Exclusive

Paxful's co-founder Ray Youssef has a new P2P plan

by Davis Quinton and Frank Chaparro

Companies • May 5, 2023, 4:56PM EDT

UPDATED: May 11, 2023, 3:39PM EDT

The Block

Quick Take

Former Paxful CEO Ray Youssef is workin to allow anyone to create permissionless peer-to-peer marketplaces using Nostr and the Lightening Network.

Episode 44 of Season 5 of The Scoop was recorded with The Block's Frank Chaparro, and former Paxful CEO Ray Youssef.

Listen below, and subscribe to The Scoop on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Please send feedback and revision requests to [email protected].

Ray Youssef is the co-founder and former CEO of Paxful — a once-prominent peer-to-peer ('P2P') Bitcoin marketplace that shut down in April after operating globally for nearly a decade.

Shortly after Paxful closed shop, Youssef released the Civ Kit white paper outlining a P2P electronic market system combining Nostr architecture and Bitcoin's Lightning Network to resist censorship and promote permissionless trading.

In this episode, Youssef lays out his ambitions for how the Civ Kit will lead to thousands of plug-and-play P2P marketplaces around the world, and how decentralized identity tech developed by Jack Dorsey's company TBD plays an important part in the process.

This episode is brought to you by our sponsor CleanSpark.

About CleanSpark

CleanSpark (NASDAQ: CLSK) is America’s Bitcoin Miner™. Visit cleanspark.com/theblock to learn more about the CleanSpark way.

About Authors

Davis Quinton is the Director of Podcasts at The Block and runs our flagship podcast called The Scoop, hosted by Frank Chaparro. Since joining The Block as an 'intern' in early 2022, he has worked closely with leaders across departments to translate The Block's written content into engaging multimedia formats. He holds a degree in Social Research & Public Policy from New York University in Abu Dhabi and is based in Sydney, Australia.

Frank Chaparro is Host of The Scoop podcast and Director of Special Projects. He also writes a biweekly newsletter. Chaparro started his career at Business Insider, where he specialized in the intersection of digital assets and Wall Street, market structure, and financial technology. Soon after joining Business Insider out of Fordham University, Chaparro was interviewing top finance and tech executives, including billionaire Mark Cuban, “Flash Boys” star Brad Katsuyama, Cboe Global Markets CEO Ed Tilly, and New York Stock Exchange President Tom Farley. In 2018, he become a sought after reporter in the crypto world, interviewing luminaries such as Tyler Winklevoss, the cofounder of Gemini, Jeremy Allaire, the CEO of Circle, and Fundstrat head Tom Lee. For inquiries or tips, email [email protected].