A digital asset trading platform based in Turkey, Vebitcoin, announced late Friday that it had stopped all activities “in order to fulfill all regulations and claims.”
“Due to the recent developments in the crypto money industry, there was a much higher density in our operations than expected. We would like to state with regret that this situation has led us to a very difficult process in the financial field. We decided to cease our activities in order to fulfill all regulations and claims,” Vebitcoin said in a statement published on its website.
Turkey's Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) blocked the company’s accounts and began an investigation.
A day earlier, on April 22, hundreds of thousands of users of a Turkish cryptocurrency exchange, Thodex, were suddenly unable to access their digital assets after the trading platform abruptly halted trading Wednesday, spurring fraud allegations and thousands of criminal complaints.
The Thodex cryptocurrency trading platform, which had been handling daily cryptocurrency trade worth hundreds of millions of dollars, said on its website on Thursday it would be closed for four to five days due to a sale process.
But users who have not been able to withdraw money or access their accounts voiced concern on social media that they may have been defrauded.
Earlier today, Turkey issued an international arrest warrant for the founder of the cryptocurrency trading platform.
Many in Turkey have turned to cryptocurrencies to shield their savings from rising inflation and the depreciation of the Turkish lira.
Last week, the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) announced that it was banning the use of cryptocurrencies for the payment of goods.
It warned that cryptocurrencies “entail significant risks” due to the volatility of the market and lack of oversight.
