The Paxful Marketplace returned to business after closure due to internal conflicts and regulatory obstacles.
Popular P2P marketplace Paxful has resumed operations after suspending operations in April 2023.
The Paxful Wallet was still open while the platform was shut down.
A month after the platform’s shutdown, Paxful announced the restart of the marketplace in a blog post on May 8. A portion of the announcement is as follows:
“We are thrilled to be back so that we can keep supporting millions of individuals without financial access,” the statement reads. “We know it has been a tough period for many of our users, who were understandably shocked by the sudden suspension.
The wallet continued to function, however, the Bitcoin P2P marketplace closed in April 2023. Paxful was one of the most well-known P2P marketplaces in the sector before the platform’s troubles came to light, boasting more than six million users worldwide.
The co-founder and former CEO of Paxful, Ray Youssef, also cited regulatory barriers for the P2P market as a factor in the marketplace’s closure.
Youssef mentioned the departure of important employees as well, and he added that a legal dispute between him and another co-founder, Artur Schaback, also had a role in the forced closure of the business. Youssef called Schaback’s legal action “nasty,” saying the executive sued the business and the former CEO because he was angry.
Read more: Paxful’s Peer-To-Peer Marketplace Shuts Down Due To Multiple Executive Exits
Youssef announced shortly after Paxful’s suspension that he was working to repay clients out of his own pocket in order to avoid spending time in jail.
Prior to the recovery of the market, Paxful was able to unlock 88% of customer accounts, leaving 3% frozen. The chief executive officer announced his resignation from the top post on April 18.