The second biggest global cryptocurrency exchange, OKX, has officially launched OKX TR, the version of its platform for Turkish citizens. The company revealed the launch on Feb. 27.
OKX TR features a Turkish Lira fiat on-ramp and a deposit option in collaboration with local banks. The list of banking partners for the new platform includes Fibabanka, VakıfBank, Ziraat Bankası, İş Bankası, Şekerbank and Türkiye Finans.
The platform will host major cryptocurrency pairs, such as USDT/TRY, BTC/TRY and ETH/TRY, along with “sophisticated crypto functionalities.” The company also emphasizes the accessibility of OKX Wallet — a non-custodial Web3 wallet provided by OKX Global — to Turkish users. The wallet enables users to access nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized apps (dApps).
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The company has also established a local office in Turkey. According to Mehmet Çamır, the Chairman of OKX TR:
“We believe that by having a local physical presence, we can stay close to our local community, with relentless focus on aligning their needs to our products, services and operations.”
OKX announced its expansion to the Turkish market in May 2023, prior to the Blockchain Economy Istanbul Summit 2023. The launch coincides with a general warming of the country towards the crypto market. In 2021, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared “a war on crypto,” now the nation is preparing to introduce its first package of crypto regulations.
The new guidelines will oblige crypto platforms to obtain licenses from Turkey’s Capital Markets Board (CMB). They will also give legal definitions to “crypto assets,” “crypto wallets,” “crypto asset service providers,” “crypto asset custody service,” and “crypto asset buying and selling platforms.”
In February 2024, OKX launched in Argentina as part of its ongoing strategy to target the Latin American market, following the launch in Brazil in late 2023. Meanwhile, the company has found itself in conflict with regulators in South Korea. On Feb. 7, local media reported that the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) was investigating OKX following allegations the firm was operating as an unregistered cryptocurrency exchange.
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