Vexl: The Next Generation Bitcoin P2P Trading App

Company Name: Vexl

Founders: Lea Petrášová, Marek Palatinus and Pavol Rusnak

Date Founded: June 2022

Location of Headquarters: Prague, Czech Republic

Amount of Bitcoin Held in Treasury: The majority of the treasury is bitcoin

Number of Employees: 5 full-time employees and 5 part-time employees/volunteers

Website: https://vexl.it/

Public or Private? Private

Lea Petrášová is a cypherpunk at heart with over 10 years of experience in the world of software development.

This made her a perfect candidate to help create Vexl, an open-source app that enables users to conduct private peer-to-peer bitcoin transactions in a relatively easy manner.

With Vexl, Petrášová and the team from SatoshiLabs (well-known for creating Trezor hardware wallets) created what Petrášová terms a “social network” that connects buyers and sellers of bitcoin via the contacts in their phone as well as the contacts of their contacts. What is more, the communication between users is private, and Vexl doesn’t charge for the service it provides.

Petrášová and the team at Vexl are on a mission to enable people to use Bitcoin the way it was intended to be used — without KYC, privately and without third-party intermediaries involved in the process.

We spoke with Petrášová to get more details on Vexl’s mission.

Frank Corva: Please tell us about Vexl’s mission.

Lea Petrášová: We believe that without the freedom to transact, we have no other rights. Bitcoin gives us the ultimate entry ticket to a financial system that is not inherently exploitative and oppressive.

However, for it to serve this purpose, it cannot be tied to one's identity. We provide our users with an option to buy or sell bitcoin peer-to-peer without KYC, in a way that is not only private, but also accessible, user-friendly, and secure.

Corva: What were you doing before Vexl?

Petrášová: I used to be a project manager for a small venture fund that also operated as a software house. In 2018, I launched a spin-off focused exclusively on web3 development, particularly in DeFi. While the projects were academically interesting, after selling the company, I realized I wanted to dedicate my time and energy solely to Bitcoin.

Corva: How did the idea for Vexl come about and how did you get involved?

Petrášová: This idea had actually been brewing in Slush's (co-founder of SatoshiLabs, Trezor, Vexl) mind for a few years. As one of the industry's OGs, he anticipated the regulations long before they came into effect.

When he found out I had recently wrapped up my previous job, he reached out and pitched what would later become Vexl, essentially offering me the opportunity to take on the executive management of the project. I didn’t hesitate for a second.

Corva: Vexl seems to embrace much of the bitcoin ethos. It’s an app that allows for peer-to-peer trading, it doesn’t require much KYC and it’s open-source. Why was it important for you to design it this way?

Petrášová: We're not just Bitcoiners; we're also cypherpunks and activists.

When we came up with Vexl, we were solving our own problem: how to buy or sell Bitcoin without KYC, outrageous fees, or significant security and safety risks.

We couldn't design a product we wouldn't be willing to use ourselves. There was never any debate about the nature of the software—we knew from day one it had to be open source, KYC-free, and peer-to-peer.

However, we spent a lot of time researching and balancing the "trilemma" of usability, security, and privacy.

Corva: What has it been like to work with Pavol Rusnák, a legend in the bitcoin/crypto wallet space?

Petrášová: Humbling. He’s the kind of thinker you can ask any question, and he’ll respond with an original answer. The range of his knowledge and interests is deeply impressive. Yet, he approaches people and projects with kindness, respect, and most importantly, a great sense of humor. He’s truly inspiring.

Corva: You don’t plan to monetize Vexl. Why?

Petrášová: We strongly believe in the importance of our mission and are committed to making it as accessible as possible.

Corva: How will Vexl continue to exist if you don’t monetize it?

Petrášová: We rely directly on donations and grants. I have deep gratitude and mad respect for everyone who has helped us make Vexl a success. But thanks to open source, if, for any reason, we were to fail, I want to believe that someone else would pick up where we left off and keep things moving forward.

Corva: Vexl is essentially a messaging app, something that connects buyers and sellers to transact between themselves much like LocalBitcoins did. Why did you create something like this right now?

Petrášová: Because we clearly saw the need. Think about it — Bitcoin is currently the 6th largest monetary asset, aspiring to become a global, universal store of value.

Governments, through various third parties and financial institutions, can create registries of bitcoin holders. These individuals could then be censored, prosecuted, taxed, and have their ownership controlled, compromised, or even outlawed.

Knowing the identities of Bitcoin users weakens Bitcoin's ability to function as a store of value independent of state power. That was the first part of our motivation.

The second part of our motivation was much more practical: Every time I orange-pilled someone and didn’t want to send them to an exchange, I didn’t have a good alternative. My options were either selling them my own bitcoin or going through a lengthy search to find someone else who could.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of platforms like LocalBitcoins. But as someone who has never bought bitcoin with KYC or registered on an exchange, I know firsthand the limitations that come with options like this.

Corva: How does Vexl differ from other P2P apps like Hodl Hodl, Bisq and Peach Bitcoin?

Petrášová: Well, first of all, we’re a non-profit, so we operate in a completely different space. I don’t see other solutions out there as competing, rather view them as complementary.

The real innovation that Vexl introduces is our unique reputation model. On our marketplace, you can only view anonymized offers from your contacts and their contacts. Until both parties decide to reveal their identities, you don’t know who the other person is, but you can always see how many mutual contacts you share and who those people are, and eventually ask them for a reference.

This allows you to better assess the individual risk of the counterparty, which is nearly impossible when you're connecting two strangers from opposite sides of the world — not to mention, it can be downright dangerous if you're using a fiat wire transfer for settlement.

If you really think about it, we managed to bring a real-world reputation into an app. And this social aspect — human interactions and experience — can’t be replaced by any technology. That’s why on Vexl there is no escrow, no fees, and no need to already have bitcoin in order to join.

Lastly, I’m particularly proud of our user experience. While creating Vexl, I kept asking myself, "Could my aunt use this without a hitch?" That mindset shaped our UI, and I believe it’s far more user-friendly than anything else out there.

Corva: Why does Vexl not push to decentralize its backend?

Petrášová: We’re a non-profit with very lean operations. In a team as small as ours, we have to think twice when choosing what to prioritize.

While decentralizing the backend is something we’ll focus on in the future, right now our backlog is full of more pressing app improvements.

What’s great is that Vexl is already politically decentralized. Anyone who doesn’t want to rely on my decisions can simply take the code and alter it however they see fit.

Corva: Why does Vexl ask for phone numbers?

Petrášová: If you zoom out, you’ll see that Vexl is, ultimately, a social network. Anyone who has ever tried to build one from scratch will agree that it’s an incredibly difficult task. So, we chose a different route: Why not build on top of an existing network? But then came an even bigger question: Which one?

We also wanted something that’s not going away anytime soon and that’s widely adopted across the world.

The answer was clear to us: using phone numbers and contact lists. From there we just had to find a way to use them while still keeping them private and secure.

Corva: Do you ever see mass adoption of Vexl or do you think the average person will find going to a regulated exchange like Kraken more convenient?

Petrášová: Sometimes I get asked what my biggest apprehension is as the CEO of a Bitcoin company, and my answer is always “ignorance.” People often don’t care about financial freedom until it’s too late.

That being said, nothing is better marketing for us than the current financial system becoming more and more unbearably unusable and commerce becoming increasingly permissioned. From this perspective, it would be a beautiful world if tools like Vexl became obsolete.

But Vexl has been invented, and it cannot be uninvented. Maybe it will be used for peer-to-peer bitcoin transactions. Or it might be used in the gig economy or to pay for goods in bitcoin.

Ever since we introduced categories in the marketplace, we’ve seen circular economies booming. I’m building Vexl for everyone who has the courage to claim their financial sovereignty — even if it only serves a small community of users.

Corva: Where are you seeing the most adoption for the app thus far? Why do you think people in these regions are adopting it?

Petrášová: Most of our users are from the Czech Republic and Slovakia. I think the success has a lot to do with the history of these countries and their economic isolation during communist times. There is a long tradition of people hedging against oppression with stronger currencies and participating in the gray economy. Additionally, the support of SatoshiLabs definitely helped us a lot during the launch, especially in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, where SatoshiLabs is well-known and respected.

We also see significant growth in Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and the UK, mostly scaling through meetups. In recent months, I am really thrilled to see local Vexl initiatives thrive in African countries, as well.

Corva: What’s next for Vexl?

Petrášová: Over the course of the summer, we managed to successfully rewrite our backend, which had been a major hurdle for future development. This opened up the opportunity for us to introduce a wide variety of improvements to the social network that we had on our roadmap for a long time.

Another major focus is providing education about the importance of non-KYC Bitcoin. It’s disturbingly common that users don’t realize the true cost they pay for comfort or convenience when giving up their personal data on financial institutions.