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 page is not financial advice or an endorsement of digital assets, providers or services. Digital assets are volatile and risky, and past performance is no guarantee of future results. Potential regulations or policies can affect their availability and services provided. Talk with a financial professional before making a decision. Finder or the author may own cryptocurrency discussed on this page.
Paxful is a peer-to-peer online marketplace that allows you to buy and sell Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Tether (USDT) with anyone in the world.
One of the best things about Paxful is that it allows users to pay for their crypto purchases using their choice of more than 350+ payment methods. These methods range from more traditional options like bank or wire transfers to newer options like Apple Pay or PayPal.
Paxful operates in more than 100 countries and has served over 10 million people.
You may prefer to be a buyer on Paxful as opposed to a seller, as sellers have to cover all of the transfer fees on the platform.
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Paxful was established in 2015 in New York City. It currently has offices in Estonia, the UK, the Philippines, Dubai and St. Petersburg.
Paxful’s mission is to empower the four billion people on Earth who are either unbanked or underbanked.
Paxful supports over 3 cryptocurrencies, but some notable assets are missing. Namely, Avalanche, Binance USD and BNB, which are in the top 20 cryptos by market cap. In total, 4 of the top 20 cryptos are available on Paxful.
Popular assets on PaxfulSince Paxos is a peer-to-peer marketplace, you don’t deposit or withdraw money from the platform.
Instead, you send money from one of the many funding sources Paxos supports directly to the person from whom you’d like to purchase BTC, ETH or USDT or vice versa.
Deposit methodsAs a buyer, you won’t pay a transfer fee. Sellers pay a transfer fee, which varies depending on the source of the transfer. See tables in the following section.
The seller will then decide how much more they want to charge, so be sure to compare sellers’ rates before initiating a transaction.
Cryptocurrency Trading Fees
| Payment Group | Sell | Buy |
|---|---|---|
| Bank Transfer | 0.5% | No fee |
| Other Bank Transfer | 1% | No fee |
| Credit/Bank Card | 1% | No fee |
| Digital Currency | 1% | No fee |
| Online Wallet | 1% | No fee |
| Cash | 1% | No fee |
| Goods & Services | 1% | No fee |
| Gift Card | 5% iTunes and Google Play cards 3% for all gift card types | No fee |
Buying Cryptocurrency
When buying cryptocurrency from another user on Paxful, you are buying cryptocurrency at a rate set by the customers themselves. These rates vary based on numerous factors such as your verification status, payment method, currency pair (such as USD, EUR, CNY), and order size.
Selling Cryptocurrency
This escrow amount is deducted from your Paxful Wallet at the beginning of the trade. Upon successful completion of the trade, Paxful receives the escrow fee. If the trade is not completed, i.e. cryptocurrency is released from escrow back to the cryptocurrency seller, Paxful takes no fee.
Sending and Receiving Bitcoin
| Wallet Type | Send | Receive |
|---|---|---|
| External Wallet | $0 – $9.99 = 0.00008 BTC fee; $10 – $19.99 = 0.00016 BTC fee; $20+ = 0.0004 BTC fee | No fee |
| Internal Wallet | Up to 1,000 USD per month for free (between all cryptocurrencies) After 1,000 USD is reached, a fee of 1 USD or 1% of the amount being sent, whichever is greater, is applied | No fee |
Sending and Receiving Tether (USDT)
| Wallet Type | Send | Receive |
|---|---|---|
| External Wallet | Dynamic Ethereum or Tron network fee + Paxful Wallet fee Paxful Wallet fee breakdown: $0 – $9.99 = 1 USDT fee | No fee |
| Internal Wallet | Up to 1,000 USD per month for free (between all cryptocurrencies) After 1,000 USD is reached, a fee of 1 USD or 1% of the amount being sent, whichever is greater, is applied | No fee |
When you send TRC-20 based USDT from your Paxful wallet, you won’t pay a Tron network fee, but you will pay the Paxful wallet fee.
Sending and Receiving Ethereum (ETH)
| Wallet Type | Send | Receive |
|---|---|---|
| External Wallet | Dynamic Ethereum network fee + Paxful Wallet fee Paxful Wallet fee breakdown: $0 – $9.99 = 0.0005 ETH fee | No fee |
| Internal Wallet | Up to 1,000 USD per month for free (between all cryptocurrencies) After 1,000 USD is reached, a fee of 1 USD or 1% of the amount being sent, whichever is greater, is applied | No fee |
Lightning Network
| Wallet Type | Send | Receive |
|---|---|---|
| External Wallet | 1% of the amount being sent | No fee |
Converting Cryptocurrency
| Conversion Type | Fee |
|---|---|
| All cryptocurrency conversions | 0.5% |
The Paxful app is available for both Android and iOS operating systems.
Yes, Paxful is safe. Paxful is regulated in the United States as a Money Service Business with the United States Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
You must complete a Know Your Customer (KYC) process to use Paxful. The brokerage’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML) policies and procedures are designed to deter illicit activity on the platform.
The platform’s escrow system is designed to protect buyers and sellers, and its crypto wallet is provided by BitGo, a platform that helps over 150 crypto brokerages and exchanges custody the assets stored on their platforms in cold storage. Paxful also offers 2-factor authentication (2FA).
All centralized exchanges, including Paxful, are vulnerable to counterparty risks like hacking, theft and insolvency. Using a self-custodial or hardware wallet is widely accepted as the best way to improve the security of your funds. We've shared some of our top picks below.
Ledger Nano X Wallet |
Trezor Model T Wallet |
Ledger Nano S Plus Wallet |
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Supported assets 5,500+ |
Supported assets 1,317+ |
Supported assets 5,500+ |
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Price (USD) $149 |
Price (USD) $186 |
Price (USD) $79 |
See more of the best crypto wallets
Paxful offers email and 24/7 chat bot support.
| Downloads on Google Play | 23.5k reviews, 3 stars, 1M+ downloads |
| Downloads on Apple Store | 2.6k reviews, 3.6 stars |
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How much do I need to start trading on Paxful
Hi Codedtone,
Thanks for your comment and I hope you are doing well.
Currently, Paxful sets the minimum exchange amount to 0.001 to BTC. You can start buying or selling as small as 0.001 BTC in the peer-to-peer exchange. Note that BItcoin’s market prices changes frequently, thus you may need to check the market price of Bitcoin often. To begin using Paxful, you’ll need to create a free account and gain access to your free e-wallet. When you’re ready to buy bitcoin, simply enter the amount that you’d like to spend, choose your payment method and then select a seller. Once you’ve selected your seller, you can initiate a live chat with them.
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. 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.
Hope this helps and feel free to reach out to us again for further assistance.
Best,
Nikki
Can I sell my gift card here?
Hi Clara,
Thank you for getting in touch with Finder.
You may do that by simply making an offer on Paxful’s exchange to sell your Gift Card and wait for a Bitcoin seller to accept your offer for the price.
I hope this helps.
Thank you and have a wonderful day!
Cheers,
Jeni
Please I will like to know how to use my Apple pay to buy bitcoins from paxful..
Hi Lekan,
Thanks for your inquiry.
Buying bitcoin is Paxful using Apple pay is simple and fast:
1. Create an account and instantly receive a free e-wallet from Paxful.
2. Enter how much you would like to spend, and choose your payment method.
3. Compare seller rates and choose a sender.
4. Initiate a live chat with that seller to agree on terms and complete your purchase.
I hope this helps!
Kind regards,
Bella
How can I put my username….I just wanted to join..I have create my gmail ,the password, I have correct the captcha so am only having problem with username alone maybe you can sight an examples for me
Hi Habeeb,
Thanks for getting in touch! A username and password is very private information that only you should know and access. Think of a name that is unique that no other person can predict therefor we cannot assign a sample for you. Hope this clarifies!
Best,
Nikki
I want to create an account.
Hello Opeyemi,
Thank you for your comment.
To create a Paxful account, just go to their website and click Create Account located on the upper right side of the screen. When you successfully create a Paxful account, you’ll automatically get a Free Bitcoin wallet.
Should you wish to have real-time answers to your questions, try our chat box on the lower right corner of our page.
Regards,
Jhezelyn