Turkey Blocks Accounts of Vebitcoin Exchange Platform, Launches Probe

World

April 24th, 7:42am

Asharq Al-Awsat

A man walks in a deserted place near the Blue Mosque, one of the city’s landmarks, in Istanbul, Saturday, April 18, 2020, amid a curfew imposed over the novel coronavirus pandemic. (AP)

Turkish authorities blocked all onshore bank accounts of cryptocurrency exchange platform Vebitcoin in the country, and launched an investigation into the platform, the state-run Anadolu news agency said late on Friday. The action came after Vebitcoin announced that it stopped all of its activities citing financial strains. It became the second Turkish platform in a week to face troubles, after authorities detained dozens of people with suspected ties to Thodex platform. Vebitcoin, a digital asset trading platform based in Turkey, announced on 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," Vebitcoin said in a statement published on its website. "We decided to cease our activities in order to fulfill all regulations and claims," it added. Turkey's Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) blocked the company's accounts and began an investigation, Anadolu reported. Last week, Turkey's central bank banned the use of crypto assets for payments, citing "irreparable" damage and transaction risks as reasons for the ban.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2936781/turkey-blocks-accounts-vebitcoin-exchange-platform-launches-probe