P2P Bitcoin Marketplace Paxful Is Shutting Down

Peer-to-peer (P2P) bitcoin marketplace Paxful has closed its doors, meaning the digital currency space is still not yet out of the woods when it comes to exterior, negative circumstances.

Paxful Says Goodbye

Paxful used to be one of the most prominent, well-known bitcoin marketplaces in the world. Employing 200 people, the company was run by Ray Youssef and Artur Schaback. The company was founded in 2015 and saw more than $5 billion in BTC trades at the hands of roughly 12 million users.

In a recent interview, however, Youssef claimed that Paxful has been trapped in the doldrums for some time, saying that “key staff departures” and “regulatory challenges” eventually made it so that the enterprise could no longer operate. He also said he’s been struggling to see eye to eye with his co-founder Schaback, and that their differences eventually got in the way of the firm’s future.

In addition, there have been several reports – either through former employees coming forward or in various lawsuits issued by past staffers – that the daily cannabis use from people like Youssef (currently 46 years of age) grew into something that aided in the depletion of the company’s resources. The former employees now engaged in lawsuits against Paxful say the enterprise suffered from unprofessional management that got in the way of the firm’s functionality.

Schaback is also suing Youssef in a separate lawsuit, claiming he was cut out of the company’s computer network and data information systems while he was on paternity leave. He also says Paxful’s coffers were looted by Youssef and his cronies and that his co-founder went so far as to try and avoid international sanctions on “transactions into and out of Russia.”

He mentioned in a statement:

Mr. Youssef took unilateral action to permanently shut down Paxful. His plan has been going for the better part of 15 months, but thanks to our civil proceedings in the United States, his plan was discovered and thwarted.

By contrast, Youssef is hitting back and said that Schaback was fired from his position as COO with the company due to his growing “incompetence and bad behavior.” He also said that Schaback was a huge contributing factor in the closure of the firm. He said:

It was clear to everyone at the company that Schaback did not have any understanding of what a COO was supposed to do.

How the Pair Met

Youssef met Schaback at a 2014 bitcoin event. A year later, they formed what became Paxful, and it appeared that the company had been on a steady roll since that time. Who would have known that so many ugly cracks had been forming in the foundation? Schaback concluded with:

We met because we believed the idea of bitcoin helps the little guy.

Tags: Artur Schaback, Paxful, Ray Youssef