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Millions in Bitcoin Routed Through Paxful Accounts

A court filing shows Paxful’s representative, Manfred Bekeris, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Chi Soo Kim on Monday, waived indictment, and entered a not-guilty plea, with a change-of-plea hearing set for Tuesday. As of Tuesday evening, the docket did not show the hearing result.

Schaback, Paxful’s former chief technology officer, pled guilty in early 2023 to conspiring to operate without required AML safeguards. His sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 6, 2026.

From January 2017 to September 2019, Paxful facilitated more than 26 million trades totaling nearly $3 billion, earning over $29.7 million in revenue. Prosecutors say the company gained at least $29.7 million from unlicensed money-transmitting activities alone.

Between December 2015 and September 2016, Paxful routed nearly $15 million in Bitcoin from its wallets to Backpage’s accounts. After Backpage was shut down, Paxful allegedly supported a successor site, helping funnel another $2 million in Bitcoin from 2018 through 2022, while tracking referral traffic from Paxful to the replacement platform.

Cooperation, Remediation Lead to Reduced Penalty

The plea agreement notes that Paxful Holdings cooperated extensively with investigators, accepted responsibility, and undertook sweeping remediation efforts—including hiring an independent auditor, replacing its compliance unit, freezing suspect transactions automatically, strengthening AML/KYC policies, halting U.S. operations, and removing all management tied to the misconduct.

Prosecutors initially calculated a criminal fine of $112.5 million, reflecting a 25% discount based on cooperation and lack of prior violations. But given Paxful’s financial condition, the government determined it could pay $4 million, which became the final penalty.

Representatives for both sides did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Legal Teams

The U.S. government is represented by Kevin Gerard Mosley, Caylee E. Campbell, and Katherine Nielsen of the DOJ, along with Matthew Thuesen from the Eastern District of California.

Paxful Holdings is represented by
Eugene Ingoglia (Esseks Ingoglia) and Patrick T. Hein (Allen Overy Shearman Sterling US LLP).