Crypto Traders See Safe Haven in a Brokerage Newcomer in Turkey

The owners of one of Turkey’s biggest crypto exchanges have established a securities brokerage. This comes after the country’s currency saw its worst performer in emerging markets in 2021, with a loss of about 22% against the dollar.

Istanbul-based BtcTurk will now offer its millions of clients new options to satisfy their trading itch.

Half a year ago, BtcTurk survived a major crisis when two local cryptocurrency exchanges crumbled within the space of a few days.

Following the crisis, it now wants to parlay demand for digital assets into new areas like stocks, according to BtcTurk Chief Executive Officer Ozgur Guneri.

The reasons pertaining to the growth of cryptocurrencies in Turkey could be the decline in the Lira and spiralling inflation which has sapped the value of their savings.

The country’s market regulator has approved the establishment of Eliptik Yatirim Menkul Degerler AS, owned by crypto technology firm Liberium - a sister company of BtcTurk. 

The firm promises to provide capital market access for more than 4 million of its users. Furthermore, it plans to offer trading in major stocks on Borsa Istanbul and Nasdaq.

“Eliptik won’t employ any sales staff, nor it will provide research,” Guneri said. “We believe in self-service finance - we won’t call anyone to market this or that idea, but will be within fingertip reach when clients want to trade.” 

According to the data provided by the website 21milyon.com, BtcTurk had a daily trading volume of 16.6 billion Liras ($1.7 billion) over the past 24 hours. Paribu, which competes with BtcTurk, ranked second with 9.11 billion Liras. 

Eliptik plans to start its services in the first quarter of 2022, pending another approval for an operating license.