Turkish Crypto Exchange BtcTurk Faces Cyber Attack, Wallets Compromised

As a researcher with a background in cybersecurity and experience in the crypto industry, I find the recent BtcTurk cyber attack concerning but also reassured by the fact that the majority of their crypto holdings were stored in cold wallets. Hot wallets are more vulnerable to hacking attacks due to their connection to the internet, while cold wallets are kept offline and are therefore less susceptible to cyberattacks.


On the evening of June 22, well-known cryptocurrency exchange BtcTurk announced that it had suffered a cyber attack, leading to unauthorized access to certain hot wallets. According to the initial assessment, the intruders successfully obtained balances in over ten distinct cryptocurrencies kept within these wallets.

BtcTurk Cyber Attack – Cold Wallets SAFU

Hackers successfully breached BtcTurk’s hot wallets, but the majority of their cryptocurrency reserves were kept safe in cold wallets, which continue to be impenetrable.

Beyond this, BtcTurk has reassured its users that their funds are securely protected, as the exchange’s financial stability surpasses the affected amounts. Moreover, an in-depth examination of the occurrence is underway at BtcTurk, along with collaboration with pertinent regulatory bodies.

To ensure the security of its transactions, BtcTurk has temporarily halted crypto deposits and withdrawals. The team is actively working to address the underlying issue and intends to reinstate normal platform operations for all users once the problem is resolved.

Turkey’s Rise In Crypto Adoption

As a financial analyst, I’ve observed that Turkey has experienced surging inflation and a weakening Lira over the past few years, leading to a significant increase in crypto adoption. More recently, things have become even more intriguing with the Turkish government announcing plans to revamp their tax system.

Turkish legislators are making efforts to refill the country’s depleted national coffers following the devastating earthquakes of last year. To achieve this, they are implementing new measures aimed at increasing revenue. Consequently, Turkish residents have turned to cryptocurrencies as potentially tax-efficient investment options in response.

As a crypto market analyst, I’ve noticed an increasing trend in cryptocurrency usage within Turkey. In response to this growing adoption, the government has proposed a new policy: a 0.03% tax on all crypto transactions. Based on current market data, I estimate that this tax could potentially generate around 3.7 billion Turkish Liras in annual revenue for the government.

In response to the increasing interest in cryptocurrencies, Turkish retail banks are now prepared to facilitate crypto transactions. Last week marked the debut of Garanti BBVA Digital Assets, a subsidiary of Garanti BBVA Financial Technologies, which introduced crypto wallet services on their mobile application.

Due to this development, Garanti BBVA’s clients can now engage in Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and USD Coin (USDC) transactions via the bank’s crypto application. To begin with, the functionality will only be accessible to a restricted number of users since it is being introduced as a beta version.

Read More

2024-06-22 15:48