Being denied of service by local banks, the only Turkish bitcoin exchange BTCTürk has to suspend deposits in Turkish lira. It promises to return all the money already deposited on the platform.
According to the cоmpany’s blоg, “it seems impossible” to find a Turkish bank that would agree to work with BTCTürk after the banking partner of the company declined to cooperate any longer. The company promises to find a way to let all customers withdraw their deposits in national currency. The customers only need to make a withdrawal order. To enable them to transfer the entire balance, withdrawal limits on Turkish liras have been removed.
BTCTürk emphasises it has enough cash to pay all its customers. Besides, bitcoin balances are not affected by the events and customers can choose to keep them as long as they wish or transfer them to another location. The company reassures it is not subject to any criminal investigation or legal action. It hopes to be able to relaunch its activities in the future.
BTCTürk was the only place beside Local Bitcoins where Turkish liras could be directly exchanged into bitcoins and vice versa. The company opened in July 2013 when the bitcoin price was ten times lower than now. Its CTO Emre Kenci statеd:
“Despite the fact that there is not a single merchant that accepts bitcoin in Turkey, a lot of people are interested in it. The launch of BTCTürk has made bitcoin very convenient for both users and potential merchants in Turkey and we expect the popularity to grow fast.”
Although bitcoin is not officially regulated in the country, the company has always complied with AML and KYC rules. It saw some of its best moments in June 2016. When PayPal failed to obtain a new licence from Turkish authorities and had to cease operations in Turkey, trade on BTCTürk surged reaching the total volume of 4696 BTC per week. At that time, some news outlets speculated about the new era of bitcoin coming to Turkey.
However, at present perspectives for the cryptocurrency in the country seem bleak, considering the general anti-tech mood of the current government. The prime minister Tayyip Erdoğan is known to promise at one occasion to “wipe out” Twitter in Turkey. YouTube also used to be blocked on a number of occasions. After a failed anti-Erdoğan coup in July, the authorities seem to tighten the screws on public liberties even more.
It should be said though that so far no measures have been taken by Turkish authorities directly against bitcoin. The Turkish financial regulatory body BDDK stated in its press release on 25 November 2013 that bitcoin is not considered electronic money under Turkish laws and therefore is not subject to regulation. However, the financial authority said, as its anonymity makes it handy for criminals and its volatility endangers the users, the public should be warned “about possible risks accommodated by bitcoin and similar virtual monies.”
Alexey Tereshchenko
