Paxful, one of the largest peer-to-peer exchange platforms, has announced that it will be removing Ethereum from its marketplace. In a statement, the company’s founder, Ray Youssef, said that although revenue is important, the company values integrity above all else.
Paxful, which allows users to buy and sell Bitcoin using a variety of payment methods, has been popular not just among bitcoiners. However, the company has now decided to remove Ethereum from its platform due to concerns about its reliability and security.
“We have been closely monitoring the Ethereum network and have come to the decision that it is no longer suitable for our users,” Youssef said. “We take the security and integrity of our platform very seriously, and believe that this is the best decision for the long-term health of our business and our customers.”
The decision to remove Ethereum is celebrated by bitcoiners who believe that altcoins cannot succeed unless Bitcoin succeeds and therefore are slowing adoption of Bitcoin.
While Ethereum supporters argue that the network is no less secure than other cryptocurrencies, and that Paxful’s decision is misguided, experts like Jimmy Song have educated about the technical risks and pitfalls.
In a podcast titled “Killing the hopes and dreams of shitcoin bagholders” Song explained that Ethereum is insecure because the protocol could become more and more centralized.
Youssef has become a Bitcoin purist over the past years which culminates in the decision to remove Ethereum entirely. Paxful has been fast to integrate Lightning and the company has worked on their image to be seen as a business that cares about Bitcoin adoption more than about profit.
Other Ethereum supporters such as Udi Wertheimer have pointed out that stablecoins are based on the Etherum network and asked whether they would be removed:
“The quoted tweet says this is about engineering. If so, are you going to remove stablecoins too? They use the same ethereum infrastructure…” Udi Wertheimer
Paxful’s Ray Youssef answered:
“Stablecoins remain, hence why we keep eth on the wallet for stablecoin transactions. Stablecoins solve real problems. Wish they were on bitcoin tho. “
