Faruk Fatih Özer failed to submit the requested documents to the Tax Inspection Board. He denied being Thodex’s official at the time, which prevents him from presenting the requested books.
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Cointelegraph analyst and writer Marcel Pechman explains how China’s economic weakness and Turkey’s interest rate hikes could impact the cryptocurrency market. Cointelegraph YouTube Subscribe
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At the Bitcoin Builders Conference, Daniel Fogg from IOV Labs and Rootstock spoke with Cointelegraph about how emerging markets are shaping the future of the crypto space.
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Founder and former CEO of Thodex is finally brought to Turkey after two years since the exchange halted operations.
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A bitter dispute between Paxful’s co-founders in Delaware courts may have led to the crypto marketplace’s sudden closure.
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Assets belonging to former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried have been seized by the country’s Financial Crimes Investigation Board, locally known as MASAK, following the collapse of his main business.An official announcement from Turkey’s MASAK outlined preliminary findings and actions taken against Bankman-Fried following bankruptcy proceedings of its core business. MASAK began investigations on Nov. 14.Cointelegraph translated the latest announcement from MASAK, which highlighted three key points from the investigation. The Turkish investigatory body found that FTX failed to safely store user funds, embezzled customer funds through shady transactions and manipulated supply and demand in the market by having customers buy and sell listed cryptocurrencies that were not backed by actual cryptocurrency holdings. As a result of these findings, MASAK seized Bankman-Fried’s and affiliates’ assets after finding strong ‘criminal suspicion’ on the above-mentioned points.FTX TR’s website is still live but only shows a message to users with instructions to receive balances from accounts. Users are asked to share IBAN information and the Turkish identity number of their respective Turkish Lira accounts via a link. A LinkedIn post from FTX TR noted that the exchange had over 110,000 users and processed an average monthly transaction volume of $500 to $600 million since the launch of its mobile application earlier in 2022. The company employed 27 people.The post also noted that the company had endeavored to transfer user balances in FTX TR to their bank accounts.Related: FTX stake in US bank raises concerns about banking loopholesFTX TR was managed by a former Binance executive who previously managed global business growth in the Turkish, CIS and EU. Cointelegraph has reached out to the former FTX TR head to ascertain whether the local operation was aware of improper business activities by its parent company and will update this article accordingly.According to a local media report, the FTX website attracted an average of 187,000 unique visitors monthly from Turkey, the sixth highest number by country. FTX is now undergoing bankruptcy proceedings led by new CEO John Ray III. The man responsible for unraveling the infamous collapse of Enron in the early 2000s described the FTX debacle as the worst he had seen in his professional career.A strategic review of FTX’s global assets is currently being undertaken as part of the bankruptcy proceedings to maximize recoverable value for stakeholders.
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Istanbul Blockchain Week opened its doors on Nov. 14 to bring the crypto and blockchain ecosystem together in İstanbul, Turkey. Cointelegraph attended the event with a Cointelegraph Turkey booth and an İstanbul-based editor to experience the impact of the FTX collapse firsthand — the result was unexpected.As an international hub housing more than 15 million people, İstanbul was shaken by a bombing attack in Taksim, the city center, on Nov. 13 evening. Yet, the following day, Istanbul Blockchain Week (IBW) opened its doors to more than 2,000 international attendees and over 100 speakers after consulting with local security authorities.On top of a year-long bear market and the FTX collapse, IBW 2022 attendees also had to deal with the emotional stress of what occurred last night. Both events were ever-present topics on the main stage and in the event hall. Merhaba! Cointelgraph is in attendance at Istanbul Blockchain Week and bringing you all the latest updates live from Turkey.Watch this thread… pic.twitter.com/DusFaf4xCT— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) November 14, 2022Erhan Korhaliller, the organizer of the event and the founder of EAK Digital, mentioned both topics during his opening speech. Excluding the people who barely managed to land in İstanbul hours before their stage time, the majority of speakers started by giving condolences to the victims of the terrorist attack.However, Istanbul Blockchain Week 2022 managed to find a balance to keep a respectful tone to the worries of İstanbulites while maintaining the entertainment aspect of the show. Nothing stood out as too flashy, but the atmosphere was always vibrant and colorful. The next four days saw key names from the crypto industry taking the stage one after another in front of a fully focused and attentive audience.Cointelegraph Turkey had a splash at IBW 2022 thanks to a big booth overseen by the Kriptomeda team.IBW 2022 used the event area of the Hilton Bomonti hotel rather cleverly to provide break zones during crowded networking activities. Guests were presented with coffee, tea and water to refreshen during heated conversations.The main stage, which was too big for a 2,000-person event, was divided into three parts: Illuminated only with the light of kiosks that present cool-looking nonfungible tokens (NFTs), the NFT Gallery was neighboring the stage. The other side of the gallery was reserved for IstanHack, where the developers from neighboring countries competed to build a Web3 project.Taking a stroll through the NFT gallery… pic.twitter.com/kCrrP4DP41— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) November 14, 2022
The event agenda left no corner of the expanded cryptoverse unchecked: Market makers, exchanges, decentralized finance (DeFi) providers, blockchain gaming and metaverse big guns filled the event area and the main stage to provide a comprehensive picture of what’s going on in the crypto world.Related: Turkey’s financial authority investigates FTX’s collapseOne thing that stood out during the whole show was the positivity and the “keep building” philosophy. It wouldn’t take a journalist to understand that the ecosystem truly believes in the bear market building. During the event, Cointelegraph saw ambitious projects with young and talented teams joining the competition right after the biggest collapse in crypto history, global exchanges using the local aspect of the event to announce their expansion into the Turkish market, and industry veterans sharing wisdom and strategy to endure the negativity of the mainstream media.Amazing view at the top floor. Bomonti, Istanbul. Here for @IstanbulBlockWk check @Cointelegraph regularly for updates. pic.twitter.com/3Xsls4mfKI— Erhan (@ErhanKahraman) November 14, 2022
The Cointelegraph ground team shot several video interviews with speakers at the Cointelegraph Turkey booth, most of which were published on CT Turkey’s YouTube channel. Between a panel moderation and lots of booth-surfing, Cointelegraph editor Erhan Kahraman also managed to sit down with renowned cryptographer and Elixxir CEO David Chaum as well as blockchain security expert HashEx’s CEO Dmitry Mishunin. Both interviews will be published in Cointelegraph.The first announcement of IBW 2022 dates back to early 2022, so it’s safe to assume that its details and agenda needed to be marginally updated due to the recent meltdown. However, the main message was unmistakable: Crypto is here to stay, and the crypto revolution is bigger than FTX.
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Turkey’s Financial Crimes Investigation Agency is the latest authority to announce investigations into crypto exchange FTX after its collapse and bankruptcy filing on Nov.11.Along with FTX, the agency will look into people and institutions related to the platform — including banks, electronic money institutions and crypto-asset providers — according to an official statement from Nov. 14. The regulator also noted that it had been monitoring FTX’s activities in accordance with the country’s Anti-Money Laundering laws.FTX Turkey, FTX’s regional subsidiary, provided a Google Form for users seeking to receive their funds, without specifying a delivery date. On its website and Twitter account, a note asked users to share their International Bank Account Number address to proceed with the refund process. Turkey is one of the most relevant emerging markets for the crypto industry, with nearly 8 million people in the country engaged with cryptocurrencies, according to figures from the local crypto exchange Paribu. Roughly 130 companies in FTX Group — including FTX Trading, FTX US, under West Realm Shires Services, and Alameda Research — started proceedings to file for bankruptcy in the United States on Nov. 11 following the exchange’s dramatic collapse during the previous days. In addition to Turkey, the United States and the Bahamas announced investigations into the bankrupt crypto exchange during the past week. In the U.S., the Securities Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice are looking into the matter.The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Manhattan district of New York has also begun to investigate the circumstances leading up to the exchange’s fall. The Department of Financial Protection and Innovation in the state of California additionally announced its own investigation regarding the “apparent failure”.In the Bahamas, an investigation of possible criminal misconduct is underway by financial investigators and securities regulators.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan unveiled new details about the e-Human project powered by blockchain ahead of Turkey’s national blockchain summit. Cointelegraph Turkey reported the e-Human project will be based on blockchain tech to keep all services, data and capabilities used by the system under protection. While it has a sci-fi name, Turkey’s e-Human project acts as a digital service point where the Turkish Presidency can share data related to its services and tools related to career, remote education and talent acquisition. Students, new graduates and public employees can access job and internship opportunities in the public and private sectors, certified training for public employees, career fairs held in Turkey, events and educational content from the e-Human portal. The project aims to increase employability and support the development of the citizens. Previously, Turkey’s national car company TOGG announced a strategic partnership with Avalanche blockchain’s developer Ava Labs to develop safe and fast mobility services with smart contracts. Turkey was known as a crypto-friendly country until President Erdoğan launched an all-out war against the use of cryptocurrencies. The country put a ban on crypto payments in local goods and services in April 2021.While the government took an anti-crypto stance, it continued to explore the ecosystem while building several blockchain projects of its own. The country even announced its National Blockchain Infrastructure plans. However, the pandemic might have caused a stall since no updates were made after the initial announcement.Related: Middle East and North Africa are fastest-growing crypto markets: DataThe crypto adoption of the Turkish population draws a stark contrast with the government’s perspective. The country is home to several global events, such as Istanbul Blockchain Week and Blockchain Economy Istanbul. The local developer ecosystem is also working hard to bring the next DevCon, a major event for the Ethereum developer community, to İstanbul.Recent Chainalysis data showed that Turkey was among one of the fastest-growing crypto markets. Chainalysis’ 2022 Global Cryptocurrency Adoption Index revealed that Turkey is in the top 20 countries in terms of crypto adoption.
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Emerging markets continue to forge their way into the crypto scene finding a plethora of use cases, especially in the combined Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. A new report from Chainalysis reveals that the crypto market in the MENA region is the fastest growing in the world. Transaction volume in the MENA region reveals users received $566 billion in crypto in the time frame of July 2021 to June 2022. This is 48% more than the previous year.MENA is followed by Latin America and North America with a growth of 40% and 36% respectively.This region is made up of approximately 22 countries which include emerging markets such as Morocco, Egypt and Turkey. In these countries, the usage of cryptocurrencies finds practical use cases in savings preservation and remittance payments.In countries such as Turkey and Egypt, which have both faced major devaluation of their local fiat currencies, crypto usage for savings preservation and remittances is especially dominant. Within the timeframe of the report, Egypt’s tripled transaction volumes can be accredited to local economic volatility. It has a year-over-year growth of 221.7% in crypto transaction volume. Turkey is the largest crypto market in the region with $192 billion in crypto received within the reporting period. The wealthier countries of the MENA region, such as the Gulf nation of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which is home to the crypto haven of Dubai, have also been contributors to the local crypto scene though in a different capacity. Related: Dubai issues crypto marketing rules to better protect investorsAccording to the report both Saudi Arabia and the UAE made it into the region’s top five countries in terms of received crypto value. When it comes to these Gulf nations, however, crypto can be seen more in large institutional usage rather than person-to-person payments like remittances. Major crypto companies like Binance have received approval to set up operations in the UAE’s Abu Dhabi and Dubai, along with the neighboring country Bahrain. A local partnership with Bianance Pay in the UAE has even allowed local entrepreneurs can set up businesses using crypto.
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The saga of the defunct Turkish crypto exchange, Thodex, continues as its fugitive founder is now in custody in Albania. Local law enforcement detained Faruk Fatih Özer in an operation carried out at 05:30 AM (UTC) on Tuesday, Aug. 30, in the country’s capital city Tirana.According to a report byCointelegraph Turkey, Özer is currently held in custody. After initial questioning, the Turkish embassy in Tirana will be informed by local authorities. Both the Turkish Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Albanian government are working together on the case.Özer will be subject to legal proceedings in Albania, after which it is expected he will be deported to Turkey.This is the latest update in a story that dates back to last April 22, 2021, when Thodex stopped all trading and withdrawals on its platform. In response to an impending police raid, the exchange went silent and the initial reports of Özer’s disappearance began.Shortly after, Turkish authorities detained 62 individuals with potential connections to the exchange and its founder, who then confirmed he fled for the Balkan country of Albania. There had previously been a raid on a private residence in Tirana in pursuit of Özer, however, it proved unsuccessful.Related: Are non-KYC crypto exchanges as safe as their KYC-compliant peers?According to reports, the Thodex scandal potentially affected 391,000 crypto exchange users and roughly $200,000 million in investments.Turkey faced two similar incidents back to back with both the ThoDex scandal and another involving a shuttered crypto exchange called Vebitcoin. The drama unfolded as Turkish authorities unveiled new crypto regulations, which included a ban on crypto payment options.Related: Two more lawsuits for Coinbase: Law decodedIn the last year, the DeFi space has seen several exchanges and crypto-related companies disappear in the face of adversity. The most recent example is the founders of Three Arrows Capital (3AC), which reportedly are nowhere to be seen. One legal professional speculates Dubai but can’t be sure. 3AC recently filed for bankruptcy and still owes billions to various companies. Along with 3AC, the company Terraform Labs which was behind the major collapse of the LUNA token also faced its share of investigations for fraudulent behavior. The founder Do Kwon has been under major scrutiny and subsequently went silent. Regulators in South Korea imposed a travel ban on all employees of Terraform, despite its founder already being outside of the country.
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Held at Hilton Bomonti, a fancy hotel next to a renovated and repurposed beer factory in Istanbul, the fourth iteration of the Blockchain Economy Summit 2022 (BE2022) proved to be a significant step-up compared to its pre-pandemic predecessors.The previous summit, BE2020, was held at the WOW Convention Center two years back. In addition to being situated in a harder-to-reach part of Istanbul, the summit coincided with the COVID-19 outbreak, further impacting the overall attendance. Since the sole purpose of that venue was organizing large-scale events, the crypto community from two years prior was just not big enough to fill the space. As a direct result of the aforementioned factors, the BE2020 felt like a two-day trip to a ghost town. Pre-show pictures: Great music and performances at @BEconomy_HQ. Also, nice shirt @ErhanKahraman; We wonder where you got it from . (Cough, https://t.co/OmCXzstsi5 )#BEinstanbul2022 pic.twitter.com/hZABaJhfso— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) July 27, 2022Attendees of Blockchain Economy Istanbul 2022 described the summit as dense, vivid and full of energy, drawing a stark contrast to the BE2020 in almost every aspect. It was also the first international crypto and blockchain event held in the region ever since Turkey revoked travel ban restrictions. As a result, the crypto community members — from Western and Eastern countries — could join in on the celebration.The event roster had a good balance between the local companies and global crypto players. While big shots like Binance, Huobi or FTX were visibly absent from the event, logos of major companies like KuCoin, Gate.io, Bitget, Bitmex and Uphold were filling the main hall. Despite its recent troubles, Gari Network donned the main sponsor badge for the whole event. For two days, the main hall never saw a dull moment: People were there mainly for networking purposes after two years filled with lockdowns and travel bans —and it’s hard to say they missed much by not attending sessions at the main conference stage. The Cointelegraph ground team enjoying a special goat milk-based Turkish ice cream called “Maraş dondurması.”Sure, some exciting names like MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor (although he joined via video call) or Davinci Jeremie, the “Please Just Buy One Bitcoin (BTC)” guy, were on the keynote schedule. But, unfortunately, the program saw greater participation of more local or regional speakers than necessary for an international event of this scale — and the supercooling in the conference room didn’t help either. People got chilled, lost interest in the simultaneous translation, and headed back to the main area where a giant-sized samurai dog statue from the blockchain-based battle royale game Katana Inu welcomed them in an intimidating way. The best part? Most keynote speakers made themselves available for a little chat in the main hall after their stage performances.KuCoin Labs head Lou Yu explaining latest trends in Web3 developmentCointelegraph reached out to several keynote speakers for some quick commentary and in-depth conversations, including KuCoin Labs head Lou Yu and AAX exchange exec Ben Caselin.The BE2022 event was most beneficial for the young and talented developers of the community, of which Turkey houses plenty. During the event, Ali Dursun was able to pitch his blockchain gaming ecosystem Ratic to an array of global exchanges and venture capitals. Aybars Dorman introduced Metavest, a fresh take on decentralized finance (DeFi), to the participants, and Yotta21 founder Yunus Cebeci made important industry contacts at the smoking area.Zignaly co-founder Abdul Rafay Gadit explaining their project to Cointelegraph business development executive Anton Kabatov and editor Erhan KahramanTwo things were clear: First, the COVID-19 pandemic could not slow down the crypto ecosystem’s growth. For many participants, Blockchain Economy Istanbul 2022 was their first networking experience with the rest of the industry, and they thrived in making the most of it. And second, no matter how bearish a crypto market gets, the price fluctuations can’t shake down the positivity of the crypto ecosystem.Considering everything that transpired during the event, the Blockchain Economy Istanbul 2022 summit solidified that no matter the market conditions, the crypto ecosystem is ready to invest time, money and energy to stay positive.
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