Bitmain has become the latest high-profile cryptocurrency business to venture into the Turkish market.
The Bitcoin mining equipment manufacturer has opened a store in Istanbul as the country continues to witness an increasing interest in cryptocurrency businesses, Dunya reports.
Bitmain will operate through its official distributor Phoenix Store which also serves the MENA region. Phoenix Store opened its first Bitmain store in St. Regis within Istanbul. The firm also serves as the distributor for cold wallets, including Trezor, Cool Wallet, and Ledger.
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Phoenix Store CEO Phil Harvey explained the motivation behind the partnership with Bitmain. According to Harvey:
“As Phoenix Store, we are happy to step into Turkey with Bitmain. Turkey is among the countries that show the most interest in cryptocurrencies. This interest of Turkish investors has been one of the factors that pushed us to the Turkish market. As the official distributor of Bitmain, we will offer the industry’s most advanced Antminer devices and cold wallets that secure crypto assets to Turkish investors. The crypto money market is developing, in this sense, we think that Turkish investors will focus on crypto money investments.”
He added that besides the store in St. Regis, they plan to invest in other regions.
Crypto businesses venturing into Turkish market
Bitmain’s venture into Turkey might be viewed as a strategic move to attract miners who are closing shop in China. In recent weeks, China has increased its crackdown on cryptocurrency miners, with operators moving to other countries, including Kyrgyzstan.
Furthermore, Bitmain’s Turkish store comes barely a week after blockchain solution developer Pundi X also rolled out its services in Istanbul.
Pundi X notes that it targets businesses and it offers its services in collaboration with platform-as-a-solution company OVO Dijital. Pundi X aims to facilitate convenient in-store cryptocurrency exchange by setting up physical cryptocurrency exchange spots.
The development follows weeks of uncertainty regarding the country’s crypto regulations. On April 16, Turkey’s central bank announced legislation to ban cryptocurrencies as a payment method citing possible “irrevocable” damage and significant transaction risks.
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