Just days after Thodex exchange closed its operations and its founder fled the country, Vebitcoin, the fourth largest crypto exchange in Turkey has collapsed and its CEO, Ilker Bas, has reportedly been detained.
What is happening in Turkey?
Vebitcoin cited deteriorating financial conditions as the reason for halting its operations. And although it is unclear what that means, the market has been experiencing a meltdown after about $200 billion was wiped off the cryptocurrency market in just one day after bitcoin plunges below $50,000 from trading above $64,000.
Following the collapse, the Financial Crimes Investigation Board of Turkey has opened investigations into the matter and blocked the company’s bank accounts.
Vebitcoin handled a daily trading volume of about $60 million
According to CoinGecko.com, Vebitcoin saw a daily trading volume of about $60 million, making it the fourth-largest cryptocurrency exchange in Turkey.
More than half of that trading volume came directly from bitcoin, which experienced a drop of about 19% over a few days.
The worst week for Bitcoin investors
This week has been the worst week for Bitcoin investors after the coin shed off over $14,000 in 24 hours and is still struggling to get on its feet again. And analysts are still warning that the coin would drop further in the coming days.
But the market fall didn’t only affect bitcoin. It also affected other coins like Ethereum and Dogecoin.
Turkish central bank to ban the use of cryptocurrency as payment for goods from 30th April
The two exchanges collapsed after the Turkish central bank orders a ban on the use of cryptocurrencies as payments for goods and services. And on Friday through a televised interview, Sahap Kavcioglu, the central bank chief that they are working on proper cryptocurrency regulations.
“We are working on regulations in terms of cryptocurrency,” he said. “There are disturbing money outflows to outside of Turkey via cryptocurrencies.”
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