in the US, the government seems to have completely scared the localbitcoins market into compliance. my old cash trading connects have disappeared and everyone is demanding ID now.
LocalBitcoins has lost a significant amount of popularity due to the legal requirements, which is sad to see. If we discard the hype traffic of last year during the peak, and look the metrics, the net loss is 50%.
It was to be expected though. LocalBitcoins has been operating successfully for quite some time in a relatively free manner. It was just a matter of time before authorities would step in.
Hasn't there been a decentralized or less restrictive alternative that popped up to benefit from the gap left behind by LocalBitcoins? Usually these things happen quickly after a major competitor is losing market share.