Trade Protected Items: Why Steam’s New Update Puts Marketplaces at Risk

Trade Protected Items: Why Steam’s New Update Puts Marketplaces at Risk

Valve just introduced a major update to Steam that could reshape the entire landscape of skin trading and P2P marketplaces. The new Trade Protected Items feature adds extra security for players—but it also raises serious challenges for third-party marketplaces.

What Are Trade Protected Items?

Steam now allows users to reverse any Counter-Strike trade from the last 7 days if:

• Their account was compromised
• They became the victim of a scam

This new feature is accessible through the Trade History page on your Steam account. It’s designed to improve security and protect players from theft or fraud.

Valve’s official statement:

Trade Protected Items
Today we are introducing a new feature to help keep your Counter-Strike items secure. In the unlikely event that you lose control of your account or were the target of a scam by a bad actor, you may reverse all Counter-Strike item trades from the last 7 days.

Why This Is a Problem for Skin Marketplaces

Most third-party skin marketplaces (like Buff, Skinport, DMarket, etc.) operate via P2P trading systems. Users trade items directly with each other using Steam’s trading system.

With Steam’s new trade reversal feature, even items that have been sold and transferred to new owners could be pulled back. This creates serious issues:

Potential Risks:

• Buyers could lose items they already paid for
• Marketplaces might need to freeze user funds, which raises legal and compliance questions
• Chargebacks and fraud disputes could skyrocket, causing major trust issues

Legal Challenges for Marketplaces

Many marketplaces are not legally allowed to freeze customer funds without specific reasons defined by law. Holding payments “just in case” is often not permitted, especially in regions with strict financial regulations.

This puts marketplaces in a difficult position:

• If they freeze funds, they risk legal trouble
• If they don’t, they risk financial losses from reversed trades

Our Recommendation

At this moment, we recommend:

⚠️ Avoid buying skins from P2P marketplaces until the situation is clear.

Most platforms will need time to adjust their systems, policies, and risk management strategies. In the first few weeks, the risk of chaos is high.

The Bottom Line

The Trade Protected Items feature is a huge step forward for user security—but it also puts the current P2P trading ecosystem at risk.

Marketplaces need to act fast to adapt. Players and traders should stay informed and proceed with caution.

Stay updated—follow us for real-time news on CS2 trading, Steam updates, and marketplace changes.