Peer-to-Peer Bitcoin Exchange Paxful Shuts Down Its Marketplace, Blames Key Staff Departure and Regulatory Concerns
The cryptocurrency market has been hit with a wave of bad news recently, as several exchanges have announced their closure. In a recent post, Paxful, one of the world’s largest peer-to-peer bitcoin exchanges, recently announced its decision to suspend its operations due to key staff departure and regulatory concerns.
Regulatory Challenges Force Paxful To Shut Down
Paxful, a major player in the world of peer-to-peer cryptocurrency exchanges, has announced the suspension of its marketplace. The company’s founder and CEO, Ray Youssef, cited the departure of key staff members and regulatory challenges as the primary reasons for this decision. In his official statement, Youssef emphasized the importance of user security and encouraged them to explore self-custody options and consider trading on other platforms during this time of uncertainty.
Youssef said:
“This will probably come as a big shock to many. While I cannot share the full story now, I can say 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. While we work through these issues, we have taken the most secure option and ask you to explore self-custody and trade elsewhere.”
Here’s What Will Happen To Users’ Funds
As per Youssef, Paxful has assured that all customer funds are secure and accounted for. To facilitate the process of retrieving their funds, the company has recommended self-custody options such as Exodus Wallet and Muun Wallet. Additionally, the company is offering easy migration options for non-U.S. users to other P2P companies such as Noones, which is dedicated to serving the Global South, and Bitnob, which facilitates easy access to Bitcoin for Africans.
Youssef commented:
“The Paxful Wallet will be up for customers to retrieve their funds. Right now, safeguarding customer funds is my biggest priority.”
According to Youssef, he personally vouches for Noones, which offers a range of benefits over Paxful. These include lower trading fees, a more affordable wallet, a more generous affiliate program, a more efficient KYC process, local dispute moderators, and a friendlier TOS policy with no locked accounts.
The recent suspension of Paxful’s marketplace comes at a time of increasing regulatory scrutiny for the cryptocurrency industry, particularly in the United States. The challenges faced by Paxful serve as a reminder of the importance of self-custody for investors and highlight the need for more secure and reliable P2P cryptocurrency exchanges that can withstand regulatory pressures and ensure the safety of customers’ funds.
Binance’s Secret Ties to China Exposed as Hidden Links Discovered Years After Departure
Binance is one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, with a user base of over 100 million people globally. However, in recent months, the company has been embroiled in regulatory trouble, facing lawsuits and investigations from various regulatory bodies around the world. A recent report has shed light on the exchange’s deep and extensive ties to China, even years after it officially left the country.
Binance Established Secret Links With China
Binance concealed significant ties to China for an extended period, in contrast to executives’ statements that the cryptocurrency exchange departed the country following a crackdown on the industry in late 2017.
CEO Changpeng Zhao and other high-ranking officials directed Binance staff to hide the company’s Chinese operations, which included an office that remained in use until at least the conclusion of 2019 and a Chinese bank that was utilized to compensate some employees.
In a company messaging group in November 2017, Zhao said:
“We no longer publish our office addresses…people in China can directly say that our office is not in China.”
The internal documents highlight how Binance, currently the largest cryptocurrency exchange worldwide, has concealed the scope and whereabouts of its operations amidst increased regulatory scrutiny of crypto-related activities.
Binance CEO, Zhao, has claimed that, with the exception of “a small number of customer service agents,” most of the exchange’s employees departed China after the government’s 2017 crackdown on cryptocurrencies.
Binance was sued by US regulators on Monday for allegedly providing illegal services to American clients. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission accused Binance of “deliberately” withholding information on the location of its executive offices and misleadingly asserting that its headquarters was based on Zhao’s whereabouts as part of a strategy to evade regulation.
Binance FUD Continues To Rise
At the end of 2019, Binance employees were in talks about a media report indicating that the company was setting up an office in Beijing. In response, one message cautioned, “Reminder: publicly, we have offices in Malta, Singapore, and Uganda. Please refrain from acknowledging any offices in any other location, including China.”
Binance officially said:
“It is unfortunate that anonymous sources are citing ancient history (in crypto terms) and dramatically mischaracterizing events. This is not an accurate picture of Binance’s operations.”
Despite public scrutiny, Zhao has repeatedly denied that Binance has any association with China, as seen in a blog post from last year where he stated that only “a small number of customer service agents” were still present in China as of late 2018. It is noteworthy that Zhao was born in China but has Canadian citizenship, having relocated to Canada as a child.
Binance stated that the original founding team members situated in Shanghai left China only two months after the company was established, before the incorporation of the company, due to crackdowns in the crypto industry. The exchange also emphasized that it had never been registered or incorporated in China.
According to internal company documents, China remained a crucial component of Binance’s operations even after the country’s strict regulations on cryptocurrency in 2017. In 2018, employees were informed that their salaries would be disbursed via a bank located in Shanghai. Similarly, in 2019, Binance asked employees on the Chinese payroll to attend a tax session in an office situated in China.
One of Binance’s employee onboarding documents reportedly instructed new hires operating in China to install VPNs on their devices. Furthermore, the recent CFTC lawsuit against Binance alleged that the exchange instructed its US clients to use VPNs in order to hide their geographical location.
Greenidge Bitcoin Miner Expects $20-$22M Losses in Q3 After CEO Departure
The post Greenidge Bitcoin Miner Expects $20-$22M Losses in Q3 After CEO Departure appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News
Bitcoin Miner, Greenidge Generation Holdings (GREE) anticipates a GAAP net loss of $20 to $22 million in the 3rd quarter.
Greenidge projected estimated revenue of roughly $29 million in its early financial and operating results for the third quarter, compared to $35.8 million in the same period last year.
Following the resignation of Jeffrey Kirt on October 7, the mining company also announced the hiring of David Anderson as its new CEO. Anderson was most recently the chief executive officer of Millar Western Forest Products, an integrated forest products firm situated in Alberta, Canada.