Ray Youssef is the co-founder and CEO of Paxful, a global peer-to-peer cryptocurrency platform with over nine million users. He is a passionate believer in the power of Bitcoin to transform the lives of the unbanked and underbanked around the world.

Youssef co-founded Paxful in 2015 after experiencing homelessness and discovering Bitcoin as a way to rebuild his life. Since then, he has been on a mission to provide financial inclusion and education to millions of people in developing and emerging markets across Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and Latin America. He also founded the Built With Bitcoin Foundation, a non-profit organization that builds schools, water wells, and community gardens in Africa using Bitcoin donations, and Civ Kit, a blueprint for developers and entrepreneurs to build their own censorship-resistant and permissionless global marketplace using Bitcoin.

Youssef is a frequent speaker and thought leader on topics such as crypto adoption, social entrepreneurship, and financial empowerment.