Earlier this year, we released Paxful’s “Did You Know” campaign, and we’re so grateful to have had you along the thrilling journey! From day one of our campaign, the learnings about bitcoin, the cryptocurrency sphere, and Paxful’s platform have been never-ending.

In this article, we’ll be looking into the possible reasons and activities that could lead to your Paxful account getting frozen. These include, but are not limited to, potential pending trade disputes, enabled geolocation, compliance to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions, and other serious violations to Paxful’s Terms of Service.

Activities that could lead to a frozen account

Entering the world of bitcoin trading opens a realm of new opportunities, responsibilities, and risks. Running your business on a peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplace is also no easy feat. To keep the platform safe, Paxful could restrict the account access of certain users.  

Having a pending trade dispute

Among the most common reasons for a frozen account is having a trade dispute to be resolved. A dispute is any misunderstanding or disagreement between two parties within a trade. On Paxful, disputes are useful when a trade does not go as planned. When a dispute is started, a moderator will step in to settle it. It is important to note that both parties should be online and responsive while the dispute is being resolved. Otherwise, the users’ accounts will remain frozen.

Geolocation lock on User Accounts

Another common reason is the Geolocation lock on User Accounts. Paxful has enabled this additional layer of security to protect our users and their bitcoin. If you login from any new location without your 2FA authentication app enabled, your Paxful account will be automatically locked for security reasons. To be able to log in, account confirmation and approval must be done through email.

OFAC sanctions

Another possible reason is the limitation of access to our platform due to Paxful’s compliance towards OFAC (the Office of Foreign Assets Control) sanctions. As a result, users and traffic from select jurisdictions are restricted from using Paxful’s services. These countries include Burundi, Central African Republic Sanctions, Cuba, Crimea region, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, South Sudan-related Sanctions, Sudan and Darfur, Syria, and Yemen.

Various fraudulent trade activities

Other forms of fraudulent activities that can lead to account restriction include:

• Vendors asking to cancel the trade after the payment was completed
• Conducting a trade off escrow
• Chargebacks or reversing the payment after it has been processed
• Coin locking or holding a seller’s bitcoin in escrow without the intention to make the payment and complete the trade
• Forcing or tricking a trade partner to immediately release their bitcoin
• Exploiting to receive financial support through the unauthorized or improper use of funds, or coercing or deceiving people to release their possessions

Severe violations against Paxful’s ToS

There are other fraudulent activities and more serious violations against Paxful’s Terms of Service (ToS) that can lead to account restrictions, so be sure to review the ToS to avoid any unnecessary limitations to your account.

Having multiple Paxful accounts

On Paxful, we highly value our users and the safety of all trades. We do not allow users to have multiple accounts on our platform, as this is an unreasonable advantage in the natural competition flow of the market. Once Paxful’s system and moderators detect such cases, alternate accounts will be automatically restricted.

Using a fake identity or falsified verification documents

Using a false identity or falsified documents to verify your Paxful account or trade requirements can lead to an account being frozen. Paxful’s system and compliance team will be able to detect and identify these fraudulent account verification attempts.

If your account is flagged for any suspicious activity stated in the company’s ToS, Paxful reserves the right to lock your account for security purposes to prevent any criminal action on our platform. Check out our Frequently Asked Questions page, or join the Paxful School Facebook group to learn more!