About 6 months ago I created https://orangefren.com/
Also available at http://rnwis2whetqcj4oknksnc5l24jbh33nflunifff3xtjjonnoxu3ld6id.onion/

OrangeFren.com lets you quickly compare the rates among instant, KYC-free, exchanges trading Bitcoin (including on Lightining), Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin, Monero, USDC and USDT.

The comparison takes into account the amount you're willing to trade and (by default) your region.

At this point the site queries about a half a dozen exchanges, none of which require a sign up.

For trades from Bitcoin into Monero the site also shows atomic swaps when their rate is better than that of instant exchanges.

We also partnered up with some of our best exchanges to offer the OrangeFren Guarantee - a security deposit provided to us by the exchanges to compensate our users in cases of disputes with the exchanges.

The specifics vary depending on the exchange, but the most common points include compensation to the user if an exchange runs off with their money, doesn't respond to their messages, lies about the previewed exchange rate or when the user is asked to answer KYC or SoF questions and passes the verification.

You can also use our service through our Telegram bot: https://orangefren.com/bot/telegram It has the same functionality as OrangeFren.com with the added ability to request price alerts delivered through a DM straight to your inbox.

If you'd like to follow our project we're most active on Reddit as u/OrangeFren.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts and feedback!

Quote from: examplens on April 12, 2026, 07:51:48 AM

Dude, the domain is only 5 days old, how do you expect to be listed right away with some other reputable services that have been proven and have been operating for a long time. It is necessary for your service to be operational for a while, for real people who have used your service to appear and give feedback.

More than fair, we just responded about the Monerica comment. Which is false and the admin acts like a tyrant instead of trying to resolve the issues he has with us. Monerica has many scams listed as admitted, however we got a label for absolute no reason. If you would read the email chain with him, you will be socked how he responds.

I give you an example; Leave a review on Monerica, if you ever used our card. I guarantee he will label it suspicious.

Paraguay

Some of our users have been interested in Paraguay, either to move their tax residency there, move there physically, or to invest in real estate there. Often this was done, because of the 0 income and capital gains taxes and Paraguay being outside of CRS.

Over the years we've directed those users to different agencies to handle those needs. Today I'm happy to share we've partnered with another that I think is considerably more attractive in terms of the value you get compared to the price you pay. They are also more professional.

Our previous experiments included the most popular company handling doing those services for the cryptobros of the world, however they charge between $5-6k. We've also experimented with an option for $1.8k which offers the same end result, but requires two trips to the country. The people in the country speak no English and the notary they use has a bucket instead of plumbing (yes, really!).

Our new partner comes in the middle in terms of price at $2.9k, requires only one visit, and offers a service which is considerably more premium than that of the most popular brand. For instance they pick you up from the airport, something none of the others provide. They can also handle just about all the needs you might have in that country whether it's residency, real-estate, real-estate management, networking, etc.

If you any of you are interested feel free to reach out to us and we'll point you in the right way

Note that Paraguay is certainly not for everyone, it's a poor country, the weather is hot and humid, it's far away for most people, but there are little islands of quality life there that some people find attractive. I don't recommend everyone try it, but if you want to then, after years of hearing your stories, we've found the best partner there.

The office of that budget notary



MoneroKon 2026 Call-for-Papers FINAL reminder

Reminder regarding this year's MoneroKon 2026 organised by our team from OrangeFren.com

The deadline to submit your presentations, panels, workshops and artworks to present at MoneroKon 2026 is Friday the 24th.

Link to submit your work:
cfp.twed.org/mk6/cfp

Presentations can be done remotely and you can request a scholarship of up $500 to make the journey.



Real estate in Paraguay

If any of you would be interested in getting an apartment in Paraguay, usually bought as investments with around 8% annual ROI, here's what 40k buys you in that country. And yes, they can be bought remotely using Bitcoin, Monero or stables.









For both real-estate and residency in Paraguay reach out to: TheParaguayResidency.com and tell them you're a user of OrangeFren.com to get the best price

Quote from: dkbit98 on April 23, 2026, 01:58:49 PM

I was doing research for some time about moving to other countries outside Europe or North America,
and Paraguay sounds interesting, but I recently heard they are probably ending residency program this year.
I am not 100% sure this is true, but their government certainly made significant changes this year, especially for permanent residency.

They are not ending their residency, they just changed the rules a bit. For temporary residency you must visit no less than once every 365 days. Then after 2 years you can get permanent residency.

You can also get permanent residency immediately through investment.

Whichever path you pick it might make sense to have some properties in the country so that you have a financial setup independent from those in other countries.

PSA: eCash - How you'll lose your life's savings

Mr. Paul Sztorc announced that he will be launching a Bitcoin hard fork in 4 months. This new chain will be called eCash. Crucially it will launch without replay protection! Here's what this means if you're not careful:

Let's teleport to September. The late summer breeze runs over your face. You notice the days are getting shorter. Some leaves begin to turn yellow. You put on a hoodie and observe the seasons change. Then you remember! Wasn't there some Bitcoin fork that just happened? You check your phone and yes, yesterday you only had Bitcoin, today you have Bitcoin and eCash. Same amount, same addresses. "Oh well" you think. "I don't care for the drivechains. I'd rather get more Bitcoin". Wise choice (probably).
So you find a guy who tells you if you send him your eCash he'll swap it for BTC for you. No KYC even . How sweet! He sends you his eCash address. You open your newly installed eCash wallet, paste his address, select to send over the full amount, tap Sign, tap Broadcast. Done!
The guy stops responding. You nudge him, but there's radio silence. Huh. "Well, who cares to be honest. He just stole some nearly worthless eCash from you". A few hours go by... you open your Bitcoin wallet. Balance: 0.00000000 BTC. "That's weird" - you think.
At this point it is already too late. You have lost everything.

What happened to your BTC? You sent it to the guy doing the swap.
When? When you sent him the eCash. Without replay protection the transactions on BTC and on eCash don't just look the same, they are the same transaction. The transaction you just signed and broadcast was valid on both chains. The address you sent to belonged to that guy, again, on both chains. This transaction was now mined on both chains.

How can you protect yourself from this?

Option #1
Easiest solution is to just ignore the fork. Keep using Bitcoin just like you always did, don't bother to sell the eCash.

Option #2
Wait for Mr. Sztorc to release the "coin-splitter tool", once that comes out use it to send your eCash to a new address that you control. Verify that your BTC didn't move, only the eCash. Go to OrangeFren.com, find an exchange you like, send them your eCash and receive the BTC, XMR, whatever you feel like

Since this warning Paul Sztorc clarified that the eCash wallet will ship with a coin-splittinger tool and the default will be to migrate to a new tx type which is non-replayable. Nonetheless the old addresses and txs will continue to be usable thus the risk will still be present.

Promo code tool

We're happy to announce that today we're releasing a tool which allows you to generate promo codes for some of the services we list. New codes are generated every hour. The tool is available on the homepage of OrangeFren.com

The codes work with our links allowing you to, for instance, not only use Exolix without worrying about KYC thanks to our deal with them, but also to get a discount on their fee



Partnership with Match Systems

Previously users who had their crypto stolen often approached us asking for help. Unfortunately we were only able to help out by helping them to reach out to the exchanges we list.

That's why today, we're happy to share we partnered with Match Systems. They are a leading crypto recovery firm. They're available 24/7 and offer a free consult.

They only assist in cases of theft and other crime, not in situations wherein you lost some of your seed words. But they can help in cases of Tether freezing your USDT.

Check them out here: link

TalkImg sponsorship

We're happy to share that OrangeFren.com is sponsoring TalkImg.com once again

Quote from: OrangeFren on April 23, 2026, 03:26:35 PM

Mr. Paul Sztorc announced that he will be launching a Bitcoin hard fork in 4 months. This new chain will be called eCash. Crucially it will launch without replay protection! Here's what this means if you're not careful:

I've seen this one before: eCash was a fork out of BCH, which forked out of BTC. So someone's trying to make himself rich again with the same name and the same lack of replay protection.

Quote

Option #2
Wait for Mr. Sztorc to release the "coin-splitter tool", once that comes out use it to send your eCash to a new address that you control. Verify that your BTC didn't move, only the eCash.

This is very bad advice: never touch any Forkcoin software before moving your Bitcoin to safety! You shouldn't even install it on your normal system: just don't trust it! If you want to force replay protection, get some Bitcoin dust that doesn't exist on the Fork chain (for instance from a block mined after the Fork date), and include it as input. There's no need to risk your Bitcoin for some Forkcoin.

Quote from: dkbit98 on May 12, 2026, 08:26:29 PM

RIP lightning network.

Our own Lightning node is actually much less popular than it previously was. Fewer people are buying channels and fewer are routing through us than, say, a year ago.

MWEB warning
It appears the AML score provider for at least one of the exchanges we list on OrangeFren.com considers ALL outputs from Litecoin's MWEB to be criminal.

This is, naturally, insane. We are working on educating them about what sidechains are.

In the meantime, please be extra cautious in using Litecoin that has MWEB in its past.

Quote from: examplens on May 14, 2026, 10:17:17 AM

Do you have a list of guarantee amounts somewhere where it can be seen up to which amount it is possible to request a refund through the OF guarantee? It used to be indicated at every exchanger, but I don't see it anymore.

Also, is this online, or am I doing something wrong?
http://h74rtjzibohtgaehqyvy3cquqrsgn3pyxxqzwiw3u7mxal6n66ra.b32.i2p/

You can see the amounts in the table on the homepage of OrangeFren.com  

I'll check the I2P eepsite. I must admit I hardly ever use it.

Quote from: OrangeFren on May 13, 2026, 07:14:44 PM

MWEB warning

OrangeFren.com saves the day ( again )

FixedFloat froze a user's swap after he deposited LTC that passed through MWEB. FF and their supplier insisted the user must at least undergo KYC. We intervened, talked to FF and their supplier. The user's LTC was refunded and no KYC was required

The entire situation took up almost a whole week. The issue was reported on Sunday and resolved only Friday evening

This case is yet another instance of when our user can benefit from better treatment thanks to our long relationships with exchanges and AML providers.

Quote from: examplens on May 20, 2026, 09:11:04 AM

OK, now I noticed this "partially" (39%) protected. Also, next to the FF name, there is a guarantee worth $23k.
What does both 39% mean?
No matter what the amount is, you will ultimately only get a refund of 39%, even if the full amount in case is significantly less than this $23k guaranteed?

No, that's simply because I did some random huge value for the search and $23k was only 39% of it

RetoSwap warning

Almost 7000 XMR ($2.7M) is now believed to have been stolen from RetoSwap users in a recent exploit.

An attacker was both a counterparty and the mediator in large RetoSwap trades. This allowed him to steal $2.7 million by controlling 2 of the 3 keys.

In response trading was halted on this "decentralised" platform.

Following our reporting of the RetoSwap exploit OrangeFren.com has been targeted by DDoS attacks. We have now recovered and are available again.

Quote from: dkbit98 on May 21, 2026, 07:58:18 PM

RetoSwap is Bisq fork right?
I think Bisq exchange was also exploited recently, but amount was much smaller, and I don't know if this cases are connected.
When RetoSwap first started I remember hearing people criticizing their security models with keys.

Yep...

Services that halted swaps in the past:
❌ Bisq
❌ THORChain
❌ RetoSwap
❌ Wagyu
❌ and yes the swappers we list on OrangeFren.com

Services that CANNOT halt swaps:
✅ BasicSwap
✅ eigenwallet
✅ RoboSats

MoneroKon ticket giveaway

🎁GIVEAWAY! 🎊

As the organiser of this year's MoneroKon we're giving away 1⃣ ticket for the conference.

You can participate on Twitter: https://x.com/OrangeFren/status/2057800865587626253

Quote from: examplens on May 29, 2026, 10:03:06 PM

Quote from: BitSwapNow on May 28, 2026, 10:16:20 PM

How do you find the GPT Cyber? I was thinking of signing up for it also. In another note would it be possible to add my service https://bitswapnow.com to your site? Thanks!

As far as I know, it's a Changenow reseller.
I'm not sure how productive it is to have a CN reseller if it's also Changenow listed. You can't offer much new, except for additional complications in case there is a need to contact support

That's true. If a service only resells another it's value to our users, and its rates, won't be particularly good.

Our SimpleX group is an increasingly popular venue for people to argue with each other
Join here: link, and argue with frens

Exolix exploit warning

It was recently revealed by Rastersec that they have found a way to obtain all the records for all the swaps done using some integrations of Exolix.

Swaps done via OrangeFren.com, Intercambio.app or the Intercambio SimpleX bot are NOT affected.

However if you swapped via Edge wallet, Exodus, Monerujo, etc. then info about your swaps is freely available and you should assume has been compromised.

Link: https://www.rastersec.com/blog/exolix-swapper-dump

Quote from: examplens on June 05, 2026, 11:57:27 AM

Quote from: LoyceV on June 03, 2026, 01:32:31 PM

Quote from: OrangeFren on August 12, 2022, 01:40:36 PM

We also partnered up with some of our best exchanges to offer the OrangeFren Guarantee - a security deposit provided to us by the exchanges to compensate our users in cases of disputes with the exchanges.

Question (some other case got me wondering): what if someone makes a trade, say this one:
Code:Your trade is partially (45%) protected against this service scamming you.In this hypothetical scenario, he gets scammed by the exchanger, and the exchanger that pulled the exit scam makes more victims who also claim part of the security deposit. What's the value of that 45% promise in this scenario?

I would like to hear here how the refund would proceed in a hypothetical case with FF. Orangefren code FF has shown $19k as a guarantee ("partially" (39%) protected)
Two users are asking for a refund, User A ~$15k and User B ~$80k
What would be the priority when distributing the refund, and how much influence would it have if some users use the OF affiliate link?

Quote from: OrangeFren on May 20, 2026, 09:12:55 AM

Quote from: examplens on May 20, 2026, 09:11:04 AM

OK, now I noticed this "partially" (39%) protected. Also, next to the FF name, there is a guarantee worth $23k.
What does both 39% mean?
No matter what the amount is, you will ultimately only get a refund of 39%, even if the full amount in case is significantly less than this $23k guaranteed?

No, that's simply because I did some random huge value for the search and $23k was only 39% of it

I think we would try to reimburse everyone to the same %. So for instance user A and user B would both get 20%. That said, much to the upset of the exchanges we list on OrangeFren.com, we are very quick to delist if there's any issues.

Apologies for slow communication on our end, we're hosting MoneroKon this weekend
You can watch it live here: https://www.youtube.com/@MoneroCommunityWorkgroup/live

OrangeFren Guarantee turns 4!

❗️OrangeFren Guarantee — now 4⃣ years old with over 1.64 BTC (>$100k) in deposits🔒

Our Guarantee launched in 2022 with FixedFloat as our first partner 🤝

Over the years OrangeFren users have been protected from exchanges lying about their rates, policies and even in cases of exit scams

Today you'll find our Guarantee protecting not just OrangeFren users, but also those of KYCNot.Me

Now the largest deposits are from:
🥇 xmr2cex — $24k
🥈 CCE cash— $20k
🥉 FixedFloat — $19k
4⃣ WizardSwap — $9k
5⃣ SwapGate — $4k

📝 Here's how to stay safe with the OrangeFren Guarantee:
1⃣ Go to OrangeFren.com
2⃣ Pick an exchange you like
3⃣ Use our link to go to the exchange and swap
4⃣ If you run into issues contact OrangeFren support with your swap details
5⃣ If we find that you were cheated we'll refund you straight from the exchange's savings

Quote from: examplens on June 18, 2026, 12:04:49 PM

Quote from: OrangeFren on June 18, 2026, 11:54:27 AM

Quote from: joker_josue on June 18, 2026, 11:43:14 AM

Congratulations on the 4 years.
Having this guarantee fund conveys confidence to users and platforms.

Question:
This guarantee only covers transactions that are carried out from your platform, right?

Thanks!
In theory - yes.
In practise - we don't have a way to verify this with 100% certainty, because it depends on the exchange being truthful about where a user originated, so on a number of occasions we've decided to extend it to users who simply declared they used our site. That said we have also at times turned such users down when it became apparent they used a competing service which did not care to go the extra mile in helping them.

Well, you definitely can't say this with certainty, because you can hardly know that a user came through your platform, especially if they used the links of your affiliate partner. There, almost everything (except the search) takes place between the user -> your aff partner -> exchange, OF is only an interface in such cases.

btw. Congratulations on your anniversary. I must say that you have significantly improved the approach of aggregators in this niche

There is one case when we know for sure and that's if a user creates a swap on OrangeFren.com. This feature is available only in some regions (notably absent from the EU due to MiCA) and only available for a few exchanges.



MoneroKon 2026 recordings

The first few talks from our edition of MoneroKon are now on YouTube.
Link to playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsSYUeVwrHBmzJAlb0yyCS7CgaHC1ut4j





CCE Cash meetup in Istanbul

With the help of CCE Cash we're organising a meetup in Istanbul 🇹🇷 this Saturday!

Join us on the 27th of June at CoBAC in Istanbul 🇹🇷

Sign up here:
https://orangefren.com/event/100

Or on meetup.com:
https://www.meetup.com/istanbul-crypto-meetup-sponsored-by-cce-cash/events/315381486/?slug=istanbul-crypto-meetup-sponsored-by-cce-cash&eventId=315381486

Or on lu.ma:
https://luma.com/sjdyzkxc



MoneroKon 6 talks are now all on YouTube

All the recordings from talks from MoneroKon 6, organised by OrangeFren.com, have now been uploaded to YouTube. As you might notice we were a bit faster to ship them than the previous MoneroKon

You can find the full playlist with all the recordings here. Or go straight to a talk you like with the links below.

Recordings:

Monero Scaling, and Security. The Priced Adaptive Blocksize Fee Market by Francisco "ArticMine" Cabanas
State of EVM-XMR atomic swaps by hbs
Monerujo: designing for imaginary people by anhdres and m2049r
The Terminal is the App: Privacy-First Software over SSH by Irem Kuyucu
Mapping Spy Node Dominance in the Monero P2P Network by Yannis Psarras
A Study of Trust in Digital Distributed Services by Kiril Shcharbinin
SLVer Bullet: Straight-Line Verification for Bulletproofs by Freeman Slaughter
Monero Republic and the Future of Monero Scalability by preland
The Praxeology of Privacy: Monero as Economic Argument by Max Hillebrand
Selfish Mining Simulator by Bawdy
Impact of AI on cryptoanarchy by Pavol Luptak
How to Bring Crypto into Meatspace by Andy Fichte
Privacy in Monero and Lightning: what it actually is by Vasilii Rogin
Permissionless by Robert Blinov
Lightning versus Monero by Super Testnet
Liquidity Fragmentation in Non-Custodial XMR Markets by 4rkal
Liberland: Sovereignty, Privacy, and Governance Beyond the State by Vit Jedlicka
Monero Offramps for the CBDC Era: The Carbon Credit Loophole by Martin Arness
Threat Modelling a State Sponsored Attack by aeon
BasicSwap Mobile - Monero atomic swaps on a phone by Dr. Kap
Monero in the Cypherpunk and Libertarian Tradition by Mirosław Karczmarkczyk
Liberation.travel - Vote With Your Feet

Quote from: OrangeFren on June 30, 2026, 11:28:30 AM

OrangeFren.com has been marked as MiCA-compliant on IsItMiCACompliant.com  

So it's wrong. I don't know who created it, but misleading information about MiCA isn't helping anyone.
This makes no sense either:

Quote

100 services · 62 compliant · 38 non-compliant

Here's the official Dutch list, with currently 136 compliant services in the EU.

Quote from: OrangeFren on June 30, 2026, 01:17:18 PM

OrangeFren.com is absolutely MiCA compliant. We're only a directory.

I'm confused I assumed being MiCA compliant means you're registered and approved.

Quote from: OrangeFren on June 30, 2026, 01:26:12 PM

Oh well of course we are not registered under MiCA as we don't need to be

So by that definition my cat is also MiCA compliant

Quote from: LoyceV on July 03, 2026, 07:49:24 AM

That's a very annoying and unreadable way of sending an email!

Let's analyze: first, they assume you're a man or a woman in English, but after 4 words, they switch to 6 French words, followed by it's abbreviation, and another abbreviation. The next paragraph refers to the first abbreviation, throws in some numbers that to them no doubt mean something, another abbreviation, but this time they can't even make up their mind if it's "MiCA" or "MiCAR", and it keeps going. Who writes emails like that?

Our lawyer wrote them a reply that was even harder to read. I couldn't even understand it myself

OrangeFren Guarantee exceeds 2 BTC

As of today the total funds held in the OrangeFren Guarantee have surpassed 2 BTC!