Paxful announced on its blog on April 4, 2023, that the Bitcoin peer-to-peer (P2P) exchange is ceasing operations. “Today, Paxful will suspend its marketplace,” said Ray Youssef, CEO of the trading platform. “We do not know if it will return,” he added. Youssef continued by stating that the suspension may come as a surprise to many people and that he is unable to provide all the details at this time.
I can say that we unfortunately have had some key staff departures. Also, regulatory challenges for the industry continue to grow, especially in the peer-to-peer market and most heavily in the U.S.
Youssef wrote
Ray Youssef and Artur Schaback co-founded Paxful in July 2015, and by 2018, it had become the largest P2P exchange by volume. Paxful has expanded substantially in Venezuela and Africa over the past few years. The company announced in June 2021 that it would donate 1% of its profits to charity. Youssef informed the public one week prior to the service suspension announcement that Paxful had reimbursed its Paxful Earn customers for issues related to the Celsius bankruptcy.
Youssef asserted that the actions of co-founder’s legal team caused the majority of Paxful’s senior staff to leave the company. Youssef added that some Paxful employees were not paid by the co-founder.
Youssef stated that there were no longer any engineers, compliance team members, or security personnel employed by the company as of last Friday. Ultimately, he stated that he made the decision to close the company due to security concerns at that time.
Paxful was founded in 2015, and it is the most recent company to fail during the crypto winter. It has facilities in Estonia, the Philippines, and Russia in addition to its headquarters in New York.
