P2P glossary

The terms you'll see across OpenRate, in plain English.

P2P

Peer-to-peer trading: buying/selling crypto directly with another person, with the exchange holding crypto in escrow until fiat payment is confirmed.

Premium

How much higher the local P2P price is versus the global spot rate — the cost of getting fiat in/out of crypto in that market.

Spread

The gap between the best buy price and the best sell price. A wider spread means a costlier round-trip.

Escrow

The exchange locks the seller's crypto until the buyer's fiat payment is confirmed, protecting both sides.

Maker / Taker

A maker posts an ad (offer); a taker accepts an existing ad. On most P2P venues takers pay no fee.

Merchant

A verified high-volume advertiser. Higher completion rates and order counts signal reliability.

TDS

Tax Deducted at Source — India withholds 1% of each crypto trade's value at the point of transfer.

Settlement address

The on-chain account a card program uses to settle spend; tracking it lets us measure real card volume.

Stablecoin

A token pegged to a fiat currency (e.g. USDT/USDC ≈ $1), used as a dollar proxy and a P2P-to-fiat rail.

Off-ramp

Converting crypto back to local fiat — via P2P, an exchange, or a card/neobank.