Paxful CEO Confirms 88% of Accounts have been Unfrozen
- Paxful CEO Ray Youssef revealed that 88% of the frozen funds on the P2P marketplace have been unfrozen, with over 3% of funds remaining frozen.
- Youssef confirmed that the marketplace had around $4.4 million in frozen funds remaining on the platform, which are “in the hands of” US regulators.
- “I gave up my title as CEO to unfreeze these accounts and am also in danger of being in contempt of court,” wrote Youssef in a Twitter thread.
- Youssef will step down as the CEO of the Paxful Bitcoin P2P marketplace on April 18 and continue with a new project.
The ongoing crypto winter affected the operations of many crypto companies due to a huge decrease in their user base, followed by declining trading volume on their platforms. Furthermore, the uncertain regulatory landscape surrounding cryptocurrencies also played a role in forcing many firms to close their operations. Interestingly, peer-to-peer crypto marketplace Paxful was also affected by the winter, and its CEO announced that 88% of the previously frozen accounts have been successfully unfrozen.
In a Twitter thread, Paxful CEO Ray Youssef confirmed that the peer-to-peer marketplace had around $4.4 million in frozen funds remaining on the platform, while the rest of the funds have been unfrozen by the staff more than a week after suspending operations.
“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 a lot of sleepless nights. Nothing more I can do but sleep well tonight. Integrity trumps risk,” Youssef said.
It is crucial to note that the executive confirmed that the unfreezing of these accounts was implemented “with no engineers or compliance folks,” adding that all remaining frozen funds were “in the hands of” United States financial regulators. Youssef also added in the Twitter thread that around 3% of the users’ funds remain unfrozen on the platform.
“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!” Youssef stated.
He stated that unfreezing the 88% of frozen funds was his “final act” as the CEO of Paxful, and after achieving this goal, Youssef will step down as the Chief Executive Officer of the peer-to-peer marketplace on April 18 and continue with a new project.
Youssef stated that crypto investors should not trust centralized exchanges and platforms with their money, nor the regulators in the US, but should always prefer self-custody of their funds. Furthermore, he apologized to those whose funds remain unfrozen due to compliance issues with regulators, adding, “I have done more than anyone else would even entertain, and I cannot do anymore by law.”
It is crucial to note that the “contempt of court” mentioned by Youssef in one of the Twitter posts as mentioned above is likely related to ongoing litigation between Youssef and Paxful co-founder Artur Schaback, who helped in laying the foundations for the Bitcoin peer-to-peer marketplace in 2015. Schaback claimed in a US court that the marketplace was involved in the misappropriation of funds, money laundering, and evasion of US sanctions, while Youssef said that these claims were “ridiculous.”
As reported earlier by Bitnation, Nigerian crypto users believe Paxful’s demise will make it difficult for most crypto investors to trade digital assets in the country, as the Central Bank of Nigeria banned crypto trading and transactions in 2021 to curb the use of cryptocurrencies for crimes such as money laundering, arm purchases, and terrorism financing.
A crypto journalist with over 3 years of experience in DeFi, NFT, metaverse, etc. Parth has worked with major media outlets in the crypto and finance world and has gained experience and expertise in crypto culture after surviving bear and bull markets over the years.
