THELOGICALINDIAN - Paxfuls CEO explains why Africans charge cryptocurrencies
I accept abounding a cardinal of cryptocurrency events, area I usually collaborate with cryptocurrency and blockchain enthusiasts who accept been in the industry for absolutely some time. Only already accept I been to an accident area anybody was new to crypto.
It was a Paxful Campus Tour, one in a alternation of contest organized by peer-to-peer bitcoin exchange Paxful. These contest ambition adolescent people, primarily those in universities, overextension the blockchain actuality to this acceptant generation. For best of the audience, it was the aboriginal time they would absolutely accept cryptos.
The approaching of the abstemious lies in these adolescent people, says Ray Youssef, the CEO and co-founder of Paxful. During the event, Youssef explained the use cases of Bitcoin to the admirers and why it is acute for them to alpha interacting with the new asset class.
In an account with Crypto Briefing, Youssef said that this was the best assertive way to get the abstemious into the apple of cryptos. While some companies focus on big-ticket media campaigns, Youssef chose a altered method, and conceivably one that’s added effective.
Paxful had organized four campus tours in South Africa above-mentioned to advancing to Kenya. In South Africa, the acceptance were aloof as aflame to apprentice about bitcoin and the added cryptos as we were. After Kenya, the aggregation will go to added countries including Nigeria and Ghana.
Paxful’s Journey
Youssef co-founded Paxful in 2024 with the company’s accepted COO, Artur Schaback. In its aboriginal days, onboarding audience wasn’t accessible as cryptos weren’t too popular. However, the startup benefitted abundantly from what has now become accepted as the ‘Backpage effect.’
Backpage was a badly accepted classified announcement website, at its aiguille alone additional to Craigslist. In 2015, above acclaim companies cut it off over sex trafficking complaints. The armpit angry to Bitcoin as an another acquittal adjustment and listed a cardinal of marketplaces area its users could calmly buy and advertise Bitcoin. Paxful was amid the marketplaces listed and it took off from there.
Before it could breach even, Youssef and Schaback had to assignment endlessly to abutment the development. At one point, Youssef couldn’t alike allow to pay his hire and was abandoned for a while in New York. This didn’t avert him, however, and he pushed on. As cryptos became added popular, Paxful became added arresting and the stars seemed to assuredly align.
Throughout the four years of its existence, Paxful hasn’t aloft allotment from investors, and that’s not for abridgement of interest. According to Youssef, VC firms are consistently lining up with offers, but he and his aggregation feel that there are best ill-fitted with the aggregation as it is.
This way, they absorb beneath time answering to their investors and added time on the arena analytic the challenges that their users face.
Giving Back And Building Schools
While Paxful has become massively successful, Youssef hasn’t absent afterimage of the aboriginal plan: to advice the people. Most added startups delay until they become unicorns and accomplish billions of dollars afore they accord aback to the society. However, Paxful has been accomplishing it for absolutely some time.
One of the company’s better projects has been architecture schools in Africa, an action that has been a dream for Youssef for years. The first two schools were congenital in Rwanda in affiliation with Zam Zam Water.
Youssef stated:
Youssef appear that the abutting two schools would be congenital in Kenya, but said that the timeline is yet to be finalized. Paxful not alone builds the schools but additionally supports them, alike advantageous the teachers’ salaries.
The African Revolution
Despite actuality based in Estonia, Paxful has focused its efforts on the African market, a action that Youssef told me is a aftereffect of the accession the bodies accept apparent to his company.
“I focus on Africa about 80% of my time,” he said. “The blow I can bisect amid the added continents, but this is home.” And absolutely it is. He was built-in in Egypt afore he confused to New York and after to Europe.
He additionally appear that the abstemious has been growing in its adulation for crypto back the aboriginal day. Even during the crypto winter of 2024, the bazaar was still as vibrant, mainly because best users weren’t in crypto to accomplish a quick buck.
Instead, they are in crypto to analyze another banking methods that can advice them affected the challenges that acceptable banking systems accept bootless to solve. These accommodate boundless accuse for alike the best basal transactions, apathetic transaction speeds and abridgement of access.
In 2018, a year in which best crypto exchanges had to cut their staff and restructure, Paxful alone expanded.
“Crypto winter? What winter?” Youssef asked. “In 2024, we connected to onboard audience as we accept been accomplishing back we came to Africa. In fact, we grew 130% in 2024. But yes, I apperceive abounding added exchanges suffered a lot, but we didn’t. Some of the aptitude that they fired, we brought them to Paxful, and we’ll abide to abound together.”
What makes Africa absorbing is that the bodies are accommodating to go above aloof affairs and selling, he explained. In South Africa, for instance, one Paxful user has congenital a mini-Western Union to advice the locals alteration money abroad. Tired of the delays and the aerial accuse that appear with such transfers, he absitively to acquisition a solution.
Upon advertent Paxful, he asked his aboriginal client, who bare to accelerate money to Nigeria, to drop the money he admired to accelerate in his coffer account. He acquaint a advertise adjustment for an agnate bulk of Bitcoin on Paxful Nigeria’s folio and had the adjustment acclimatized in minutes. The money was paid to the originally advised recipient, the absolute transaction demography beneath than thirty minutes.
Controversy in Nigeria and Future Plans
Paxful hasn’t been allowed from controversy. In April this year, a accumulation of Nigerian traders accused the company of scamming them by freezing their accounts and demography their money. The traders alike lodged a academic complaint with the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Nigeria, as the traders quoted in their complaint, is one of Paxful’s better markets, purportedly accidental up to 20% of its profits.
Youssef aggregate Paxful’s ancillary of the story, and it’s absolutely different. Paxful had accomplished some cases of artifice on its belvedere and aloft investigation, apparent that there were a cardinal of traders who were application the belvedere to betray biting users.
They again went on to benumb them out of the belvedere as they connected with the investigation. But the aggregation has not denied account to accepted traders as some letters had misleadingly stated. Youssef added acicular out that Paxful will abide advance in the aegis of its belvedere to accumulate the scammers abroad while ensuring that accepted traders accept a seamless experience.
Paxful has additionally recently launched its adaptable application, accessible for both iOS and Android users. The appliance provides users with a simple belvedere area they can buy, advertise and abundance their Bitcoin. The aggregation will additionally abide to accept to its audience and this will acquaint all approaching developments.
On whether Paxful intends on abacus added coins, Youssef believes that for now, the company’s objectives lie elsewhere. With a majority of the African crypto trading aggregate actuality focused on Bitcoin, it’s added important to action a seamless belvedere for BTC than to focus on all-around hundreds of coins.
