Peer-to-peer exchange Paxful welcomes new interim CEO

Paxful, a global peer-to-peer bitcoin exchange platform, has announced the appointment of Roshan Dharia as the new interim CEO. The company’s press team announced that Dharia’s appointment became effective on Wednesday, May 30.

Key details

• Per Paxful’s statement, Dharia's role will involve enhancing operations and investigating strategic alternatives to further strengthen the company.
• Dharia was formerly a senior executive of TrustToken, a deFi lending platform which deploys stablecoin loans to crypto-native companies.
• He also founded PTHL Affiliates, an investment platform which specializes in the acquisition and turnaround of distressed private companies across multiple industries.

What was said

The new CEO, Roshan Dharia expressed optimism about the appointment, saying:

“Over the last eight years, Paxful has been a pioneer in establishing the real use cases of Bitcoin and helping millions of people in the process. I look forward to hitting the ground running and building on the innovative technology developed by the Paxful team,” he said.

• Paxful’s custodian, Srinivas Raju commented on Dharia’s appointment:

“I’m delighted that Roshan has joined Paxful and will take over day-to-day management of the company. I’m confident under his leadership the business will keep building a financial system that truly serves the 100%.”

Of note: Paxful's former CEO, Ray Youssef criticized the appointment on Twitter, saying he has no part in Paxful’s business decision, and users should take their issues to directly Dharia.

Background

• In 2015, Ray Youssef and Artur Schaback co-founded Paxful, with Youssef taking on the position of CEO and Schaback serving as the Chief Technical Officer.
• In April, Youssef announced that the exchange was suspending operations and he was unsure whether operations would resume. He cited challenges, including key staff departures and regulatory issues, especially in the U.S., as reasons behind the decision.
• Another reason attributed to the shutdown was the soured relationship between the cofounders. Youssef said that he was slammed with a lawsuit by Schaback for wrongful termination.
• Later in April, Youssef stepped down as Paxful’s CEO.