Paxful has wound down — here's a peer-to-peer alternative

Looking for a Paxful Alternative?

Paxful ceased operations on 1 November 2025. CoinExchange.Cash is an independent, non-custodial peer-to-peer exchange with 2-of-3 multisig escrow — a place to keep trading Bitcoin and other crypto directly with other people.

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What Happened to Paxful?

Paxful was one of the largest peer-to-peer Bitcoin marketplaces, widely used for buying and selling crypto with local payment methods. Below is a timeline of documented events, with dated sources.

April 2023
Temporary suspension
Paxful temporarily suspended its marketplace in early April 2023. Then-CEO Ray Youssef cited concerns over the safety of customer funds amid a lawsuit from co-founder Artur Schaback and key staff departures. Youssef resigned as CEO, and a Delaware court appointed a custodian to help safeguard withdrawals.
May 2023
Marketplace reopened
On 8 May 2023, Paxful announced its marketplace was back online after roughly a month offline, operating under new direction and a court-appointed custodian. The temporary closure was not permanent — the platform resumed trading.
July 2024
Co-founder pleads guilty
On 8 July 2024, co-founder and former chief technology officer Artur Schaback pleaded guilty to conspiracy to fail to maintain an effective anti-money-laundering (AML) program, in connection with conduct that occurred before 2023.
October–November 2025
Wind-down of operations
On 1 October 2025, Paxful announced it would wind down all operations by 1 November 2025, citing the lasting impact of historic misconduct by its former co-founders and unsustainable compliance-remediation costs. It stated it remained committed to returning user funds and urged users to withdraw balances promptly.
December 2025 – February 2026
DOJ and FinCEN resolution
Paxful Holdings Inc. pleaded guilty in December 2025 and, on 10 February 2026, was sentenced by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California to a $4 million criminal fine and 2 years of probation (court documents noted an agreed appropriate penalty of $112.5 million, reduced based on ability to pay). Paxful also agreed to a $3.5 million civil penalty with FinCEN. Authorities and Paxful attributed the underlying conduct to former leadership before 2023.

This timeline reflects publicly reported events and official announcements. CoinExchange.Cash is independent, is not affiliated with Paxful, and does not speak on its behalf.

Sources

The dates and facts above are drawn from official announcements and reputable reporting:

CoinExchange.Cash and Paxful: Key Differences

A factual comparison. Paxful figures reflect the platform's own final statements; it is no longer operating.

Status

CoinExchange.Cash: Operating
Paxful: Wound down (from 1 Nov 2025)

Custody model

CoinExchange.Cash: Non-custodial — 2-of-3 multisig escrow
Paxful: Custodial — the platform held user funds

Identity verification

CoinExchange.Cash: No mandatory ID to start standard P2P trades; verification may be requested in limited cases (see Trust & Security)
Paxful: Requirements changed over time; later policies used verification tiers based on activity and jurisdiction

Assets and payment methods

CoinExchange.Cash: Multiple crypto assets and regional payment methods; current availability is shown in live offers
Paxful: Its final announcement reported support for 400+ payment methods during its operation

Dispute handling

CoinExchange.Cash: On-chain escrow with arbitrator co-signing
Paxful: Custodial escrow with internal moderation

Area	CoinExchange.Cash	Paxful
Status	Operating	Wound down (from 1 Nov 2025)
Custody model	Non-custodial — 2-of-3 multisig escrow	Custodial — the platform held user funds
Identity verification	No mandatory ID to start standard P2P trades; verification may be requested in limited cases (see Trust & Security)	Requirements changed over time; later policies used verification tiers based on activity and jurisdiction
Assets and payment methods	Multiple crypto assets and regional payment methods; current availability is shown in live offers	Its final announcement reported support for 400+ payment methods during its operation
Dispute handling	On-chain escrow with arbitrator co-signing	Custodial escrow with internal moderation

Why Consider CoinExchange.Cash

Non-custodial by design

Funds are locked in a 2-of-3 multisig escrow rather than a company wallet. No single party — including the platform — can move funds alone.

No mandatory ID to start

You connect a Web3 wallet and can trade without uploading identity documents for standard P2P trades. See Trust & Security for the limited exceptions.

Peer-to-peer with local payments

Trade directly with other people using a range of payment methods, similar in spirit to how many people used Paxful.

Multi-asset

Trade Bitcoin and a range of other cryptocurrencies across multiple blockchains, not Bitcoin alone.

Transparent on-chain escrow

Escrow activity settles on public blockchains, so the movement of escrowed funds is independently verifiable.

Fees shown before you trade

Review the applicable platform fee and blockchain network cost before confirming a trade.

Trust & Security

Straightforward answers about how the platform protects trades — including what it does and does not protect against.

Escrow architecture

On escrow-capable chains, P2P trades use chain-specific 2-of-3 multisig escrow. The three participants are the buyer, seller and platform arbitrator, and any two must authorize a release or refund. Escrowed crypto is not pooled in a single company hot wallet.

Threat model — what escrow does and doesn't cover

Escrow reduces custody and counterparty risk: no single participant can move the crypto alone. It does not eliminate every risk. Funds can remain locked if the required co-signers are unavailable; escrow cannot reverse an off-platform payment, stop phishing or social engineering, recover a lost wallet key, or remove blockchain and smart-contract risk. Keep communication and payment evidence within the trade.

Contract verification

Escrow deposits, releases and refunds can be inspected on the relevant public block explorer. The EVM escrow contract source is published, but source publication alone is not proof that deployed bytecode matches it: check the displayed contract address and explorer verification where available. We do not claim a third-party audit or certification we have not received.

Review the published contract source

Dispute process

If a trade goes wrong, either party can open a dispute. An arbitrator reviews the in-trade evidence (messages, payment proof) and co-signs to release funds to the buyer or refund the seller. The arbitrator alone cannot take funds — two of three signatures are always required.

Data retention

Retention depends on the data: trade and transaction records are kept for at least 5 years; KYC records, when collected, are generally kept for 5 years after the relationship ends; audit logs for at least 2 years; trade chat for the trade plus 1 year; and session/security logs for up to 90 days. We do not sell personal data. See the Privacy Policy for the complete schedule.

Read the full Privacy Policy

Identity-verification exceptions

Standard P2P browsing and lower-volume wallet-based activity may be available without identity documents. Verification can be required for higher trade volumes, fiat on/off-ramp access, risk-monitoring flags, or legal and regulatory obligations. Access may be restricted if required verification is not completed.

Uptime & incident transparency

We do not currently publish an independently verified uptime percentage or promise an uptime SLA. Availability depends on the web app, API, wallet providers and the relevant blockchain. Material security or availability incidents will be described in dated public updates after containment when disclosure will not increase risk; users can report issues through the Help Center.

Report an availability or security issue

Not affiliated with Paxful, CoinExchange.io or CoinEx

CoinExchange.Cash is an independent platform. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or a continuation of Paxful, the former CoinExchange.io exchange, or CoinEx. Similar names do not imply any relationship.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened to Paxful?

Paxful temporarily suspended its marketplace in April 2023 amid a dispute between its co-founders, then reopened in May 2023. On 1 October 2025 it announced it would wind down all operations by 1 November 2025. In December 2025 it pleaded guilty to U.S. federal charges relating to conduct before 2023, and on 10 February 2026 it was sentenced to a $4 million criminal fine and probation, alongside a $3.5 million FinCEN civil penalty.

Is CoinExchange.Cash affiliated with Paxful?

No. CoinExchange.Cash is an independent, non-custodial peer-to-peer exchange. It is not affiliated with Paxful, the former CoinExchange.io exchange, or CoinEx.

Is CoinExchange.Cash non-custodial?

Yes. P2P trades on escrow-capable chains use chain-specific 2-of-3 multisig escrow, so funds are not held in a single company wallet. Any two of the three participants (buyer, seller, arbitrator) must authorize a release or refund.

Does CoinExchange.Cash require ID verification?

What does escrow protect against?

A 2-of-3 escrow reduces custody and counterparty risk because no single participant can move the crypto alone. It does not reverse off-platform payments, prevent phishing, recover lost wallet keys, or remove blockchain and smart-contract risk. Funds may remain locked if the required co-signers are unavailable.

Keep Trading Peer-to-Peer

Connect a wallet and browse live P2P offers. No mandatory ID for standard trades, and escrow protects both sides.

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