On April 4, 2023, Ray Youssef, the CEO of Paxful announced in a blog post that Paxful will be suspending its marketplace and that he isn't sure that it will come back.
Youssef highlighted the fact that The Paxful Wallet will be up for customers to retrieve their funds and urged users to send their funds on Paxful to a non-custodial wallet.
Disclaimer: This information should not be interpreted as an endorsement of cryptocurrency or any specific
provider, service or offering. It is not a recommendation to trade.
What is Paxful?
Paxful is an exchange platform that enables its users to buy and sell cryptocurrency. It is a peer-to-peer marketplace that enables buyers and sellers to meet and make transactions. Users can also make use of Paxful exchange as a means of payment processing for their websites.
Paxful exchange offers a wide range of payment options for its users and ensures that its services can be used even in countries where cryptocurrency exchange platforms are restricted. It only offers Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether for buying and selling.
Trust has been a major issue when it comes to transactions on cryptocurrency exchange platforms, as there is a high risk of being scammed. Paxful solves this problem by providing escrow services. It ensures that the transactions are being confirmed by both sellers and buyers before payment is made.
If this is your first exchange. If you are interested in BTC, ETH and USDT, Paxful is a suitable choice considering its variety of trading solutions and user interface/experience design that makes it easy to use.
If you’re switching exchanges. Paxful’s low transaction fees, great customer support and numerous payment methods make it a preferable choice. However, Paxful only offers 3 crypto assets to users so if you want variety you will need to look elsewhere.
Pros and cons of Paxful
Pros
Low transaction fees (<1%)
Slick user interface and experience (UI/UX)
300+ payment methods
Cons
Risk of potential scams
Few cryptocurrencies available
High exchange rate
Is Paxful any good?
The low transaction fees and user-friendly interface make Paxful a suitable choice for both beginners and experts. Also, due to its numerous payment methods and low transaction fees, the trading of cryptocurrencies is now easy and accessible to anyone with a phone and an Internet connection. But Paxful still has a lot of fixing to do when it comes to scams on its platform. It also needs to increase the trading options for users by adding more cryptocurrencies, as it currently only offers 3.
What to know about Paxful
The mission at Paxful’s birth was to make Bitcoin easier for businesses and merchants. Now it supports 2 other cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin. Its peer-to-peer marketplace has made it very easy to send and receive cryptocurrencies even if the user resides in a country where such activities are prohibited. This is because you only need an email address and a password to open an account. In countries like China, Morocco and Algeria where there is a ban on the use of cryptocurrency, a lot of people still make use of Paxful for their cryptocurrency transactions regardless.
Despite the rate of scams on the platform, you can filter those with whom you do business by creating a trusted list. When you have a good trading experience with a seller, you can add the seller to your trusted list. By doing that, their offers are prioritised in your feed. There is also a blocked list where you can add a fraudulent seller. These are investigated and removed from your feed.
Finder Ratings for Paxful
Supported cryptocurrencies
Transferring money or assets
Fees and costs
Ease of use
Customer service
Staking/earn rating?
Trustworthiness/security
Overall score
Finder’s editors objectively assess each platform across a spectrum of performance metrics using a system of 1 to 5 stars, which are designed to help you assess a crypto platform’s strengths and weaknesses.
Our rating and selection of the best crypto exchanges is based on the same criteria as our annual Crypto Trading Platform Awards, updated by our editorial team throughout the year to reflect changes in the market.
Paxful Exchange is limited to the above-mentioned cryptocurrencies. It does not offer other altcoins like Litecoin, Ripple, Dogecoin, Polkadot, Solana, Polygon, Cardano and more top market cap assets.
Paxful Exchange has decided to do more with less and that is obvious by its efforts to ensure the continuous and efficient circulation of the supported cryptocurrencies. So as long as you aren’t interested in making transactions with other coins, Paxful is a good choice.
It is important to note that the speed of transactions depends on the cryptocurrency’s network. For instance, transferring Bitcoin can take between 5 minutes to an hour. The transfer time is shorter when sending Ethereum and Tether as it ranges from a few seconds to 30 minutes. Fiat transfers on Paxful vary by payment method.
Paxful fees and costs
When a user buys a cryptocurrency from a seller on the Paxful Exchange, they are buying based on the price set by the seller. In this way, Paxful is just an intermediary to ensure the transaction is confirmed. So when users buy or receive cryptocurrency, there are zero fees.
But when a user decides to sell their cryptocurrency, a certain percentage of fees are deducted from each transaction. The percentage of fees deducted depends on the mode of payment.
A user can send $1,000 worth of cryptocurrency before a transaction fee of 1% is deducted on subsequent transactions if they occur between fellow Paxful wallet holders. If the transaction involves a non-Paxful wallet holder, the 1% fee takes effect right from the first transaction. There is also a 0.5% fee for converting cryptocurrencies.
There are no cryptocurrency deposit fees when depositing from an external address or Paxful wallet. There are no withdrawal fees when sending to another Paxful wallet, but when sending to an external address fees vary depending on the amount being withdrawn.
Fiat withdraw and deposit fees
Deposit
Withdrawal/purchase
No Fees
0.1- 5%
Crypto withdraw and deposit fees
Deposit
Withdrawal
No fees
Internal wallet: no fees External wallet: BTC $0 – $9.99 = 0.00008 BTC fee $10 – $19.99 = 0.00016 BTC fee $20+ = 0.0004 BTC fee 1% fee of total if using Lightning ETH $0 – $9.99 = 0.0005 ETH fee $10 – $19.99 = 0.001 ETH fee $20+ = 0.002 ETH fee USDT $0 – $9.99 = 1 USDT fee $10 – $19.99 = 2 USDT fee $20+ = 5 USDT fee
What is it like to use Paxful?
To ensure users keep track of their funds, buy and sell their cryptocurrency easily, Paxful has made its interface interactive and user-friendly. The buy, sell and convert buttons are placed on the user’s account dashboard. It is also very easy to find the deposit/withdraw interface.
Start making use of Paxful by creating your account. All you need is your phone number and a strong password.
You can access Paxful on your desktop and on your mobile device. You can download it at the Playstore or the Apple store.
Explore the buy, sell, receive and payment options on Paxful’s user-friendly dashboard.
Easily send and receive your cryptocurrency and also track your funds on your trading dashboard.
Earn up to 50% escrow fee on Paxful by inviting your friends and also earn 10% from the people they refer.
Does Paxful have good customer support?
If you have trouble with the site or some questions to ask, Paxful’s customer support is always easy to reach out to. The Paxful bot is the best way to get hold of the customer support. You type in your particular problem on the chat page with the bot. The issue is then reviewed by the support team and an answer is sent to your email.
You can access the Paxful bot by clicking on the chat icon on Paxful’s homepage. On Paxful mobile apps, you click on the contact support icon and you are directed to the Paxful help centre where there are loads of articles describing how to solve whichever problems you might have.
Support offered
Wait times
Paxful bot / live chat
✅
1+ minute
Help centre
✅
6+ hours
Trust rating
No hacks have been recorded since Paxful was founded. There have been scams in the past where bad actors abused the platform. Paxful aims to remove any of these actors.
Paxful has not undergone any security audits. The team at Paxful have tried to ensure that the website is not susceptible to attacks by hackers by carrying out the following:
Taking down its forums to prevent hackers from giving wrong information to users.
Frequently releasing blog posts on how users can secure their wallets.
Providing 24/7 customer support for their customers.
Paxful does not take out any third-party insurance, it is liable for any risk and would bear the consequences of the risk. That means Paxful is liable for any damage or an event of loss of information or money. This is why the Paxful team pays attention to eliminating the chances of security breaches from their end and that of the users.
Signing up on Paxful
Here are the steps to open an account on Paxful:
Step 1
Go to Paxful’s homepage and click on the create account button.
Step 2
Input either your phone number or your email address and a strong password.
Step 3
Verify your email address or input the OTP sent to your phone number. With this, you have successfully created an account on Paxful.
Optional KYC (Know Your Customer)
Getting your account verified offers you a lot of benefits when using Paxful. It also makes it easy for moderators to help when the need arises. Learn more about the importance of KYC here. The following are the steps to verify your account.
Click on the settings icon on your dashboard page. Then click on the verification button.
Fill in the necessary information required. That information includes your full name, date of birth, residential address and a photo of your identity card.
Note that the verification process can take 2 -14 working days.
Compare Paxful against other trading platforms
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Paxful FAQs
Is Paxful safe to use to buy Bitcoin?
While there have been a lot of reports of scams, Bitcoin can be safely bought on Paxful. To buy Bitcoin safely on Paxful, ensure you are buying from a trusted seller.
Is Paxful legitimate?
Yes, Paxful is a legitimate site, although there might be some fraudsters on the platform.
Does Paxful charge a fee?
Paxful charges fees on your withdrawals and when you sell or send cryptocurrency. You won’t be charged for depositing, receiving or buying cryptocurrency.
How do I withdraw money from Paxful?
You can withdraw money from Paxful through bank transfers, wire transfers, cryptocurrencies, gift cards and debit/credit cards.
Disclaimer: Cryptocurrencies are speculative, complex and involve significant risks – they are highly
volatile and sensitive to secondary activity. Performance is unpredictable and past performance is no guarantee of
future performance. Consider your own circumstances, and obtain your own advice, before relying on this information.
You should also verify the nature of any product or service (including its legal status and relevant regulatory
requirements) and consult the relevant Regulators' websites before making any decision. Finder, or the author, may
have holdings in the cryptocurrencies discussed.
Ojo Isaac is a cryptocurrency writer for Finder. He has been interested in crypto since 2018 and started writing articles in 2020. He enjoys listening to music and visiting new places. See full bio
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