# SideSwap review: KYC policy, privacy and safety grades

> SideSwap is a P2P exchange operating since 2021. Its terms put it at KYC level 1 of 4: no ID mentioned. NoKYC Score grades it 7.7/10 for privacy (strong) and 8.0/10 for safety (strong). In its favour: no account needed, no email needed and no phone number. No incidents are on record.

Source: NoKYC Score, "SideSwap review", reviewed 23 Oct 2026, https://nokycscore.com/service/sideswap

## Key facts
- **Category:** P2P Exchanges
- **KYC level:** 1 of 4: No ID mentioned
- **Grades:** Privacy 7.7/10, Safety 8.0/10
- **Sign-up:** No account needed
- **Custody:** non-custodial
- **Fees:** Peg-in and peg-out 0.1% plus network fee; Swap Market 0.2% for the taker (minimum 500 sats), 0% for the maker
- **Limits:** Swap Market order minimum 0.00002 L-BTC; peg-ins need 2 to 103 confirmations depending on size and hot-wallet balance
- **Incidents on record:** 0
- **Last reviewed:** 23 Oct 2026
- **Official website:** https://sideswap.io

## What it is
SideSwap is a non-custodial wallet and trading venue for the Liquid Network, the Bitcoin sidechain. Its Swap Market is a central limit order book where every trade settles as an atomic swap between two users' own UTXOs, so there is no custodian; the site says trading is non-custodial and registration free. It also runs peg-in and peg-out between Bitcoin and L-BTC, paying peg-ins from its own hot wallet. The FAQ says the project launched in early 2021, is a Liquid Federation member and believes KYC/AML should happen at the asset level, not the exchange level. Security tokens (AMP assets) can only be transferred with the issuer's permission. The privacy policy names SideSwap Limited as the app publisher and says the app uses Google Firebase analytics and crash reporting.

## What the terms say about ID
No identity requirement appears in the FAQ or privacy policy; the site states trading is "non-custodial and registration free". Issuers of AMP security tokens can restrict who may hold them.

## Features and warnings
- **Identity:** ID never required: not stated; No account needed: yes; No email needed: yes; No phone number: yes
- **Payment:** Accepts Monero: not stated; Accepts Lightning: not stated; Accepts cash: not stated
- **Access:** Tor onion address: not stated; Works without JavaScript: not stated
- **Trust:** Never holds your funds: yes; Refund without ID: not stated; Escrow it cannot spend alone: not stated; Open source: yes; Independent audit: not stated; Company named: not stated; 5+ years operating: yes
- **Warnings:** May ask for ID: not in terms; Screens deposits: not in terms; Holds your funds: not in terms; Email required: not in terms; Phone number required: not in terms; Closed source: not in terms; Nobody accountable: not in terms

## Questions
### Does SideSwap require KYC?
SideSwap is rated KYC level 1 of 4 on this site: no ID mentioned. No identity requirement appears in the FAQ or privacy policy; the site states trading is "non-custodial and registration free". Issuers of AMP security tokens can restrict who may hold them.

### Is SideSwap safe to use?
SideSwap has a Safety grade of 8.0 out of 10 and a Privacy grade of 7.7 out of 10. No incidents are on record. Evidence level: documentation reviewed.

### Is SideSwap legit?
SideSwap is a working P2P exchange that has operated since 2021. Being real is not the same as being safe: its Safety grade here is 8.0 out of 10, built from custody, liquidity, track record and incidents.

### Is SideSwap a scam?
NoKYC Score does not label services as scams; it records documented incidents with their sources and outcomes. No incidents are on record for SideSwap.

### Do I need an account or email to use SideSwap?
No account needed.

### What fees does SideSwap charge?
Peg-in and peg-out 0.1% plus network fee; Swap Market 0.2% for the taker (minimum 500 sats), 0% for the maker. Fees were recorded from SideSwap's own pages and can change; check before you send.

### What are SideSwap's limits?
Swap Market order minimum 0.00002 L-BTC; peg-ins need 2 to 103 confirmations depending on size and hot-wallet balance.

### Does SideSwap have a Tor onion address?
No official onion address was found on SideSwap's own pages.

### Which cryptocurrencies does SideSwap support?
SideSwap supports BTC, L-BTC.

### Is SideSwap custodial?
No. SideSwap is non-custodial: the operator does not control user funds.

### Can I use SideSwap over Tor?
SideSwap does not publish an official onion address.

## Sources
- https://sideswap.io
- https://sideswap.io/faq/fees/
- https://sideswap.io/faq/side-swap/
- https://sideswap.io/faq/peg-in-out/
- https://sideswap.io/faq/swap-market/
- https://sideswap.io/privacy-policy/
- https://github.com/sideswap-io/sideswapclient

How grades are calculated: https://nokycscore.com/methodology