Paribu has bought a majority stake in Dubai- and Bahrain-licensed CoinMENA in a deal valuing the exchange at up to $240 million. Turkish crypto exchange Paribu has acquired a majority stake in CoinMENA, a Sharia-compliant cryptocurrency exchange licensed in Dubai and Bahrain. According to a Thursday CoinMENA announcement, Paribu acquired a majority stake in CoinMENA in a deal valuing the company at up to $240 million. The company claims the transaction is Türkiye’s largest fintech deal to date and the country’s first cross-border acquisition of a digital asset platform. Paribu said it plans to use the acquisition to scale its operations beyond its home market. CoinMENA obtained a license from Bahrain’s central bank in early 2021 and another from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority at the end of 2023. Read more
The CEO of former crypto exchange Thodex was found dead in his prison cell. He was serving time for a $2-billion exit scam. Faruk Fatih Özer was found dead in his prison cell on Nov. 1. The former CEO of now-defunct crypto exchange Thodex was serving an 11,000-year sentence for running one of the largest crypto scams in history. His death marks the latest turn in the Thodex saga, with ripple effects so significant they altered Turkish cryptocurrency laws. The initial details of Özer’s death point to suicide, but the investigation is still ongoing. It has once more brought Thodex back into the spotlight. Read more
The CEO of former crypto exchange Thodex was found dead in his prison cell. He was serving time for a $2-billion exit scam. Faruk Fatih Özer was found dead in his prison cell on Nov. 1. The former CEO of now-defunct crypto exchange Thodex was serving an 11,000-year sentence for running one of the largest crypto scams in history. His death marks the latest turn in the Thodex saga, with ripple effects so significant they altered Turkish cryptocurrency laws. The initial details of Özer’s death point to suicide, but the investigation is still ongoing. It has once more brought Thodex back into the spotlight. Read more
The decentralized exchange was one of 46 websites Turkey's financial regulator said would be blocked for residents. Turkey’s Capital Markets Board, the country’s financial regulator, announced it had blocked access to websites “providing unauthorized crypto asset services.” In a Thursday notice, the Capital Markets Board said it had taken legal action against 46 websites, including decentralized exchange PancakeSwap and Cryptoradar, in a crackdown on crypto services offered to residents of Turkey. The regulator cited the country’s Capital Markets Law as its authority to block the websites. PancakeSwap reported more than $325 billion in trading volume for June, making it one of the most significant decentralized exchanges alongside Uniswap and Curve. It’s unclear how Turkish authorities determined the platform had been offering “unauthorized” services. Read more