Paxful

Leading peer-to-peer marketplace for trading cryptocurrencies, Paxful has announced the suspension of its marketplace. The CEO, Ray Youssef in a letter to ...

Following this, Ray Youssef, sent a [message](https://cryptotvplus.com/2023/02/ceo-of-paxful-welcomes-all-affected-users-of-localbitcoins/) to welcome all users of LocalBitcoins to Paxful. [Paxful](https://paxful.com/) has announced the suspension of its marketplace. The CEO revealed the marketplace may not return and has come up with solutions for users who may feel stranded.

Paxful, a leading P2P crypto exchange, announced that it would be suspending all operations and noted that it was likely to be permanent.

[cryptocurrency](https://coingape.com/glossary/cryptocurrency/) businesses operating in the United States. Ray Youssef, who is both the founder of the company and its current CEO, posted the announcement on their official [website](https://paxful.com/sign-up-transition). As more crypto exchanges cease operations, it will be interesting to see which one comes next. Furthermore, the company is providing an easy migration for customers who are not located in the United States. Youssef asserts that all customer funds are safe and customers will be able to withdraw using their Paxful Wallet which will continue to function normally despite the change. [cryptocurrency exchanges](https://coingape.com/glossary/crypto-exchange-2/) as measured by its trading volume, has announced that the company will be suspending its marketplace.

One of the biggest, and one of the few remaining peer to peer crypto exchange, has suddenly closed down. Customers have received a message from Ray Youssef, ...

We are not sure if it will be back.” There is no further information in regards to this sudden and unexpected closure of the peer to peer exchange which was used in Africa in particular. One of the biggest, and one of the few remaining peer to peer crypto exchange, has suddenly closed down.

According to the message, while it isn't guaranteed that the closing will be permanent, it very likely is. The platform also took the opportunity to recommend ...

In March, the digital assets industry’s access to banks was severy jeopardized when two crypto-friendly banks [got closed in the span of less than a week](https://tokenist.com/signature-bank-shut-down-by-us-regulators-over-systematic-risk-fears/). [one of Bitcoin’s best months in a decade](https://tokenist.com/was-bitcoins-january-rally-driven-by-smart-money/), February brought new trouble. [diminish by around $2 trillion](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/11/crypto-peaked-in-nov-2021-investors-lost-more-than-2-trillion-since.html), severely impacted investors and institutions operating in the industry. In November, another scandal emerged as reports of misconduct on the part of FTX caused a “bank run” that all but [confirmed the rumors](https://tokenist.com/breaking-binance-implies-ftx-misused-customer-funds-and-walks-away-from-deal/) and sent the company into bankruptcy. Despite the hardships, however, the cryptocurrency industry is still showing signs of recovery and renewed growth. The decentralized exchange founded in 2015 has been faced, along with the entire digital assets industry, with a multitude of hardships and setbacks over the previous year.

A message from co-founder and CEO Ray Youssef cited key staff departures and regulatory challenges.

CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of [Digital Currency Group](https://dcg.co/), which invests in [cryptocurrencies](https://dcg.co/#digital-assets-portfolio) and blockchain [startups](https://dcg.co/portfolio/). [ Consensus 2023](https://consensus.coindesk.com/), CoinDesk’s longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. [strict set of editorial policies](/ethics/). “We’ve been bending over backwards for the past five years to try to comply with the highest standards,” he said. Youssef also took note of regulatory challenges, particularly in the P2P market and in the U.S. “I couldn’t guarantee the security of the platform,“ Youssef said.

Paxful CEO Ray Youssef has published a post on the exchange's website stating that the peer-to-peer (P2P) exchange will be suspending its marketplace.

“While this is an inconclusive indicator in terms of bullish or bearish signals, daily activity and transactions decreasing for Bitcoin have always occurred at transitionary phases in the crypto market. Despite an influx of new market entrants, the sustainability of this phenomena of both rapidly growing non-zero balances and tight range-trading for Bitcoin remains uncertain,” they noted. The Bitfinex analysts commented on the two metrics: Yet, this positive outlook aside, other on-chain metrics suggest bulls may need to be cautious in the short term. In any case, an increase in non-zero balance holders often points to new demand, particularly from small investors. The slight uptick follows the crypto market moving beyond rumours around a Red Notice warrant for Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao.

Paxful CEO Ray Youssef said U.S. regulators “don't get it,” but infighting in the C-suite may have played a role in the company's closure as well.

In addition to its problems with staff departures, the company is in a legal dispute with cofounder and former chief operating officer Artur Schaback, who sued the company in January, naming Youssef and Jude Chidi Ogene as defendants. Ogene was the Paxful chief legal officer until March, according to his LinkedIn profile. The blog post provided links to other platforms that Paxful suggested for non-U.S. They grow more suspicious every day.” He added that all customer funds are accounted for and asked customers to withdraw their funds. [said](https://twitter.com/raypaxful/status/1643273849192980483) in a Twitter Spaces meetup that Paxful is an American company that serves a global audience with a concentration on the Global South.

“This will probably come as a shock to many,” Paxful co-founder and CEO Ray Youssef wrote in a blog post. “All customer funds are accounted for. Please withdraw ...

Paxful was originally founded in 2015, and it is the latest firm to succumb in the midst of crypto winter. “I had to make an ethical decision.” Youssef added that the co-founder refused to pay some of Paxful’s employees. The service had allowed Paxful customers to earn a yield on Bitcoin through a partnership with Celsius, a prominent crypto lender that [filed](https://decrypt.co/105076/troubled-crypto-lending-platform-celsius-files-for-bankruptcy) for bankruptcy last July. By this past Friday, it had gotten to the point where there were no engineers, compliance team members, or security personnel left working at the company, Youssef said. “But I can confirm that Artur Schaback is a co-founder and current board member of Paxful.”

Paxful, a reputable P2P cryptocurrency exchange, has suspended its operations. The exchange was a prominent player in the market due to its high trading ...

This highlights the significance of self-custody for investors and emphasizes the necessity of having trustworthy and secure P2P cryptocurrency exchanges that can deal with regulatory challenges while safeguarding customers’ funds. The company cited market conditions as an important reason for its decision to cease operations. Ray has recommended self-custody options such as Exodus Wallet and Muun Wallet to simplify this process. The exchange was a prominent player in the market due to its high trading volume. In his official statement, Youssef emphasized the importance of safeguarding user security and recommended exploring self-custody alternatives and alternative trading platforms during the current uncertain period. While we work through these issues, we have taken the most secure option and ask you to explore self-custody and trade elsewhere.

Peer-to-peer cryptocurrency marketplace Paxful announced on April 4 that it was suspending operations. Paxful founder and CEO Ray Youssef said in a blog ...

[Saved Items](/members-admin/saved-items) The blog post provided links to other platforms that Paxful suggested for non-U.S. Peer-to-peer cryptocurrency marketplace Paxful announced on April 4 that it was suspending operations.

A whitepaper for Civilization Kit, a decentralized bitcoin peer-to-peer marketplace that also allows users to build their own decentralized marketplaces, ...

CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of [Digital Currency Group](https://dcg.co/), which invests in [cryptocurrencies](https://dcg.co/#digital-assets-portfolio) and blockchain [startups](https://dcg.co/portfolio/). [ Consensus 2023](https://consensus.coindesk.com/), CoinDesk’s longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. [strict set of editorial policies](/ethics/). The goal is to form a network of decentralized non-custodial bitcoin marketplaces. But Paxful co-founder, Ray Youssef, is already trying to rally support for a new platform called Civilization Kit (Civ Kit) – a decentralized peer-to-peer bitcoin trading application, built on the [Jack Dorsey-backed](https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2023/02/01/decentralized-social-media-project-nostrs-damus-gets-listed-on-apple-app-store/) decentralized social media protocol, Nostr. Head to [consensus.coindesk.com ](https://consensus.coindesk.com)to register and buy your pass now. My dream is that there are 1,000 options running all over the world.” “And then to make things worse, in the middle of January,” he went on, “my co-founder decided to sue the company and myself. In the meantime he endorses Noones, which describes itself as a “Bitcoin peer-to-peer super app for the Global South.” “It was like some kind of horrible divorce,” Youssef said. And then it's an escrow. “We spent millions on compliance, but even that still wasn’t enough,” Youssef told CoinDesk in an interview.

A message from CEO Ray Youssef cited key staff departures and regulatory challenges.

"Today, Paxful will be suspending its marketplace," said the trading platform's CEO, Ray Youssef. "We are not sure if it will come back."

The Helsinki, Finland-based Bitcoin exchange, founded in 2012, attributed the shutdown to the “ongoing crypto-winter.” [blog post](https://paxful.com/sign-up-transition) stating that the peer-to-peer Bitcoin (P2P) exchange is suspending its operations. Paxful is the second P2P Bitcoin exchange to close after Localbitcoins announced it was shutting down in February.

Paxful Bitcoin exchange announced the indefinite suspension of the marketplace on Tuesday, citing regulatory challenges and staff departures.

[Beaxy](https://forkast.news/headlines/sec-charges-beaxy-cryptocurrency-platform-for-violating-securities-laws/), another U.S.-based platform, was shut down by the Securities and Exchange Commission for operating an unregistered exchange. [Bittrex](https://forkast.news/headlines/bittrex-us-regulatory-uncertainty/), a Seattle-based crypto exchange, announced that it is winding down to close its U.S. Last week, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission sued Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, for violating compliance rules.

Paxful, global peer-to-peer Bitcoin platform, has announced it is giving nearly nine Bitcoin to its Paxful Earn users impacted by the Celsius collapse.

Since the Celsius collapse, Paxful has also been incredibly vocal about Bitcoin self-custody—emailing its users around why everyone should hold their own Bitcoin and five easy steps to self-custody your Bitcoin. Paxful announced Paxful Earn in 2021, a partnership with Celsius that allowed Paxful users to earn yield on their Bitcoin. That does not sit right with me and I have taken action to make sure Paxful Earn users receive their full Celsius funds.

Paxful, an Africa-focused Bitcoin trading platform, is suspending its operations, the company's co-founder, Ray Youssef, said in a statement, ...

Paxful, a global peer-to-peer (P2P) cryptocurrency exchange with operations in Nigeria is suspending its market operation...

Paxful’s regulatory challenges mostly came from the US. While we work through these issues, we have taken the most secure option and ask you to explore self-custody and trade elsewhere,” Youssef said. “Regulatory challenges for the industry continue to grow, especially in the peer-to-peer market and most heavily in the U.S.

Paxful, a global Bitcoin marketplace with strong roots in Africa, is shutting down operations and returning funds to users.

“We don’t do business in the US. TechCabal asked an anonymous staff of Quidax about the local implications of the struggling US crypto ecosystem. With Paxful’s exit, the spotlight is again on African crypto companies, many of which are registered in the US.

Paxful's shutdown has left its global community heartbroken, but it has significantly impacted the Nigerian community, where it pioneered P2P crypto use.

However, Youssef has assured users in a [tweet](https://twitter.com/raypaxful/status/1643459979985158145) that the Paxful team is working on clearing users’ send-outs. Another member of the Paxful Nigerian community, data analyst Obinna Uzoije, mentioned that in the early days of his career, he used Paxful to exchange the dollars he received from his employers as pay for Nigerian naira. Acceptance and usage of crypto in Nigeria were not as high until Paxful pioneered the use of peer-to-peer technology in the country, helping expand the crypto industry.

Crypto trading platform Paxful on April 4, 2023 announced its closure and asked its users to withdraw funds just as the crypto market is beginning to ...

So far, the total crypto market cap has risen from the $828 billion last November to about $1.2 trillion, where it currently stands, with the price of the largest cryptocurrency Bitcoin, rising from $15,883 in November last year to $28,501 currently. So, they became insolvent when the users wanted to withdraw,” she explained. Globally, $36.8 million was traded on the platform last week. While we work through these issues, we have taken the most secure option and ask you to secure self-custody and trade elsewhere,” he said. “The co-founder’s litigation team drove away all of our senior-level staff. Its collapse comes at a time when the crypto industry was just beginning to recover from a year-long slump that was occasioned by the collapse of a crypto token Luna and exacerbated by the folding of the crypto exchange platform FTX, within months of each other.

Celsius bankruptcy and an ongoing legal dispute between Paxful's co-founders likely also played a part in the P2P marketplace shutdown.

More and more, the blockchain/digital asset industry is growing to mirror the traditional financial industry, with all its restrictions and red flags for consumer protection and money laundering regulators. Though Paxful and similar services are not accused of doing anything illegal, the nature of P2P marketplaces that allow free exchange of value (again, such as combinations of digital assets and anonymous gift cards) make them among the first in line for scrutiny. Since January 2023, the company has been in a legal dispute between current executives and original co-founder Artur Schabak. Though regulations were increasing the pressure for digital currency businesses worldwide, they were affecting P2P markets “most heavily in the U.S.,” Youssef wrote. However, the continuing fallout from the [Celsius bankruptcy](https://coingeek.com/celsius-network-is-bankrupt-this-is-getting-ridiculous/) and an ongoing legal dispute between Paxful’s co-founders likely also played a part. [blog post](https://paxful.com/sign-up-transition) earlier this week.