A Beginner’s Guide to Cashing Out Cryptocurrency in Turkey

Today Istanbul is arguably one of the main transit hubs — and not only — for those fleeing Russia and Belarus, as it was a hundred years ago, when after the Russian Revolution emigrants on the way to Paris or Berlin almost invariably paused in Constantinople.

Back then, and now the most pressing problem for those who ended up in Turkey is access to cash: Ivan Bunin, Alexander Vertinsky and others who fled Bolshevik Russia brought and sold jewelry, weapons and fur. For many of the current émigrés cryptocurrencies have proven to be their only working asset.

We explain why this happened, how to cash out cryptocurrency in Istanbul and other cities as profitably — and safely — as possible, and also what the crypto industry looks like in Turkey.

From financial isolation to financial literacy

Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, tens of thousands have left Russia and Belarus, heading to Istanbul, where tickets were easier to obtain, albeit much more expensive. There they found themselves in financial isolation: Vladimir Putin banned exporting more than $10 000 abroad (Belarus has had such a ban for a long time), and Visa and Mastercard stopped servicing cards from Russian banks. Western Union stopped all transfers from Russia and Belarus as of March 26.

You can open an account in a Turkish bank, but there is no clear algorithm — some require a Turkish tax number, some require a $2,000 deposit, and some simply refuse, citing top-down prohibitions on opening accounts for non-residents of the country.

For some refugees to Turkey, the Mir card offered some relief, allowing cash withdrawals in a few additional countries. However, most refugees from Russia do not have it, and its virtual version — which, for example, is offered by the Tinkoff Bank in the app — was useless in Turkey: payments are hardly accepted anywhere, and local ATMs do not support cash withdrawals via contactless. To be fair, in the same Tinkoff they promise to deliver a physical card abroad within 20 days — a convenient option for those who cannot withdraw old savings or money from emergency property sales (and, moreover, in Tinkoff you can open an account in rubles directly in the app).

However the prospect of twenty days without money for food and housing and the hazy future of the Mir payment system — and of all Russian banks in general — led to cryptocurrencies being adopted by people with near-zero technological literacy.

With that in mind, including for such novices, we outline the steps.

From rubles on the card to cash in lira

The first hurdle for those who stayed in Turkey without cash after leaving Russia and Belarus is the need to convert rubles into cryptocurrency, namely — into Tether (USDT), the most traded cryptocurrency in Turkey. The easiest and fastest way is to find an exchanger on an exchange, for example BestChange, where accept rubles, and dollars, and Ukrainian hryvnia. A trusted exchanger with a good rate for those needing to convert a small amount in rubles (from 20,000) is transfer24. The operator in the support chat will guide you through all steps, and the operation will take about 15 minutes.

Then begins the most stressful part — visiting exchanges. Across Istanbul there are about two dozen, but on Google Maps it’s lucky to see at least a third of them. The main hub for crypto exchanges, predictably, is the Grand Bazaar.

Located in the historic centre in the Fatih district, the vast market is visited on average by 300,000 people per day. Most exchanges are concentrated on the eastern side of the bazaar together with bank branches and ordinary exchange points.

Most crypto exchanges in Istanbul buy either Bitcoin or USDT, selling from $1,000 with a commission of around 3%. But there are several more affordable options. The best known is Nakitcoins, the first crypto exchange in Turkey, which has grown to several points in Istanbul (besides the one near the Grand Bazaar, there are branches on the other side of the city near Taksim) and even released its own online wallet: you can buy from $50 with a 3% commission.

Another is KAZBITOK, a Kazakhstan-based crypto exchange that opened a Istanbul office in January (also near the bazaar, opposite the Column of Constantine). Here the terms are the same as with Nakitcoins, but they also speak Russian and swap USDT not only on Tron but also on Ethereum.

The most notable local exchange hides at the start of that crypto alley on Grand Bazaar behind a sign BTL. In a tiny room about a metre and a half by a metre and a half, only one female staff member speaks English; she buys USDT TRC-20 (on Tron) for any amount and with no commission. There is no website or social media presence for this outfit, but judging by the manager’s business card the company mainly deals in precious metals. When asked why they do not charge a commission even for cashing out over $1,000, she declined to comment. Despite its largely opaque structure, the exchange does its job — though given the continuous flow of visitors to Istanbul, there is a chance the commission will appear for BTL as well. You can swap the dollars obtained at exchanges for lira there at the Grand Bazaar — just don’t go to the first place you see; pay attention to the rate, which changes a lot from one exchanger to another.

From currency crisis to crypto boom

Turkey is experiencing unprecedented interest in cryptocurrencies. Here they open blockchain courses for housewives and pensioners, the Turkish basketball team advertises the local blockchain platform Bitci, and in TV news the rates of Bitcoin and Ethereum are shown alongside the dollar and euro.

All this despite the fact that President Erdogan last spring announced not least a “war on Bitcoin” and banned paying with cryptocurrencies for goods and services, effectively placing them in a fairly undefined legal framework. This happened against the backdrop of a prolonged financial crisis, during which the lira depreciated and annual inflation reached 30%.

According to analytics firms Chainalysis and Kaiko, in December last year the number of cryptocurrency transactions in Turkey surpassed 1 million per day. Surveys show that every fifth Turkish citizen used cryptocurrency.

The crypto boom centred on Istanbul. But it is not the only crypto hub in the country: exchanges exist in Ankara and Alanya, though their commissions start at 5% and higher (in this sense you can consult the same KAZBITOK, which has partners in southern Turkey).

In resort towns, Russian-speaking émigrants offer exchanges with a 10% commission in local Telegram chats. Sometimes there are even odd places — for example, in Kaş, a small town 180 km southwest of Antalya, where the number of Russian-speaking “tourists” rose roughly fourfold in the past month, the Old Towm Hotel offers the option to pay for a room with cryptocurrency. The owner said that he does not fear breaking the law much; for him the main thing is helping migrants who cannot pay for housing. Incidentally, you can also cash out cryptocurrency into lira there at 3%.

As is often the case in regimes with an inclination toward authoritarianism, in Turkey the war on progress has not advanced beyond announcements. This year the local parliament will discuss a law regulating cryptocurrencies, which, as many local blockchain enthusiasts fear, could truly criminalise crypto operations in the country.

However, as an employee of one of the Istanbul exchanges said, in times of crisis cryptocurrencies become the only haven of stability, a harbour from which fleeing is scarier than staying:

«We have already understood that trusting only the state and its currency is not possible, Russia will soon understand this as well».

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