By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The number of persons relying on the popular peer-to-peer finance platform, Paxful, for their crypto dealings has now reached 10 million after seven years of its inception.
Paxful has played a role in Africa’s trajectory as the leader of the financial revolution since it was established in 2015 with a simple mission to advance a truly global economy by building a financial system that serves the 100 per cent, not just the one per cent.
Globally, nearly $3 billion was traded on Paxful in 2021 and in Nigeria, the trade volume was over $760 million in the period under review, with Nigerian users now 2 million.
Despite the global financial crisis, Paxful is seeing that peer-to-peer and interest in Bitcoin is not slowing down as in the first half of 2022, Paxful users in Nigeria transacted cryptos of almost $400 million, showing that the emerging markets are still hungry for Bitcoin.
The founder/CEO of Paxful, Mr Ray Youssef, stated that “While many parts of the developed world are fixated on the speculative activity of Bitcoin, people in Africa are teaching us about its true use cases and the opportunity it presents for greater financial inclusion.”
“We do not want to downplay what’s happening in the market and the economic situation globally, but this is an opportunity for companies in the ecosystem to zoom out from the short-term focus and put effort into how and why Bitcoin creates an alternative financial option,” he added.
In just seven years, Paxful has grown into an organisation with nearly 400 employees globally and offices around the world.
The platform said it remains committed to further growing its footprint around the world and empowering users to take control of their financial future.
Paxful said it plans to continue to foster financial literacy and increase financial inclusion through education.
As part of Paxful’s mission to support emerging markets, Mr Youssef also co-founded the Built With Bitcoin Foundation, a non-profit organisation dedicated to creating equal opportunities by providing clean water, access to quality education, sustainable farming and humanitarian support – all powered by Bitcoin. The foundation has built eight schools across the continent, with two of them in Kaduna State, Nigeria.
Adedapo Adesanya