Crypto Ecosystem Loses Another P2P Marketplace As Paxful Shuts Down – End of an Era?

cryptonews.com:

The peer-to-peer cryptocurrency exchange Paxful has succumb to the relentless pressures of the ongoing crypto downturn.

On Tuesday, Ray Youssef, Paxful's Founder and CEO, announced the suspension of the marketplace, stating, "Today, Paxful will be suspending its marketplace. We are not sure if it will come back."

However, the Paxful Wallet will continue to operate, allowing customers to access their funds. The CEO emphasized that safeguarding customer assets remains the company's top priority and added that,

"All customer funds are all accounted for. Please withdraw them and if you can — self-custody." 

Users soon complained, however, that the transfers were taking longer than usual. The CEO assured them that this will be resolved as well, saying that there is a database overload.

The company's recommendation is to use cold wallets such as Exodus and Muun. Paxful is currently offering migration to other options for non-US users to platforms such as the peer-to-peer (P2P) company focused on the Global South (Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania), called Noones. 

Another suggested option for African customers is Bitnob, a Nigeria-based P2P platform that lets users buy, save, and invest in Bitcoin (BTC).

While admitting that the company shutting its doors may be shocking news to many, Youssef wouldn't go into specific details surrounding it, saying that he can't "share the full story now."

What Youssef did share is that,

"We unfortunately have had some key staff departures. Also, regulatory challenges for the industry continue to grow, especially in the peer-to-peer market and most heavily in the U.S." 

In a Twitter Spaces meetup, Youssef said that "a quarter of the company was compliance people" but that "even that was not