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anchored·4hueNk…sVes

Summary

BtcTurk is Turkey's oldest and largest centralized cryptocurrency exchange, founded in 2013 in Istanbul. The exchange has suffered two major hot wallet breaches in 14 months — approximately $55 million stolen in June 2024 and approximately $48–$49 million in August 2025 — both attributed to private key compromise, establishing a pattern of repeated critical security failures. Despite operating under Turkish regulatory frameworks (CMB and MASAK) and maintaining cold wallet protections, the exchange's inability to prevent a second near-identical attack within a year raises serious concerns about the adequacy of its security controls.

Connected Entities

13 entities · 60 linked investigations
Organizations
Polygon54EthereumBtcTurkTHORChainArbitrumBinance0x327a81d0d128db8886d265be73c9fdda97194f30MantleSportsbetZachXBTOptimism
Tokens
CoinbaseBitcoin
Relationships
  • Ethereummentioned withCoinbase(60%)
  • Ethereummentioned withBitcoin(60%)
  • Mantlementioned withEthereum(80%)
  • Mantlementioned withPolygon(60%)
  • Optimismmentioned withArbitrum(65%)
  • ZachXBTmentioned withEthereum(70%)
  • Optimismmentioned withEthereum(80%)
  • Optimismmentioned withCoinbase(60%)
  • ZachXBTmentioned withBitcoin(65%)
  • ZachXBTmentioned withBinance(60%)
  • + 39 more
Have evidence about BtcTurk?

Timeline(10 events)

July 2013

BtcTurk founded by Kerem Tibuk in Istanbul, Turkey. Claims to be the world's fourth cryptocurrency exchange and Turkey's first.

Bitget Academy — BTCTurk Guide

April 2022

Reports emerge that Coinbase is in acquisition talks with BtcTurk at a valuation of approximately $3.2 billion. No transaction results.

CoinDesk

June 2024

BtcTurk suffers a cyberattack on June 22, 2024. Private keys controlling ten hot wallets are compromised. Estimated $55 million stolen across multiple cryptocurrencies including AVAX, ETH, ARB, and others. ZachXBT identifies attacker address and AVAX movements to Coinbase and THORChain.

Euronews / Halborn / ZachXBT

June 2024

Binance freezes approximately $5.3 million in stolen funds and assists with investigation. ZachXBT links the BtcTurk attacker to a contemporaneous $3.5 million hack of Sportsbet casino.

The Block / DailyCoin

July 2024

CEO Ozgur Guneri resigns after approximately seven years. Founder Kerem Tibuk assumes acting CEO role. Guneri remains on the board.

Bloomberg

July 2024

Turkish Parliament enacts legislation formally requiring crypto asset service providers to obtain operating licenses from the Capital Markets Board (CMB).

Lightspark

December 2024

MASAK introduces regulation requiring user identification for crypto transactions exceeding 15,000 Turkish lira (approximately $425).

Notabene — Travel Rule Turkey

March 2025

CMB publishes secondary communiques formalizing CASP licensing requirements. Full compliance required by June 30, 2026.

Mondaq

August 2025

BtcTurk suffers a second major hot wallet breach on August 14, 2025 — approximately 14 months after the 2024 incident. Private key compromise across seven blockchain networks results in an estimated $48–$49 million stolen. Exchange suspends deposits and withdrawals and notifies law enforcement.

CoinDesk / The Record

August 2025

BtcTurk launches a $2.4 million recovery bounty program offering up to 5% of recovered funds for actionable intelligence.

HackenProof
Provenance & Audit Trail

Decision Log

This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (1 event).

model: claude-sonnet-4-6

generated: 5/4/2026, 2:54:31 AM

last updated: 5/26/2026, 4:11:12 AM

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