Crypto isn’t a zero-sum game; or at least, not yet. While some companies are attempting to compete for established markets, others have realized the potential to reach into new corners of the globe and create new markets.
One of these is US-based peer-to-peer crypto exchange Paxful. Much of the exchange’s growth has come from users in the African continent. In 2018, Paxful’s user base almost tripled in Ghana, with 41,243 accounts, and more than doubled in Nigeria to 321,476 accounts.
Since then, the platform has continued to grow–in October of 2019, Paxful recorded a 64% increase in the number of trades across the African continent since October of 2018, including a 2800% increase in trades from South Africa. In total, Paxful now has 3 million wallets and processes over 50,000 trades a day globally.
Paxful’s growth has not gone unnoticed. In December, Binance announced that Paxful’s web-based Virtual Bitcoin Kiosk was to be integrated and directly available on the Binance platform for new and existing users.
Recently, Finance Magnates spoke with Ray Youssef, Paxful’s chief executive and co-founder, about the exchange’s strategy for growth in Africa, the ethics of engaging with unbanked individuals, and the future of the exchange.