PAXFUL TO SHUT DOWN

[NotATether]

Here is the email I've received from them. I managed to fit almost all of the message on the screen.

Dear <User>,

Since 2015, Paxful has connected over 14 million users across 140+ countries as the world’s largest people-powered marketplace. We’re deeply grateful for your trust and support over the past decade.

After careful consideration, we have decided to wind down all operations by November 1, 2025. This strategic decision stems from the lasting impact of historic misconduct by former co-founders Ray Youssef and Artur Schaback prior to 2023, combined with unsustainable costs from compliance remediation efforts. This is not due to insolvency or issues with our current leadership. Your funds remain safe, and we are fully committed to supporting you through this transition.

What You Need To Know And Do
============================

Effective immediately

-   No new user signups or trading activity will be permitted.

Marketplace and swap closure – October 15, 2025

-   Marketplace and swap features will shut down.
-   Please do not make any further blockchain deposits, as they may not be recoverable.

Withdrawals

-   We strongly urge you to withdraw your remaining balance as soon as possible.
-   Accounts with no active trades or disputes have already been moved to a restricted status.
-   By October 15, 2025, all accounts will be restricted. After that, only one final full-balance withdrawal will be permitted.

Mobile app discontinuation – October 31, 2025

-   Our iOS and Android apps will be decommissioned.
-   Withdrawals will remain accessible via paxful.com.

High withdrawal volumes expected

-   Due to expected demand, some delays in processing may occur.
-   Our robust security protocols remain in place to ensure your funds are protected.

If you have questions or need assistance, our support team is available 24/7 at support.

We understand this may be disappointing news. Please know that we are committed to making this wind-down as transparent, secure, and seamless as possible for you and our entire global community.

Thank you for being a part of Paxful’s journey.

I know this is not the original Paxful, but this is very sad. I have many fond memories of events that were made possible for me by using Paxful. So this is a big loss for us.

I know that Noones still exists, and is the offshoot made my Ray Youssef, but I don't use it as much.

[Orpichukwu]

I know that Noones still exists, and is the offshoot made my Ray Youssef, but I don't use it as much.

No one's I have used it a couple of times, and their service was great but a bit close, but I stopped using it since they have tried to make KYC a mandatory thing for people. I don't know if it's just from my side, but one bad thing I know which might sooner or later drag regulators to Noones is they promote and support third-party P2P transactions with a higher rate compared to the normal market level.

[Findingnemo]

I got the email too just a while ago, even though it is KYCed exchange it allowed users to trade where there is restrictions from the government and traditional exchanges go through lot more regulations and I guess this is the end of an era and a few years back it was LBC.

What are the possible like to like alternatives?

[tabas]

It happened that the other paxful question thread appeared on the service discussion because someone replied on it. Welp, I remember them had a temporary shutdown a couple of years ago because of some conflicts from the co-owners. And they're back but with this news, this is now a permanent shutting down if that's the case. So the issue is really about mismanagement and disagreement from the boards of it. It's a huge business and surprisingly, they're doing it while we're in a bull run. 

[Bitcoin_Arena]

What are the possible like to like alternatives?

Was it any different from the services exchanges like Binance, OKX and many more other's offer? If not, then there is a huge variety of options to choose from. Not forgetting the likes of HodlHodl, Localcoinswap, Robosats, peachbitcoin.com and the clone noones

I personally don't think I will miss them. The localcryptos and Localmonero/agoradesk shutdowns are the ones I felt so hard.

[Orpichukwu]

I got mail not quite long from Noones about the shutdown of Paxful and their offer to anyone who is willing to export their trading history to Noones, as it will make their trading experience memorable and retain their reputation.

Dear NoOnes Community,

Yesterday Paxful announced they are shutting down. The situation is concerning: Paxful users have been given only until November 1st to withdraw their funds.
 

💚 This is where NoOnes can help:

We’re welcoming all Paxful users and making their move as smooth as possible:


We’ll import Paxful feedback & reputation so traders keep their status

Plus: NoOnes will pay 1 Sat for every feedback imported

We’ll provide support for active Paxful movers

We offer a secure, lasting home for every trader

They also talk about spread the news on the mail to others in other for them to migrate from paxful and use noones, this is like they are very desperate to take over everything directly from paxful.

I personally don't think I will miss them. The localcryptos and Localmonero/agoradesk shutdowns are the ones I felt so hard.

We all miss them because they are privacy-orientated exchanges, not all this ones.

[NotATether]

They've banned my account and are preventing me from withdrawing about 600 sats and 0.03 USDT, however small it might be.

I got the email too just a while ago, even though it is KYCed exchange it allowed users to trade where there is restrictions from the government and traditional exchanges go through lot more regulations and I guess this is the end of an era and a few years back it was LBC.

What are the possible like to like alternatives?

Noones. But if you like non-custodial wallets then use LocalCoinSwap.

[Findingnemo]

What are the possible like to like alternatives?

Was it any different from the services exchanges like Binance, OKX and many more other's offer? If not, then there is a huge variety of options to choose from. Not forgetting the likes of HodlHodl, Localcoinswap, Robosats, peachbitcoin.com and the clone noones

I personally don't think I will miss them. The localcryptos and Localmonero/agoradesk shutdowns are the ones I felt so hard.

There are some reasons like Paxful isn't sharing every detail with our government like a regulated exchange so users can maintain some sort of privacy and KYC on them mitigate some risks such as bank reversal after the funds released so we can identify who did that and take legal actions if necessary.

For me I used to day trade on LBC, after they shut down moved to paxful for over 2 years and build a good reputation now I need to do that again?

Noones. But if you like non-custodial wallets then use LocalCoinSwap.

I have Noones account but never traded that much because the liquidity was low for my currency and they were buggy when they came for the first time so I immediately switched to Paxful when they came back online.

Localcoinswap seems to be the next stop for me, I imported my Paxful trade history and waiting for the approval.

[Bitcoin_Arena]

There are some reasons like Paxful isn't sharing every detail with our government like a regulated exchange so users can maintain some sort of privacy and KYC on them mitigate some risks such as bank reversal after the funds released so we can identify who did that and take legal actions if necessary.

Most of those exchanges are not regulated in most countries, though. Heck, they don't even know where the actual Headquarters are 
Also, Paxful promising not to share every detail to your Government does not mean they won't do it in the future. Those platforms do store your trading data even from 10 years back if they want. All it need is some sort of court order and they will avail the data to the necessary authorities.

For me I used to day trade on LBC, after they shut down moved to paxful for over 2 years and build a good reputation now I need to do that again?

You can import the reputation to the like of localcoinswap and noones. I am not sure if that's possible with Binance, OKX, Bybit.

I believe noones will also get more volumes now that Paxful is out of the picture.

[Findingnemo]

For me I used to day trade on LBC, after they shut down moved to paxful for over 2 years and build a good reputation now I need to do that again?

You can import the reputation to the like of localcoinswap and noones. I am not sure if that's possible with Binance, OKX, Bybit.

I believe noones will also get more volumes now that Paxful is out of the picture.

I imported my paxful on Noone in 2023 itself so I am not sure can I do that again now but I checked my noones account and KYC status is still active with unlimited volume status because I had done that already when I registered with them. And also I tried importing with Localcoinswap but still in the review status after 2 days.

[Darker45]

It's probably better this way. Perhaps it's about time for Paxful to finally retire. It has been embroiled in both legal and personal conflicts. Such dirty disputes would only undermine whatever reputation it has established through the years. It doesn't build confidence, stability, continuity. Even Youssef, who already has NoOnes, isn't yet done making statements against Paxful. And now that they don't have a CEO once more, it's just right for the brand to take the final bow.

[Woodie]

First it was localbitcoins, now paxful joins the bandwagon... Don't know if this is good news as new platforms get the green light to join without any kind of competition or this business model can't work because exchange's are working efficiently or we have too many instant exchanges that have filled the void left by CeXs and DeX's 

Anyway whatever the case, was fortunate enough to have used all these platforms and be part of the crypto history, farewell Paxful.

[coupable]

First it was localbitcoins, now paxful joins the bandwagon... Don't know if this is good news as new platforms get the green light to join without any kind of competition or this business model can't work because exchange's are working efficiently or we have too many instant exchanges that have filled the void left by CeXs and DeX's 

No it's not a good news by all means, but it is not a weird news as well. Yes it was expected to happen long time ago. Localbitcoins then localethereum then many other instant swap exchangers. It eas pretty clear that Paxful is the next on this list.
Used it years ago as a trusted free to use platform, then left it after imposing KYC procedures. History will mention Paxful as a great tool available in bitcoin early age. I am pretty sure that the great majority of old forum users used it at some point in their crypto journey. RIP Paxful.

[Zwei]

First it was localbitcoins, now paxful joins the bandwagon... Don't know if this is good news as new platforms get the green light to join without any kind of competition or this business model can't work because exchange's are working efficiently or we have too many instant exchanges that have filled the void left by CeXs and DeX's  

Anyway whatever the case, was fortunate enough to have used all these platforms and be part of the crypto history, farewell Paxful.

paxful has been dying for a long time. ever since the drama with the former CEO and some of their main staff leaving back in 2023, their service been going downhill after they come back.
and noones (led by the former paxful CEO) has been taking more and more of their market share.

so them shutting down isn't a surprise at all to me.

[Bitcoins101]

I got the email too just a while ago, even though it is KYCed exchange it allowed users to trade where there is restrictions from the government and traditional exchanges go through lot more regulations and I guess this is the end of an era and a few years back it was LBC.

What are the possible like to like alternatives?

Localcoinswap is solid.

[cryptocaz]

I got the email too just a while ago, even though it is KYCed exchange it allowed users to trade where there is restrictions from the government and traditional exchanges go through lot more regulations and I guess this is the end of an era and a few years back it was LBC.

What are the possible like to like alternatives?

I use NoOnes almost two years. It gives me human live support (not chat bots), stable fees, additional products I use (such as GC store), and more earning opportunities. LOL, everything Paxful users were missing.

[pikabuzz]

Firstly, I used LBC, then Paxful, and switched to Noones. I am not surprised that Paxful shut down. Ray's team on NoOnes at least listen to traders' feedback, not only mine. Meanwhile, Pax was imposing bigger fees, and wasn't transparent from the day 1. So, I am sticking to Noones.
Plus, I am GC trader, and there I have more favorable conditions rather on other p2ps

[Findingnemo]

Firstly, I used LBC, then Paxful, and switched to Noones. I am not surprised that Paxful shut down. Ray's team on NoOnes at least listen to traders' feedback, not only mine. Meanwhile, Pax was imposing bigger fees, and wasn't transparent from the day 1. So, I am sticking to Noones.
Plus, I am GC trader, and there I have more favorable conditions rather on other p2ps

Noones seems to have implemented a lot more features since I used them which looks good and their fees also 0.75% right? But if I am not wrong they started with 0.5% but either way it is less than 1% of paxful but what is annoying me is their UI/UX, why I am kind of having a laggy experience no matter which device or browser I am trying and also I used their mirror links still it feels laggy.

Or I am being delusional because of their retro style theme?

[Bitcoins101]

They've banned my account and are preventing me from withdrawing about 600 sats and 0.03 USDT, however small it might be.

I got the email too just a while ago, even though it is KYCed exchange it allowed users to trade where there is restrictions from the government and traditional exchanges go through lot more regulations and I guess this is the end of an era and a few years back it was LBC.

What are the possible like to like alternatives?

Noones. But if you like non-custodial wallets then use LocalCoinSwap.

This isn't much, but you could probably give them a hard time about it and see if there's a way to get your dust back. Maybe file a CFPB complaint, etc. The combined leftover dust from all of the users is quite significant. You'll also have a certain percentage of users that never do withdraw, and Paxful will probably charge them "maintenance" fees to pocket their money until their balance eventually hits $0.