In a move nobody truly expected, completely out of the blue, Valve came out with the hammer and rolled out an update that has shaken up the entire CS2 community including players, traders and skin marketplaces. The most recent update in Steam saw the implementation of drastic changes in the trading process. The “Trade Protection” feature is designed to make all CS2 skin trades reversible in a span of seven days. This move kind of shook everyone in the CS2 sphere, as everybody’s wondering if there will be consequences for the skin market and if the reliable for the longest investments will tank. In today’s article, we’ll break down the Trade Protection update and what to expect from these changes and if there are reasons to worry.
What is "Trade Protection"?
Aside from the minor changes in the upcoming Season 3, the main news concern the introduction of a seven-day period for every existing CS2 item one got in the result of trade, including skins, knives, gloves, stickers etc. In this seven-day window, the first owner of the item sold can reverse the trade with one click without having to provide any reason. If trade is cancelled, the original item returns to the original owner of said item.
In order to prevent certain dodgy users from abusing this feature, there will be a month-long (30 days, to be precise) cooldown from utilizing the Steam Community Market in any way. This measure is meant to ensure that the option of reversing the trade is not being used to abuse, troll or scam users.
Before the update | After the Trade Protection update | |
Trading Hold | If you haven't had your account protected by a Mobile Authenticator for at least the last 7 days, items leaving your account will be held by Steam for up to 15 days. | 7-day Trade Protection hold applied after a trade is completed. The received items cannot be traded again, sold on the Steam Community Market, or transferred within this window. The pre-existing 15-day hold for accounts without the mobile authenticator remains. |
Protection against malware and scammers | The Steam Guard Mobile Authenticator provided limited security. Once the transfer was done, it was pretty much irreversible. Users had to rely on Steam Support, with no guarantee of item recovery. | Improved security now offers users a chance to cancel any CS2 trade within 7 days via Steam Trade History. Users don’t have to rely on Steam Support. |
Time it takes to receive funds | Within minutes or hours depending on the marketplace. | Delayed. In order to mitigate the risk of a seller reversing a trade after receiving payment, third-party marketplaces implement a hold for the duration of the 7-day Trade Protection period before transferring funds to seller. |
Trading skins from different games | No restrictions | Limited to CS2 items, isolating the trading ecosystem. However, Valve have already announced that they will be adding other Steam games, including Dota 2, Rust and Team Fortress 2. |
the total estimated value of all CS2 skins dropped by $615 million in a weekThe last change that is worth mentioning is now CS2 items can be traded exclusively for CS2 items, eliminating the possibility of cross-game trading. You’ll no longer be able to trade your CS2 items for items from other Valve titles such as Dota 2 and Team Fortress 2. It seems like Valve is trying to create a narrower CS2 trading ecosystem, excluding their own games.
Why the Sudden Change?
Valve’s efforts are aimed at eliminating the risk of their users losing their precious items to malware and phishing attacks. While previously you were pretty much screwed if you were to accept some shady trade offer, now you have a safety net in the form of a seven-day window in which you can reverse any shady trade deal you might’ve committed by mistake. Recovering stolen items was a tough task to pull off, even with the help of lovely people at Steam support. Only time will tell if the implementation of the Trade Protection will drastically improve the process of safe trading.
Impact on the CS2 Skin Market
The introduction of "Trade Protection" is bound to make an impact on the entire CS2 community, along with third-party marketplaces, traders, players and Valve themselves. The changes in skin prices might arrive in the next few months, but we highly doubt that this addition will make a serious dent on such a giant ecosystem that is CS2 skin market in the long run. All in all, despite the fears of certain renown traders, the increased security of transactions may lead to an increase in price for skins due to an improved trust in the market. However, short term dips are also possible, but not at a high scale.
According to data published on X by Pricempire, the total estimated value of all CS2 skins dropped by $615 million in a week the update went live. The delay in trades served as the primary reason for this market crash. As expected, the panic selling flooded the market causing prices for the rarest skins to drop and losing a sizable portion of the ecosystem’s total valuation.
How to Sell CS2 Skins on LIS-SKINS After Trade Protection Update
Many third-party marketplaces will face certain challenges with the implementation of the seven-day cancellation window. For example, if you want to sell your skins at LIS-SKINS, funds from the transaction will be sent in 8 days, once the reversal window ends. The total value of transaction will be fixed and displayed in the “Transactions” tab. However, our team is working on ways to improve the interaction with our users in order to make their skin-trading experience a lot less complicated.
Conclusion
While the update is clearly aimed at the improvement of security, it also introduces certain limitations that will make both players’ and skin marketplaces’ life a bit more miserable. Having to wait for a week to make sure that the trade is completed will definitely bring some tedious vibes in the rapid skin-trading process. However, if it means that every party included in skin-trading will be safer, then this update is certainly welcome.
