According to a message from Paxful founder and CEO Ray Youssef, the peer-to-peer bitcoin trading platform is suspending its marketplace and the company isn’t sure if it will return. Youssef cited challenges such as regulations and some key personnel departures, but also noted that he could not share the full story at this time.
Challenges Cited by Paxful CEO Ray Youssef Explain Why P2P Bitcoin Exchange Is Suspending Its Market
On April 4, 2023, Paxful launched a blog post indicating that the peer-to-peer Bitcoin (P2P) exchange is suspending its operations. “Today, Paxful will suspend its marketplace,” said the chief executive of the trading platform, Ray Youssef. “We are not sure if he will return,” he added. Youssef went on to say that the suspension may come as a surprise to many and that he cannot share all the details at this time.
“I can say that we have unfortunately had some departures of key personnel,” Youssef wrote. “In addition, regulatory challenges for the industry continue to grow, especially in the peer-to-peer market and most strongly in the US.”
Paxful was co-founded by Ray Youssef and Artur Schaback in July 2015, and in 2018, it became the largest P2P exchange by volume. In recent years, Paxful has expanded considerably into Venezuela and Africa. In June 2021, the company Announced He would donate 1% of his profits to charity. A week before the announcement that he would suspend services, Youssef informed to the public that Paxful had reimbursed its Paxful Earn clients after issues related to the Celsius bankruptcy.
In a tweet on Tuesday, Youssef noted that many people were trying to withdraw funds and that transfers were taking longer than usual. “Paxful’s database is a bit overloaded now that everyone is withdrawing funds, making transfers slow. I promise that the funds are safe and will be settled soon”, Youssef tweeted. Paxful is the second P2P Bitcoin exchange to shut down after Localbitcoins announced it would shut down in February. The Helsinki, Finland-based Bitcoin exchange, founded in 2012, attributed the shutdown to the “ongoing crypto winter.”
What do you think Paxful’s market suspension means for the future of peer-to-peer Bitcoin trading and how could it affect the broader cryptocurrency market and its users? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
image credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons
