Paxful co-founder Ray Youssef becomes CEO of P2P financial communication app Noones

Industry veteran Ray Youssef has been appointed as CEO of Noones — a financial communication app aimed at connecting the Global South to the world’s financial systems via peer-to-peer technology.

Youssef brings extensive experience in the industry, particularly the peer-to-peer sector, having co-founded the popular bitcoin trading platform Paxful before his relationship with fellow co-founder Artur Shaback broke down amid a company implosion. He went on to co-author CivKit, designed to provide a “blueprint for developers and entrepreneurs to build their own censorship-resistant and permissionless global marketplace,” Youssef told The Block in May — with Noones now utilizing the open-source protocol.

Youssef also helped develop Built with Bitcoin — a humanitarian organization that aims to improve the financial health of communities across Africa using Bitcoin.

“For the past 8 years, I have fought for financial sovereignty for the Global South,” Youssef said in a statement. “I'm confident that Bitcoin will play a crucial role in promoting the prosperity of our continent. Our first major goal will be to create an interoperable Pan-African clearing layer taking intra African trade from the single digits, to levels comparable to intra-European trade.”

Noones 'official launch'

Youssef’s appointment marks the “official launch” of Noones, having accrued over 400,000 users worldwide in just under four months of operations, with its biggest markets in Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, India and the Philippines, according to the platform.

Noones is designed to target the inefficiencies of legacy banking systems, enabling users to transact more freely and quickly using peer-to-peer technology. Peer-to-peer marketplaces allow users to buy and sell digital assets directly with others, in-person or online. This contrasts with traditional crypto exchanges, which facilitate trading between buyers and sellers.

The Noones app comprises a marketplace where users across 190 countries can trade bitcoin and stablecoins using over 400 payment methods — including gift cards, mobile money, bank transfers and other cryptocurrencies — and a messenger through which the majority of peer-to-peer trades take place.

Additionally, Noones plans to introduce wallet functionality for bill payments in collaboration with top African vendors.

Youssef said he is passionate about Bitcoin’s potential to help eradicate poverty and give the Global South a bigger voice in the world’s financial ecosystem. “The internet, mobile phones and a wave of disruptive startups failed to truly disrupt money,” Youssef said. “At Noones, we believe that Bitcoin is the way. New financial tools are creating unprecedented, borderless opportunities and these tools empower and will continue to empower the people in ways never seen before.”

Paxful implosion and Youssef's Noones connection

Founded in 2015, Paxful hit $5 billion in total volume traded on the platform in 2021, with Nigeria, China, India, Kenya and the U.S. its top five countries by volume. It was listed as one of the most influential companies of 2022 by Time, boasting around 9 million users at the time.

However, Paxful shut down its marketplace in April this year, two months after rival LocalBitcoins closed as the peer-to-peer market dwindled amid challenging regulatory conditions for the industry. Youssef claimed that a lawsuit filed by Paxful co-founder Artur Shaback "drove away all of the senior-level team," with Paxful offering migration to other options for non-U.S. users, including platforms like Noones, as Youssef stood down as CEO.

“Shaback decided to sue me because he wouldn't get his nine-figure payday if the company dissolved,” Youssef told The Block in May. “So it was purely out of greed.”

Shaback said the two “had differences in the business direction and governance of Paxful,” and that Youssef migrated Paxful’s IP, userbase, wallet history and passwords to Noones.

“He could not take me with him due to me being a U.S. resident,” Shaback said in an email to The Block at the time, adding that he may not continue pursuing the lawsuit as it takes time and resources and may instead seek a settlement.

Youssef then announced plans to reopen peer-to-peer trading via his CivKit initiative, stating that instead of "Know-Your-Customer," CivKit will use “Know-Your-Peer oracles. KYC is horrible." Despite this, Noones still requires a KYC onboarding process, according to the statement.

Shaback later said Paxful was back up and running, led by a Delaware lawyer.