P2P
Abbreviation with 3 meanings
| Stands for | Peer-to-peer |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 3 |
| Categories | Technology & Computing, Business & Finance |
P2P has three meanings. The most common are Peer-to-peer (networking) and Peer-to-peer payments (personal finance); it can also stand for Peer-to-peer lending.
Meanings of P2P at a glance
| # | P2P stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peer-to-peer | Technology & Computing › Networking |
| 2 | Peer-to-peer payments | Business & Finance › Personal Finance |
| 3 | Peer-to-peer lending | Business & Finance › Personal Finance |
1. Peer-to-peer
Technology & Computing · Networking Abbreviations
A network design in which participating computers act as both clients and servers, sharing files or resources directly instead of relying on a central server. BitTorrent, many multiplayer games and blockchain networks all use peer-to-peer architectures.
Example: The campus network throttles most P2P traffic to stop students torrenting films over the dorm Wi-Fi.
Napster, launched in 1999, made P2P famous, although it relied on a central index; later systems such as Gnutella and BitTorrent decentralized further. The term is often linked with piracy, but P2P also distributes game patches and software updates. In payments, "P2P" means person-to-person transfers, a finance usage. Written with the numeral 2 for "to".
2. Peer-to-peer payments
Business & Finance · Personal Finance Abbreviations
Direct money transfers between individuals through apps such as Venmo, Zelle, Cash App and PayPal, funded from a bank account, debit card or app balance. Transfers typically arrive within minutes and are usually free when funded from a bank balance.
Example: Our credit union now offers P2P transfers through Zelle right in its mobile app.
Consumer protection is limited: a payment sent to the wrong person or to a scammer is generally treated as authorized and is hard to reverse. Payment apps report business transactions above federal thresholds on Form 1099-K, so personal transfers such as splitting rent should be marked as personal.
3. Peer-to-peer lending
Business & Finance · Personal Finance Abbreviations
Borrowing arranged through online platforms that match investors with people or small businesses seeking loans, bypassing traditional banks. Investors earn interest but bear the risk that borrowers default.
Example: He consolidated his credit card debt with a P2P loan at 11% instead of paying 27%.
Prosper (2005) and LendingClub (2007) pioneered the US market, but LendingClub stopped selling notes to retail investors in 2020 after buying a bank, and most platforms now rely on institutional money. The industry increasingly calls itself "marketplace lending." UK pioneers such as Zopa followed a similar path toward becoming banks.
Related abbreviations
More networking abbreviations
- NS – Name server (record)
- NTP – Network Time Protocol
- OSI – Open Systems Interconnection (model)
- OSPF – Open Shortest Path First
- PAN – Personal area network
- PAT – Port address translation
- PDU – Protocol data unit
- PoE – Power over Ethernet
See all 113 networking abbreviations →