According to ChainCatcher news, as monitored by ZachXBT, as of today, all four stablecoin issuers (Paxful, Tether, Techteryx, Circle) have blacklisted the following two addresses, which are held by the Lazarus Group with 4.96 million dollars. An additional 1.65 million dollars have been frozen across various exchanges, bringing the total amount frozen in this investigation to 6.98 million dollars.

ChainCatcher news, Paxful co-founder and former Chief Technology Officer Artur Schaback pleaded guilty on Monday to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering (AML) program at the cryptocurrency exchange, and now faces up to five years in prison.On July 8, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that Schaback is scheduled to be sentenced on November 4, and he will resign from the Paxful board.A plea agreement submitted the same day in a California federal court shows that government prosecutors agreed to impose a $5 million fine on Schaback, which he will pay in three installments: $1 million on the day of the plea, $3 million on the day of sentencing, and the final $1 million to be paid within the next two years.

ChainCatcher news, Bitcoin P2P marketplace Paxful appoints Roshan Dharia as the new interim CEO. Roshan Dharia was previously the manager of DeFi institutional lending at TrustToken (now known as Archblock) and founded the investment platform PTHL Affiliates before joining TrustToken.Earlier, ChainCatcher reported in April this year that Paxful's two co-founders, Artur Schaback and Mohamad (Ray) Youssef, had filed lawsuits against each other over control of the company, making multiple accusations against one another. These accusations included misappropriation of company funds, money laundering, and evading U.S. sanctions against Russia. Former CEO Ray Youssef unilaterally shut down the platform and subsequently resigned from the CEO position. In early May, Paxful has relaunched and started operating. (source link)

ChainCatcher news, the Bitcoin P2P market Paxful has resumed operations, "Throughout the suspension, the Paxful wallet remained fully operational for users, and the community could choose to continue trading on the peer-to-peer platform."Previously reported, in April, Paxful CEO Ray Youssef announced the suspension of market services, uncertain whether it would restart, and the Paxful wallet was available for customers to withdraw funds. (Source link)

ChainCatcher news, former Paxful CEO Ray Youssef is collaborating with Jack Dorsey's Bitcoin company TBD to launch a plug-and-play P2P marketplace that allows anyone to create permissionless P2P markets using Nostr and the Lightning Network.It is reported that Paxful is a well-known P2P Bitcoin marketplace that operated globally for nearly 10 years before shutting down in April this year. Shortly after Paxful's closure, Ray Youssef released the Civ Kit whitepaper, outlining a P2P electronic marketplace system that combines Nostr architecture and the Bitcoin Lightning Network to resist censorship and promote permissionless transactions. (source link)

ChainCatcher news, Ray Youssef, the co-founder of Paxful who previously resigned as CEO, has committed to placing 99.9% of his 45% personal stake in Paxful into a public trust fund to address the issue of frozen user funds and ensure the reliability of the Paxful wallet.Ray Youssef stated that 88% of the frozen user funds have been unfrozen, and currently only about 3.3% of customer funds remain in the Paxful wallet, totaling just under $4.5 million. After repaying the assets of frozen Paxful users, any remaining funds will be directly used for the Built With Bitcoin Foundation to build schools.Due to a deadlock between Ray Youssef and another co-founder regarding the company's direction, both parties have agreed to appoint Srinivas Raju from the law firm Richards, Layton & Finger (appointed by court order) as the custodian of Paxful throughout the process. Srinivas Raju now has full power and control over the company's operations and management, and will assist in stabilizing Paxful over the next month while preparing to present business recommendations for Paxful to the court. (source link)

ChainCatcher news, Ray Youssef, who stepped down as CEO of Paxful on April 18, stated that he and the co-founder have reached an impasse regarding the company's direction, and both parties have agreed to appoint Srinivas Raju from the law firm Richards, Layton & Finger (appointed by court order) as the custodian of Paxful throughout the process. As the custodian, Srini has full power and control over the company and its operations and management. In the coming month, Srini will attempt to help stabilize Paxful while preparing to propose to the court how the business should proceed. Srini is considering all possible suggestions for the future of Paxful.Ray Youssef stated that although he has resigned as CEO, his top priority will still be to resolve the issue of frozen user funds and the reliability of the Paxful wallet. Through his efforts, 88% of the frozen accounts have been unfrozen. Paxful still has just under $450 in frozen funds, accounting for about 3.3% of all customer funds that cannot be withdrawn.Youssef had previously proposed an agreement to another co-founder, asking him to buy all of Youssef's shares in Paxful for 1 satoshi, provided he performed the necessary compliance work to unfreeze the remaining accounts, but the latter rejected the proposal.Now Ray Youssef has proposed a new plan to address the issue without the approval of the other co-founder. Ray Youssef will place 99.9% of his personal shares in Paxful (which accounts for over 45% of the company) into a public trust fund. The funds generated from Ray Youssef's shares will be used to ensure that every Paxful user's funds are intact. Any remaining funds will be directly provided to the Built With Bitcoin Foundation to build schools.Additionally, Ray Youssef's goal is for Paxful Wallet to remain operational for at least two years, allowing Paxful to withdraw all frozen funds from the platform and giving users time to retrieve them. "Through my public trust, I will still retain my board voting rights and will continue to hold Paxful accountable to the best interests of users." (source link)

ChainCatcher news, Paxful co-founder Ray Youssef assured creditors that the platform is under the supervision of a trustee and he will not "run away" with the funds, as doing so would "ruin his reputation." It is reported that Paxful announced a halt in operations two weeks ago, and it is uncertain whether the platform will reopen.According to a tweet posted by Ray Youssef, he will step down as CEO of Paxful on April 18. Currently, the company is controlled by a Delaware law firm acting as a trustee overseeing all funds and operations of the platform. Ray Youssef pointed out that Paxful still has $4.4 million in frozen funds, which accounts for about 3.3% of all customer funds that cannot be withdrawn. However, as his "last act as CEO," Youssef also revealed that after 10 days of effort, 88% of the frozen accounts have been unfrozen. "To unfreeze these accounts, I gave up the title of CEO, and I also risked being held in contempt of court."He advocates for all crypto users to self-custody. He stated that he has "no power" to unfreeze the remaining 12% of accounts that are still locked. "If your account is still frozen, I am sorry, but I do not have the power to unfreeze these funds; they are in the hands of U.S. regulators. I have no authority, and I never had the authority to use customer funds. Avoid U.S. companies, always self-custody!" (source link)

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, after the peer-to-peer Bitcoin trading platform Paxful announced its suspension of operations, Paxful co-founder Ray Youssef plans to launch a new platform called Civilization Kit (Civ Kit).Youssef stated that Civ Kit is a decentralized peer-to-peer Bitcoin trading application built on the decentralized social protocol Nostr, supported by Jack Dorsey. The white paper for Civ Kit will be released in a week or two. (source link)

ChainCatcher news, Paxful founder Ray Youssef tweeted that he will refund Paxful users for the funds lost in Celsius Earn, and users' Celsius funds will be available in their Paxful wallets later this week. (Source link)

ChainCatcher news, Bitcoin P2P market Paxful CEO and co-founder Ray Youssef shared his recent weekly letter sent to users on Twitter, notifying them to transfer their Bitcoin to self-custody wallets, and stating that users should not keep deposits on Paxful or any exchange, as Paxful only retains tokens that are in demand for trading.It is reported that Paxful is a peer-to-peer marketplace similar to eBay, where users can buy and sell cryptocurrencies using over 300 payment options. (source link)