Paxful CEO Resigns After Unfreezing Customers' Accounts

Ray Youssef, the Paxful CEO, has resigned after unfreezing 88% of accounts.
The account unfreezes collectively and has $1 million in user funds.

The Chief Executive Officer of Paxful, a peer-to-peer marketplace, Ray Youssef, said that 88% of suspended accounts had been unfrozen following the company’s decision to wrap up its operations.

As per detailed information has freed around $1 Million of user funds. The Paxful CEO noted that he has no authority to unfreeze the remaining accounts because the accounts are under the control and supervision of United States regulators.

If your account is still frozen then I am sorry but I have no power to unfreeze those funds and they are in the hands of the US regulators. I have no access and have never had access to customer funds. Avoid US companies and always self custody!
— Ray Youssef (@raypaxful) April 16, 2023

Paxful CEO wrote in his Twitter thread that he has no access and never had access to customer funds. Avoid US companies and always self-custody. Ray added in the same thread that he is leaving his position as CEO of Paxful to unfreeze these accounts and face the threat of contempt of court.

I gave up my title as CEO to unfreeze these accounts and am also in danger of being in contempt of court. That is what I did besides alot of sleepless nights. Nothing more I can do but sleep well tonight. Integrity trumps risk.
— Ray Youssef (@raypaxful) April 16, 2023

The information about unfreezing 88% of customers’ accounts came after Paxful decided to suspend its marketplace. The Peer-to-Peer exchange has significantly reduced their workforces.

Earlier, the Co-Founder of Paxful, Artur Schaback, was kicked out of the company. Later on, in January 2023, Artur filed a lawsuit against Ray Youssef. As per Ray, the Co-Founder sued Paxful because he was pissed. He even said that Schaback did not even pay the compliance to employees.

Earlier, Paxful suspended Ethereum’s trading on the platform at the Merge upgrade, transforming the network from its traditional proof-of-work (PoS) consensus mechanism to proof-of-stakes (PoS).

According to TheCoinRepublic, Paxful CEO shared a message about the steps taken after suspending services. It consisted of the announcement of Paxful “suspending its marketplace.” Though the decision to withhold operations came from the leading executive, it was also “not sure it will come back.”

The FTX saga has been an eye-opener for all the investors, who have principally been trusting crypto exchanges with safeguarding their assets. SBF has been in the headlines since FTX’s collapse, but recently he made headlines when he proposed his plans to start a new business to repay FTX investors.

Ray believes that Running a crypto enterprise focusing on the peer-to-peer sector in the United States makes it more challenging.

Further, Youssef ensures the Paxful Wallet will operate as usual until customers retrieve funds. He also offered other alternatives to the customers while naming other service providers.

Paxful was founded in 2015, headquartered in New York, and has other offices in Hong Kong, Johannesburg, and Estonia. Data states that the P2P platform has over 5 Million active users globally.

Disclaimer

The views and opinions stated by the author, or any people named in this article, are for informational purposes only and do not establish financial, investment, or other advice. Investing in or trading crypto assets comes with a risk of financial loss.