A screenshot of a message from the purported Paxful CEO Ray Youssef about the closure of the P2P platform for cryptocurrency trading was posted on Twitter.
Crypto exchange @paxful just suspended their marketplace pic.twitter.com/JRFwUuePN3
— Pledditor (@Pledditor) April 4, 2023
A message from Ray Youssef is posted on one of Paxful’s website pages. It states:
“This will likely come as a big shock to many. While I can’t share the full story right now, I can say that, unfortunately, some key staff have left us.”
Youssef also cited regulatory issues, "in particular in the P2P segment and especially in the United States".
According to him, users will be able to withdraw funds from the Paxful Wallet. The head of the company also recommended "explore the possibility of non-custodial storage of assets and trading somewhere else."
Representatives of Paxful said that current users "are a priority" for the platform, so new registrations are currently not being processed.
An update from @paxful pic.twitter.com/X3eN5OcKrT
— Paxful (@paxful) April 10, 2023
As of writing, the platform’s interface is operational, but trading is suspended. Access to wallets is also closed.
One user complained that they had not been able to withdraw funds for 24 hours. The platform’s team assured him that they are working on a solution to "this particular issue".
Our team is already working on resolving this particular issue, @ola4doyin. For real-time updates, please visit https://t.co/c6lzxTQLLe. Thank you for your patience.
— Paxful (@paxful) April 4, 2023
As a reminder, in September 2022 Paxful integrated the micropayment protocol on Bitcoin’s Lightning Network.
In December, Ray Youssef criticized Ethereum and announced the delisting of the cryptocurrency.