, PDF)
8. HMRCCRYPTO10400: Introduction to cryptoassets, record keeping
9. HMRCCRYPTO40100: Conversion to sterling and accountancy
10. HMRCCRYPTO41050: Corporation Tax on cryptoassets for businesses, introduction
11. HMRCCRYPTO40150: Is the business trading in cryptoassets?
12. FCAFirm Checker
13. FCAFinancial Services Register
14. FCACryptoassets: AML and CTF regime (registration, no FSCS or Ombudsman cover)
15. FinCENFIN-2019-G001: business models involving convertible virtual currencies (PDF)
16. FinCENFIN-2013-G001: persons administering, exchanging or using virtual currencies, 18 March 2013
17. FinCENFIN-2014-R001: virtual currency mining operations (a user for its own purposes is not an MSB)
18. FinCENMoney services business definition and registration
19. FinCENMSB Registrant Search
20. New York DFSVirtual currency businesses and the BitLicense (23 NYCRR Part 200)
21. Cornell LII23 NYCRR 200.3: licence requirement and exemptions
22. IRSDigital assets (page reviewed or updated 2 September 2026)
23. IRSDigital assets
24. IRSNotice 2014-21: virtual currency is treated as property for federal tax purposes
25. IRSAbout Form 8949, Sales and Other Dispositions of Capital Assets
26. IRSInstructions for Form 8949 (2025): digital assets and Forms 1099-DA
27. IRSRevenue Procedure 2024-28: allocating unused basis to wallets and accounts (PDF)
28. IRSInstructions for Form 1099-DA (2026): covered securities, basis reporting and exempt recipients
29. IRSUnderstanding your Form 1099-DA
30. IRSAbout Form 1099-DA, Digital Asset Proceeds From Broker Transactions
31. US Treasury OFACSanctions compliance guidance for the virtual currency industry (October 2021, PDF)
32. US Treasury OFACSpecially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN)
33. NachaLimitation on Warranty Claims: return time frames for unauthorised ACH debits
34. NachaRisk Management Topics, 1 October 2024: standard two banking day return period and questionable credits
35. US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on InvestigationsMajority staff report on Zelle: A Fast and Easy Way to Lose Your Money (23 July 2024, PDF)
36. CFPBAsk CFPB: getting money back after an unauthorized transfer or missing funds
37. eCFR31 CFR 1010.230: beneficial ownership requirements for legal entity customers
38. FDICFact sheet: what the public needs to know about FDIC deposit insurance and crypto companies
39. SIPCWhat SIPC protects (not digital assets that are not securities)
40. FCACryptoassets: who needs to register (updated 4 November 2026)
41. FCACryptoassets: AML / CTF regime
42. legislation.gov.ukMoney Laundering Regulations 2017, regulation 14A: cryptoasset exchange providers
43. FCAFCA and partners continues crackdown on illegal crypto trading (17 September 2026)
44. FCAFCA leads first crackdown on illegal crypto trading (updated 18 May 2026)
45. FCAFirm Checker
46. HMRCCRYPTO10400: Introduction to cryptoassets, record keeping
47. HMRCCRYPTO40100: Conversion to sterling and accountancy
48. HMRCCRYPTO41050: Corporation Tax on cryptoassets for businesses, introduction
49. HMRCCRYPTO40150: Is the business trading in cryptoassets?
50. Payment Systems RegulatorAPP fraud reimbursement protections
51. Payment Systems RegulatorPS25/5: APP scams reimbursement requirement, consolidated policy statement (May 2025, PDF)
52. US Treasury OFACSanctions compliance guidance for the virtual currency industry (October 2021, PDF)
53. US Treasury OFACSpecially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN)
54. IRSDigital assets (page reviewed or updated 2 September 2026)
55. IRSAbout Form 8949, Sales and Other Dispositions of Capital Assets
56. IRSInstructions for Form 8949 (2025): digital assets and Forms 1099-DA
57. CFPBAsk CFPB: getting money back after an unauthorized transfer or missing funds
58. US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on InvestigationsMajority staff report on Zelle: A Fast and Easy Way to Lose Your Money (23 July 2024, PDF)
59. NachaLimitation on Warranty Claims: return time frames for unauthorised ACH debits
60. FCAFinancial Services Register
61. FCACryptoassets: AML and CTF regime (registration, no FSCS or Ombudsman cover)
62. GOV.UKRunning a limited company: company and accounting records
63. legislation.gov.ukCompanies Act 2006, section 388: where and for how long records to be kept