A Turkish cryptocurrency exchange called Thodex has sent alerts across the trading block by ceasing to operate today without warning.
Önemli Bilgilendirme 👉 https://t.co/8DPOzm2pOX pic.twitter.com/Bg0cfuBLDB
— THODEX (@thodexofficial) April 21, 2021
The exchange, which has been operating in Turkey since 2017, made a statement on the matter on Twitter today. Citing some unspecified overseas investments allegedly coming in in the next 4 to 5 days, the funds have been blocked by more than 390,000 active traders.
According to Oğuz Evren Kılıç, a Turkish lawyer who has reportedly filed a legal complaint against Thodex, this ‘could well be a scam’.
Kılıç estimates that exchange accounts could be between $ 2 billion and $ 10 billion. An investigative report on the case found that there was “some money in the bank accounts of the exchange and its owners.”
🇹🇷 Eğer milyarlarca Dolar değerinde #kripto #para “kaybolursa” ve sonra bunlar satılmak istenirse, bu işin küresel piyasalara etkisi ne olabilir?
Buna bir “Türk Mt. Gox Olayı” diyebilir miyiz?
— Av. Oğuz Evren Kılıç (@UlgenKhan) April 21, 2021
In line with some interesting Twitter trends, the Turkish exchange Thodex ran a major marketing campaign, rewarding every new record between March 15th and April 15th with 150 Dogecoin.
@thodexglobal
Why is, since April 14th, DOGE/USDT fixed to 0.1145750 in your exchange?
Why don’t you allow my coins to be transferred?
If there is a maintenance, only for DOGE why cant I transfer my Holochains?#doge #dogecoin #thodex— Kaya Dinar (@KayaDinar) April 19, 2021
Thousands of new users reportedly poured into the exchange, and the trading volume hit a daily record of $1.37 billion, the highest daily value of the past year according to CoinGecko.
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However, what should have been ringing the alarm bells, the Dogecoin exchange sold from April 14 at a reduced fixed price of USD 0.11. However, on April 16, DOGE was worth $ 0.42.
The Turkish government has yet to make a public statement on Thodex as it is unwilling to talk more about cryptocurrencies due to some unsolicited trust issues.
It is even logical to assume that this incident is unattractive to cryptocurrencies in the eyes of an aggressive Turkish government.