Vebitcoin

What did it do?

Vebitcoin started operating in Muğla, in south-western Turkey, in September 2017 as a platform brokering trades between the Turkish lira and bitcoin. The platform grew with the surge of interest in cryptocurrency in 2020 and 2021.

Why did it shut down?

On 23 April 2021 the company halted operations, saying developments in the sector had caused an unexpected surge in transactions. The move came just a few days after Thodex, the Turkish crypto exchange, went offline. MASAK, Turkey's financial crimes investigation board, froze the company's bank accounts and its executives were detained. The indictment drawn up by prosecutors sought prison sentences for 16 defendants on charges of aggravated fraud. The case is continuing at the Muğla 3rd High Criminal Court; no final verdict could be found in the sources.

The story

Vebitcoin started operating in Muğla on 20 September 2017 as a platform brokering trades between the Turkish lira and bitcoin. According to Capital, the company was founded by İlker Baş with capital of TL 50,000, which was increased in 2020. The platform grew in 2020 and 2021 as interest in cryptocurrency exploded; the indictment later drawn up by prosecutors put its monthly trading volume at around TL 800 million.

April 2021 was a turbulent month for Turkey's crypto market. Just a few days after the collapse of Thodex, on 23 April Vebitcoin also announced that it had halted operations. The company's statement said recent developments in the sector had caused an unexpected surge in transactions, and that operations had been suspended to ensure regulatory compliance and meet user requests. In the same period MASAK, Turkey's financial crimes investigation board, froze the company's bank accounts. News reports said the office in Muğla had no sign and was closed, and that the executives could not be reached.

İlker Baş, his wife and two company employees were detained on 23 April 2021 and arrested on 26 April; on appeal, the three other than Baş were released under judicial supervision. The 249-page indictment prepared by the Muğla Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, as reported by TRT Haber, sought 1,316 years in prison for each of 16 defendants on charges of aggravated fraud, and the case file listed 329 complainants. The trial began at the Muğla 3rd High Criminal Court.

In October 2024 the court ordered İlker Baş's release, taking into account the time he had spent in detention, the expert report, the defendant's partial compensation of the losses and his voluntary surrender. The prosecution appealed against this decision. At the time this entry was prepared, no final verdict could be found in the sources. Vebitcoin is remembered as part of the rupture that came in the same week as Thodex and accelerated the push to regulate crypto exchanges in Turkey.

Lessons for founders

• Keep user funds separate from company accounts and open to audit; that is what preserves trust in a crisis.
• When a crisis breaks out in your sector, transparent communication always does less damage than silence.
• Even before regulation arrives, a platform that operates as if it already had increases its chances of survival.

Sources

1. Crypto platform Vebitcoin has closed (Capital, 2021-04-24)
2. Sentences sought in the Vebitcoin fraud case announced (TRT Haber, 2022-07-12)
3. Appeal against the release of defendant İlker Baş in the Vebitcoin fraud case (Sabah, 2024-10-21)
4. Vebitcoin halts operations (Sözcü, 2021-04-23)

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