Turkish crypto exchange halts trading amid reports of police raid

April 22, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Adoption

Thodex has gone silent since announcing a halt in trading and withdrawals.

Major Turkish cryptocurrency exchange Thodex has abruptly halted trading and withdrawals amid reports of police raids, Cointelegraph Turkey reported on Thursday.

Thodex posted an official announcement on Twitter on Thursday, informing users that it has halted transactions for a period of four to five days. According to a statement, the platform stopped trading and withdrawals due to a purported partnership with “world-renowned banks and funding companies” to improve its services.

Thodex said that its clients should not be worried about their investments, stating that “users will be informed regularly” during the suspension period. The exchange had previously announced a six-hour-long maintenance break on Tuesday.

The abrupt suspension of trading and withdrawals has concerned the crypto community, as the exchange has gone radio silent since announcing the interruption.

Local publications speculated that the suspension could be part of an exit scam amid reports that the company’s founder, Faruk Fatih Özer, has fled to Thailand with $2 billion worth of crypto. The founder allegedly left Istanbul Airport on Tuesday, while local authorities have launched a criminal investigation against the firm and raided Thodex’s offices.

Thodex did not respond to Cointelegraph’s requests for comment.

The news comes amid a new wave of concern over the Turkish government’s stance on cryptocurrency regulation. The country’s central bank officially announced a ban on crypto payments effective as of April 30.

Additional reporting by Erhan Kahraman and Ayse Karaman.

wNews: How a Dogecoin Pump Upstaged the Coinbase Listing

April 17, 2021 The Crypto Briefing

Bitcoin caught in the crossfire as Turkish opposition leader voices support

April 16, 2021 Coin Telegraph

BTC

After a blanket ban on crypto, Bitcoin is now a talking point for Turkey's politicians.

Shortly after a Friday morning “diktat” from Turkey’s freshly-appointed central bank governor that effectively banned any and all use of cryptocurrency in the country, Bitcoin (BTC) now appears caught in a partisan dustup as a Turkish opposition party leader has voiced support for the digital currency.

As reported by Cointelegraph, Turkey’s central bank announced on Friday that starting April 30, any cryptocurrency payments and fiat-to-crypto onramp transactions will be rendered illegal. Additionally, “Any direct or indirect usage of crypto assets in payment services and electronic money issuance” will be prohibited.

In a response to the drastic announcement, Turkish opposition party leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu came out in support of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in general in a series of tweets:

Tüm gün farklı paydaşlarla görüştüm. Blockchain ve kripto 1 milyar dolarlık (Unicorn) teşebbüslerimizin çıkacağı yegane alandır. Türkiye’nin
finansal teknoloji girişimlerine darbe vurdular. Gençlere tahammülleri yok bunların. Yok yok yok! https://t.co/lKGwm9Tt7q
— Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu (@kilicdarogluk) April 16, 2021

“To whom did you consult the crypto decision, O ruler?” he asked, presumably referring to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has been referred to as an authoritarian and a dictator. “I will sit down and consult with all the stakeholders of this issue.”

He later noted that after conversations with “stakeholders all day,” he came to the conclusion that crypto was the most likely sector for Turkey to produce “unicorn” companies worth over $1 billion. He added that the announcement demonstrates the ruling party has “no tolerance for young people.”

Beyond its utility as a political talking point, the ban will have a material impact on many Turks. A survey in 2019 found that Turkey is one of the leading countries for cryptocurrency adoption (though that study has come under heavy scrutiny). It sports a lira-pegged stablecoin listed on multiple exchanges, and a local exchange, BtcTurk, even sponsors football clubs.

The writing may have been on the wall for crypto in Turkey, however. In an effort to gain control over the country’s payments infrastructure, Turkey banned PayPal in 2016. Likewise, plans were underway in 2020 for a government-run digital currency, and perhaps most noxious for Turkey's rulers, BTC hit all-time highs against the lira earlier this year.

Turkish money has lost 70% plus of Its value in the last 6 years. 16% per year right now. #Bitcoin is Freedom
— Dennis Parker (@Xentagz) April 16, 2021

Turkey Bans Cryptocurrency Use for Payments as Local Currency Plunges

April 16, 2021 Bitcoin.com

Turkey Bans the Use of Cryptocurrencies for Payments

April 16, 2021 The Crypto Briefing

Turkey takes aim at the cryptocurrency space.

Turkey Banning Crypto Payments

Using cryptocurrencies for payments will be banned from Apr. 30, the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) has announced.

The bank has introduced the “Regulation on the Disuse of Crypto Assets in Payments” to enforce the ban. An article published by the Turkish government’s official newspaper says:

“The purpose of this regulation is not to use crypto assets in payments, not to use crypto assets directly or indirectly in the provision of payment services and electronic money issuance, and payment and electronic money institutions to platforms that offer trading, custody, transfer or issuance services for crypto assets or it is the determination of the procedures and principles regarding not mediating the fund transfers from these platforms.”

Businesses will be blocked from building products that use crypto assets for payment services and integrating crypto trading and custodial platforms.

In a press release, the central bank said that the ban had been introduced because crypto assets are not regulated or supervised, their prices can be volatile, they may be used in illegal activities, wallets can be stolen, and transactions are irreversible. Authorities have long pointed to crypto’s alleged use in illegal activities as a reason to be cautious of the space—CBE’s Christine Lagarde has used similar arguments in discussions about cryptocurrencies recently.

The move comes as the Central Bank’s own currency, the lira, faces trouble.

The lira has fallen in value in recent months, spurring some Turkish citizens to adopt cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Though the ban is one of the world’s harshest stances against crypto so far, it won’t totally block citizens from gaining exposure to Bitcoin and other assets: they’ll still be permitted to trade on exchanges.

Turkey to ban cryptocurrency payments

April 16, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Ban

Turkey's central bank is also banning payment providers from offering fiat-to-crypto onramps for cryptocurrency exchanges.

A new ban in Turkey will prohibit crypto holders from using their digital assets for payments, in addition to preventing payment providers from adding funds to their digital wallets at crypto exchanges.

According to a Friday announcement by the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, the ban will come into effect on April 30, rendering any crypto payments solutions and partnerships illegal.

The bank stated, “any direct or indirect usage of crypto assets in payment services and electronic money issuance” will be forbidden.

While banks are excluded from the regulation, which means users can still deposit Turkish lira on crypto exchanges using wire transfers from their bank accounts, payment providers will be unable to provide deposit or withdrawal services for crypto exchanges.

Payment providers and digital wallets are widely used in Turkey to transfer fiat funds to crypto exchanges and vice versa. Major global exchange Binance partnered with local payment provider Papara when they first entered the Turkish market to provide a lira onramp for several different cryptocurrencies.

This new regulation means that users have two weeks to clear their balances if they exclusively use payment providers as fiat-to-crypto gateways.

Historically, the Turkish government has always had a tight grip on the payment ecosystem. In 2016, Turkey banned major global payment provider PayPal in the country.

Crypto regulation is a hot topic for Turkey in recent months. Last month, the Turkish Ministry of Treasury and Finance announced that they are monitoring the crypto ecosystem and working with the Central Bank, Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency, and Capital Markets Board to regulate crypto.

Additional reporting by Cointelegraph Turkey’s Emre Günen.

Bitcoin searches in Turkey spike 566% after Turkish lira drops 14%

March 22, 2021 Coin Telegraph

bitcoin regulation

Searches for Bitcoin emanating from Turkey exploded after news broke regarding the 14% plunge in the value of the Turkish lira.

Google searches for Bitcoin (BTC) emanating from Turkey exploded in the past 24 hours, after the value of the Turkish lira dropped 14% following the firing of a central bank governor.

According to data from Google Trends, the number of searches for Bitcoin spiked 566% in the hours immediately following news of the lira’s demise.

*Bitcoin searches from Turkey over 24 hours. Source: Google Trends*

The lira’s value dropped 14% in a flash dip after Turkey's President Erdogan fired the governor of the country’s central bank. Former governor Naci Agbal had been credited with pulling the lira out of historic lows, partly by raising interest rates to fight inflation. His abrupt removal was said to have shocked domestic and foreign investors, reports BBC News.

The Turkish lira regained a fifth of its value against the U.S. dollar since the beginning of 2021 alone. The recent 14% plunge was triggered by concerns that the progress made by Naci Agbal could be undone by the appointment of the new governor, Şahap Kavcıoğlu, a banker and politician who is said to oppose the use of high interest rates to fight inflation.

The uptick in the number of Bitcoin searches by Turkish citizens is an all-time high to date, representing almost double the number of searches recorded during the bull run of 2017–2018.

It’s not just Turkish citizens who are taking a refreshed look at cryptocurrencies. At the beginning of March, Turkey’s Ministry of Treasury and Finance announced that it would work with the central bank in conjunction with regulatory bodies in order to lay down clear guidelines concerning the use of crypto.

“We share the rising concerns about crypto with the rest of the world. The developments (on crypto around the world) and the state of crypto in Turkey are closely monitored by our ministry,” announced the ministry at the time.

Turkey

Turkey Banning Crypto Payments

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