Paxful exits Venezuela’s peer-to-peer Bitcoin scene

Paxful has announced plans to pull out of Venezuela’s peer-to-peer (P2P) Bitcoin market, citing regulations and its own ‘risk tolerance’.

A company spokeswoman confirmed the exit with CoinDesk. Thus, new Venezuelan account creation will be disabled, and existing users will have 30 days to withdraw, according to an exit plan shared with CoinDesk.

In addition to difficulties raised by Venezuela’s internal cryptocurrency regulator SUNACRIP, in June 2020, Paxful shut off trades involving the Bank of Venezuela, blaming US sanctions.

The departure will deprive Venezuela’s underground cryptocurrency scene of its second-largest P2P outlet. Venezuela’s crypto traders heavily favour P2P crypto exchanges like Paxful and market leader LocalBitcoins over government-approved alternatives.