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Paxful Review 2021 | Buy, Sell and Trade Cryptocurrency

In this article, we will review Paxful, a peer-to-peer platform to buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrency.

Artur Schaback and Ray Youssef founded EasyBitz in 2014. EasyBitz was then renamed as Paxful. Paxful is one of the best peer-to-peer finance platforms for trading cryptocurrency. The platform is like a marketplace where buyers and sellers get connected for business.

Paxful has over 300 payment methods, which make it effortless to find suitable offers. Paxful intends to give the users complete control over their money. The peer-to-peer system of this platform eliminates borders as well as limits. Users can send money and purchase things from almost anywhere in the world. This is how users can utilize Paxful. Paxful’s community has over 4.8 million users, and it is continuously growing.

Paxful Review: Summary

  • Paxful is one of the best peer-to-peer finance platforms for trading cryptocurrency.
  • It provides marketplace services in two forms: Virtual Kiosk link’ and ‘Pay with Paxful.’
  • Paxful does offer a secure and free bitcoin wallet right after you create an account on Paxful.
  • It does have four verification levels. Every level has a different buying limit.
  • You can buy Bitcoin on Paxful by finding an order, beginning the trade, and lastly, receiving the Bitcoin. The buying process is the same for (Tether USDT).
  • You can sell Bitcoin on Paxful by setting your requirements, reviewing offers, beginning the trade, and finally leaving the feedback. The selling process is the same for (Tether USDT).
  • This peer-to-peer platform caters to the buying and selling of Bitcoin and Tether only for the most part. Paxful’s sellers accept over 300 payment methods.
  • This platform does offer an escrow service for every Bitcoin transaction.
  • The Paxful mobile app allows transfers anywhere, at any time, and with anyone. It is an ultimate companion tool to the Paxful platform.
  • Paxful offers 24/7 customer support. You can get in touch with Paxful’s support teams through its contact form.

Paxful Services

Paxful provides its marketplace service in two forms. Paxful has a ‘Virtual Kiosk link.’ Any website owner or person can use this. Essentially, the virtual kiosk is Paxful’s affiliate program. It allows people to spread the word about this platform and generate a 2% revenue from any amount bought.

Paxful also provides ‘Pay with Paxful’. This payment processing feature can be added to the websites. It lets merchants accept any of the Paxful’s 300+ payment options through a Paxful widget on their websites.

How to get started on Paxful?

Following are the steps to get started with Paxful.

Create a Paxful account and login

Visit Paxful and click on ‘Get Started’ at the top. After this, click on ‘Create Account.’ Fill in all your details and click on ‘Create Account.’ Shortly, you will get the verification link at your email address. Click on it for your email verification. After this process, you can log into Paxful for the first time.

Paxful wallet

Paxful does offer a secure and free Bitcoin wallet right after you create an account on Paxful.

Verification and buying limits on Paxful

Paxful does have four verification levels. Every level has different limits:

  • Level 1 : Phone and email verification. Here, the limit is $1,000.
  • Level 2 : Level 1 requirements + ID verification. Here the limit is $10,000.
  • Level 3 : Level 2 requirements + address verification. Here, the limit is $50,000.
  • Level 4 : Level 3 requirements + enhanced due diligence. There is no limit to this level.

The U.S. users must complete levels 1, 2, and 3 to trade on Paxful.

How to buy Bitcoin on Paxful?

  1. Find an offer: Once you have created an account on Paxful, select the mode of payment, the amount of Bitcoin that you intend to purchase, and your preferred currency. After this, click ‘Search For Offers.’ Check out the list of offers and select the one that matches your specifications the most. Then, review the seller’s terms. Please check the rates set by the sellers as well as their feedback and reputation scores to assess their credibility.
  2. Begin the trade: When you are satisfied with the seller’s terms, insert the amount of Bitcoin you intend to purchase. Then, start the trade. After this, a live chat with the seller will be opened. Do as instructed by the seller to make the payment and confirm it.
  3. Receive the Bitcoin: The Bitcoin will then be released by the seller directly into your Paxful wallet.

Paxful Review: How to buy Tether (USDT) on Paxful?

The process of buying Tether (USDT) is the same as the process of buying Bitcoin on Paxful.

How to sell Bitcoin on Paxful?

  1. Set your requirements: Select your preferred payment method as well as the maximum amount of Bitcoin that you intend to sell. You can also indicate your preferred currency and your location. After you get done, click ‘Search For Offers.’ You will then see a list of offers.
  2. Review offers: You must check the important information about the buyer, such as their name, reputation, verification level, and rate per Bitcoin. After you have found a suitable offer, click ‘Sell.’ This won’t open trade but will guide you through the offer conditions and terms set by the buyer.
  3. Start the trade: When you are satisfied with the buyer’s terms, fill in the amount you are ready to trade for and click ‘Sell Now.’ This will open a live trade chat as well as move your Bitcoin to Paxful’s secured escrow. Please read all the provided instructions carefully and follow them. Your buyer will also complete their end of the trade. You can then go ahead and release the Bitcoin after you receive the payment. Download a public receipt once the trade is over.
  4. Leave feedback: Once you sell your Bitcoin, do remember to give your trade partner’s feedback. This is crucial for Paxful as it helps in building a user’s reputation.

How to sell (USDT) on Paxful?

The process of selling Tether is the same as the process of selling Bitcoin on Paxful.

Paxful Fees

Trading fee

Buying Cryptocurrency

When you buy cryptocurrency from another customer on Paxful, you are purchasing cryptocurrency at the rate set by the customers. These rates depend and vary based on several factors like your payment method, verification status, order size, and currency pair (such as USD, EUR, CNY)

Selling Cryptocurrency

At the beginning of the trade, the escrow amount gets deducted from your Paxful wallet. Paxful receives the escrow fee after the trade is successfully completed. If the trade is not completed, then Paxful does not take a fee.

Fee for sending and receiving Bitcoin

  • Paxful does charge a wallet send-out fee for each send-out from a Paxful wallet to an external Bitcoin address.
  • The given fee covers maintenance of Paxful’s wallet infrastructure and the associated miner fee.
  • There are no charges for sending Bitcoin to a Paxful customer. However, you will be charged after the first five transactions made per month. After your first five transactions (sending Bitcoin), you will be charged a fee of $1.00 or 1% of the amount you send. Out of these fees, whichever is greater will be applied to every transaction. The fee gets charged in Bitcoin and is calculated based on the market rate of Bitcoin at that time. If you don’t possess Bitcoin equivalent to $1.00, then you can’t send funds.

Fee for sending and receiving Tether (USDT)

  • You have to pay a fee for receiving (depositing) USDT from an external address to your Paxful Tether wallet. This fee is the network fee. This network fee consists of the deposit consolidation fee multiplied by the current Ethereum rate.
  • Once you click receive, you will be able to see the rough estimate of the fees in your Tether wallet. The actual fee is calculated after the deposit arrives. This fee could be different from the estimated amount seen earlier. This difference occurs as a result of the constantly changing price of Ethereum.
  • No additional fee is charged on top of the Ethereum network fee for incoming Tether transactions from external wallets.
  • Suppose funds are sent to you from a Paxful Tether wallet. In that case, there is no fee for receiving (depositing) USDT to your Paxful Tether wallet.

Fee for sending and receiving Ethereum (ETH)

Fee for converting cryptocurrency on Paxful

Paxful Stablecoin

The quoted price that you get from the Stablecoin Counterparty is inclusive of all the charges and fees. This price may include extra fees charged by Stablecoin Counterparty or/and third-party fees, which are also required to facilitate this transaction.

Currencies and Payment methods on Paxful

This peer-to-peer platform caters to the buying and selling of Bitcoin and Tether only for the most part. This platform does not hold fiat currencies for the users as the money is sent directly to the sellers. Paxful’s sellers accept over 300 payment methods. The most well-known methods are Paypal, Amazon gift cards, wire transfers, and Western Union. Do remember that different payment methods will lead to different exchange rates. For example, Payment methods that permit chargebacks (credit cards, PayPal) will cost more. In comparison, non-refundable payment methods (cash, bank transfers) will generally have lower exchange rates.

Paxful Escrow

This platform does offer an escrow service for every Bitcoin transaction. After a buyer finds a seller and the seller accepts the offer, the Bitcoin gets moved to escrow from the vendor’s wallet. After this, the seller won’t be able to cancel the trade. However, the buyer has just a little time to send the money to the seller. In case the buyer fails to do so in the given time, the deal will be rendered incomplete. Consequently, the Bitcoin will get returned to the seller’s wallet. The transaction has to be verified as confirmed by both parties.

Suppose at any point there is a dispute. In that case, Paxful’s moderators will make a careful decision based on the available details. The Bitcoins will then be given to the seller or buyer accordingly. Mostly, the transactions go smoothly because of this platform’s strict moderation.

How to use Paxful safely?

You might mistake Paxful’s integrity for the seller’s integrity. However, Paxful is like a marketplace. This means that some sellers are not trustworthy and might turn out to be scammers. Here are some things to remember while trading on Paxful:

  • Do not conduct any communications outside of Paxful. Please ensure that everything gets documented within the system. As the moderators would be able to help you in case of a dispute.
  • Ensure that the user you are trading with is online. This is because the un-answered orders get auto-canceled in a short time.
  • Don’t release the payment from the escrow if you don’t have full control over the payment. This means that it should be confirmed in your account.
  • Please don’t send the money if you can’t afford to lose it.

Paxful mobile app

The Paxful mobile app allows transfers anywhere, at any time, and with anyone. It is an ultimate companion tool to the Paxful platform. You can safely store your crypto in your own mobile cryptocurrency wallet. Check your balance at any time. Here are the links to download the app:

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Paxful Review: Supported countries

Paxful is available all over the world except for the countries such as Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, North Korea, Republic of Congo, Somalia, South Sudan-related Sanctions, Sudan and Darfur, Syria, Yemen, Burundi, Central African Republic Sanctions, Cuba, Crimea region.

Paxful Review: Contact support

Paxful offers 24/7 customer support. You can get in touch with Paxful’s support teams through its contact form.

Paxful Review: Conclusion

Paxful gives power to the people for selling, buying, and trading digital currencies. It has over 300 payment methods. It also provides an escrow service. Notably, Paxful offers a seamless experience as it is an easy-to-use platform.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Paxful Legit?

Yes, Paxful is absolutely legit. Paxful also provides an escrow service for the security of its users.

How to contact Paxful?

Paxful offers 24/7 customer support. You can get in touch with Paxful’s support teams through its contact form.

Do scams occur on Paxful?

Even with Paxful’s strong protection, it is still a marketplace. This means that some sellers are not trustworthy and might turn out to be scammers. If you follow all the rules given on Paxful, then you will stay safe on Paxful.

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Originally published at https://blog.coincodecap.com on March 9, 2021.


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