Ray Youssef, chief executive of Paxful, has become one of the latest supporters of self-custody wallet ownership amid the ongoing FTX crisis and its aftermath.
The executive said in an 11 December tweet: “[I] will be sending an email every week strongly advising our people to never keep savings on any exchange, including [Paxful]. This is the way! Self custody your savings ALWAYS!”
According to reports, Paxful manages over 11 million users. His comments come as multiple exchanges, including Kraken, Binance, and Crypto.com have also vowed to publish proof-of-reserves (PoR) on their websites.
FTX Collapse Sparks Self Custody Movement
The news comes after Sam Bankman-Fried, the former chief executive of the collapsed cryptocurrency platform, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on 11 November along with its research firm, Alameda Research, and 130 affiliated enterprises.
Fresh allegations have surfaced that Bankman-Fried had mismanaged and misappropriated funding via Alameda research, triggering firms to publish PoF to ensure the liquidity of their platforms.
Youssef added in his public message he had never mishandled any of the funds on his exchange, stating:
“My sole responsibility is to help and serve you. That’s why today I’m messaging all of our [Paxful] users to move your Bitcoin to self-custody. You should not keep your saving on Paxful, or any exchange, and only keep what you trade here.”
He also pledged to delist Ether (ETH) as a tradable asset due to an alleged lack of integrity compared to Bitcoin’s ecosystem. Similar delistings of ETH come after Jeremy Garcia, Satoshi’s Journal founder and chief executive, slammed Ethereum’s protocol.
Many have responded positively to his efforts to educate crypto holders, with other Twitter users adding their expertise and suggestions.
The news comes after Binance chief executive Changpeng Zhao (CZ) urged investors to transfer holdings to self-custody wallets following the FTX crash. He stated in a recent tweet that self-custody was a “fundamental human right” and called for cryptocurrency holders to “make sure you [do] it right.”
