Paxful shutdown hits Nigeria harder than the rest of the world, here’s why
Paxful’s shutdown has left its global community heartbroken, but it has significantly impacted the Nigerian community, where it pioneered P2P crypto use. The shutdown of the peer-to-peer (P2P) cryptocurrency marketplace Paxful has left its worldwide community searching for alternatives, but it appears to have significantly affected the Nigerian crypto community. On April 4th, Paxful declared that it would halt its operations. The reason for this decision, according to the founder and CEO Ray Youssef’s blog, was due to “key staff departures” and the regulatory environment. According to a study by Chainalysis’ 2020 Cryptocurrency Geography Report, Nigeria ranked eighth in crypto adoption and usage among 154 countries included in the study. Acceptance and usage of crypto in Nigeria were not as high until Paxful pioneered the use of peer-to-peer technology in the country, helping expand the crypto industry. A Nigerian crypto user, Emmanuel Susegh, told Cointelegraph that the shutdown o...