Paxful P2P exchange reopens after closure

• Paxful remained closed for the last month.
• A legal dispute between Paxful’s co-founders had disrupted the exchange’s operations.
• The Paxful wallet however remained open throughout the shutdown.

Paxful on May 8, announced that it will be reopening its services after a month-long shutdown. The P2P crypto exchange, however, said that it will gradually restore its services in the coming days.

𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐍𝐄𝐖𝐒: Paxful is back online.

Over the next couple of days, we'll be gradually restoring functionality to the marketplace.

Thank you to everyone for your support!

🧡 https://t.co/UApEgHxLg5

— Paxful (@paxful) May 8, 2023

When Paxful announced its shutdown on April 4, 2023, it gave users alternatives to where they could transfer their assets although the Paxful wallet remained open throughout. The P2P exchange closure sent shockwaves across the crypto market seeing that it followed the closure of LocalBitcoins.

Paxful is currently owned by a custodian

Paxful closure was a result of tensions between Paxful co-founders Ray Youssef and Artur Schaback. While Schaback hoped for the P2P exchange to resume operations, Youssef apparently recommended new providers to Paxful users.

According to sources, Paxful is currently under the management of a custodian who acts as a company director and “tie-breaker” alongside the two cofounders Ray Youssef and Artur Schabeck.

Ray Youssef resigned from his position in Paxful and contributed his personal company shares to a fund intended to compensate Paxful shares. However, by April 17, Paxful had restored access to 88% of funds although $4.4 million remained frozen due to the legal conflict between the co-founders.