Major Turkish Cryptocurrency Exchange BtcTurk Suffers Cybersecurity Breach

BtcTurk, a major cryptocurrency trading platform in Türkiye, announced on Saturday that it had experienced a cyberattack. However, it assured that most assets remained secure.

The exchange released a statement indicating, “On June 22, 2024, our systems identified a cybersecurity breach which triggered unauthorized withdrawals on our platform.”

It was noted, “The cyberattack impacted only a limited portion of funds in the hot wallets for 10 digital currencies, while our cold storage wallets, which house the bulk of our holdings, were not compromised.”

According to BtcTurk, the organization’s financial resilience is sufficient to cover the losses from this security breach, ensuring that user assets will remain untouched. A thorough investigation into the matter is currently underway, it stated.

The incident was relayed to appropriate officials and has been covered by various news outlets. BtcTurk suffered significant exposure due to the cyberattack.

As a security measure, the exchange has temporarily suspended all deposits and withdrawals of cryptocurrency, with services to be reinstated upon completion of necessary security checks, as mentioned in their statement.

BtcTurk expressed gratitude for the patience shown during this time and committed to providing updates concerning the situation.

In Türkiye, cryptocurrencies enjoy a high level of popularity and constitute one of the world’s foremost markets for crypto trade.

Cryptocurrency usage in Türkiye has surged notably post-2020, serving as a defense mechanism against the devaluation of the Turkish lira.

Last year, Faruk Fatih Özer, the founder of Thodex, another top cryptocurrency exchange in the country that concluded as a fraudulent scheme, was convicted and sentenced to 11,196 years for deceiving investors.

As for regulatory progress, Turkish officials are nearing the completion of a new crypto bill which seeks to establish order within the cryptocurrency landscape. More details about the forthcoming regulations can be found here.

The proposed legislation contains clear definitions of cryptocurrency assets and mandates that service providers secure licenses from the Capital Markets Board (SPK), a body that is anticipated to play a vital part in the oversight of the sector.