• Haluk Levent, a Turkish singer, convinced the country’s watchdog to allow three wallets to collect donations for earthquake relief.
• Bitfinex and Tether donated 5 million Turkish Lira ($265,508), while Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) mentioned that the Binance team has been working on a project to help Turkey.
• Wallets have collected over $2 million in six hours of activation.
Turkish Watchdog Allows Crypto Wallets for Earthquake Relief
Turkish Singer Reaches Out To Watchdog
A Turkish singer known for his charitable personality, Haluk Levent, reached out to the country’s financial watchdog (MASAK) and asked them if they could open a crypto wallet registered in his name to collect donations for earthquake relief. After most voters supported this idea in a Twitter poll, Levent received approval from MASAK within 10 hours allowing three wallets to actively collect donations for a week.
Crypto Community Unites To Help
The news also caught the attention of leading crypto exchanges such as BitFinex and Tether (USDT). Together with the Steve Group and BitFinex CTO Paolo Ardoino, they donated 5 million Turkish Lira ($265,508) towards disaster relief projects. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) also announced that the Binance team has been working on their own project to help Turkey.
Wallets Collect Over $2 Million In Six Hours
At the time of writing, these wallets have been active for six hours and collected over $2 million which equates to over 37 billion Turkish Lira. Haluk Levent said he would facilitate the liquidity process and transfer them to „Ahbap,“ an NGO helping with disaster relief projects.
Legal Implications Of Crypto Donations In Turkey
Opening a crypto wallet to collect donations is not currently legal in Turkey. However MASAK stretched its rules in order to allow these wallets for charity purposes only and it is uncertain whether similar actions will be allowed by MASAK in future scenarios or not.
Conclusion
This event highlights how digital currencies can be used as effective tools when it comes together with charitable efforts from people around the world who are willing to donate funds towards natural disasters or humanitarian causes .