Paxful sees massive potential for crypto adoption in the country and aims to expand its local footprint

October 13, 2020, New York — Global peer-to-peer bitcoin marketplace, Paxful, announced recently two strategic partnerships with leading cryptocurrency companies in Turkey, BiLira (TRYB), a stablecoin backed by Turkish Lira, and Cointral, a cryptocurrency trading platform. These partnerships come on the heels of a 274% increase in new registrations in Turkey over the past 12 months as well as an average of $65.76K in monthly trade volume.

A survey reports that nearly 20% of Turks have used or owned crypto assets. Following the recent devaluation of the local currency, Lira, the government decided to focus on blockchain adoption as part of its economic roadmap, including a proposal to design a Central bank digital currency based on blockchain technology. The country’s enthusiasm for crypto adoption is particularly beneficial to cryptocurrency marketplaces like Paxful, as Turkey sees a growing need for digital currencies.

“The rising inflation of the Turkish Lira has been a major financial burden for Turkish citizens,” said Ray Youssef, CEO and co-founder of Paxful. “Bitcoin can be used to preserve wealth against instability surrounding the Turkish Lira, and we hope that by entering into the market we will be able to ease some of the financial burdens of its citizens.” 

The BiLira integration will effectively add the stablecoin to over 300 payment methods available on the platform. The addition will enable users to buy and sell Bitcoin (BTC) and Tether (USDT) with BiLira token. BiLira has nearly 30 million TRYB tokens in circulation and acts as a bridge to the world of DeFi. The stable cryptocurrency is 100% collateralized by Turkish Lira meaning one BiLira can always be redeemed for one Turkish Lira, giving the much-needed stability in the times of economic uncertainty. The token was developed with a vision to provide access to digital exchanges and peer-to-peer financial networks, like Paxful.

BiLira COO Vidal Arditi emphasized the great impact of the deal: “BiLira, acting as a ramp for peer-to-peer marketplaces, will make cryptocurrencies more accessible to the locals, especially backed by such reputable marketplace like Paxful, we can see this going far.”

The second partnership in this strategic expansion into Turkey will integrate the web-based Paxful Kiosk onto the Cointral platform giving its users access to diverse payment methods that Paxful presents. From bank transfers to gift cards, Cointral customers will be able to choose from a variety of payments and currencies, making crypto purchases a truly seamless experience in the global market.

“In addition to our goal to maximize the quality of our operations in Turkey, we plan to pursue our objective of being a pioneer in the use of cryptocurrencies in the world with global partnerships. We are pleased to offer a professional variety of payment methods to our users with our partnership with Paxful,” said Ugur Hakan Cakan, Cointral Chairman of the Board and CEO.

“We’ve seen steady growth in Turkey for the past few months and it’s only fitting that we put more effort into the market. We are excited to partner with Cointral in bringing an easy fiat-to-crypto currency on-ramp and provide diverse payment methods for buying crypto to their user base,” said Ray Youssef, CEO, and co-founder of Paxful.

Turkey has the potential to become the next crypto giant. Paxful sees limitless potential for crypto adoption in the country as it aims to expand its local footprint and help Turkish users connect with the global digital currency space.