The CSGO skins bot era defined skin trading for nearly a decade. Bots like CSMoney and Tradeit.gg automated trades by holding massive inventories and using Steam API keys to accept pending trade offers instantly. Players deposited skins, received site credits, and withdrew other items—all without dealing with another human.
Valve's June 2023 trade-hold update ended that. By requiring a 7-day hold on any item moving through a bot account, the 2.8 million skins circulating through bots became instantly illiquid. Platforms that adapted pivoted to peer-to-peer (P2P) models where trades happen directly between players through the official Steam trade system—no bot, no hold, no API key risk.
CSBoard launched after the ban as a P2P-native marketplace. Sellers list items at Buff163-anchored prices across ~36,000 skins, buyers find them via tier filters (like Tier 2 blue gems), and the trade executes through Steam's standard offer system. The platform never holds your items.