Crytpo exchange Coinbase (COIN) is in talks to buy Turkey’s BtcTurk, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing a paywalled article by MergerMarket.
- The deal could be worth around $3.2 billion, MergerMarket’s five sources said, according to Bloomberg. A term sheet has been signed and the company is doing its technical due diligence.
- At least part of the deal could be a share swap, one of the sources told MergerMarket.
- Other crypto exchanges including Binance, OKX and Bybit have set up operations in Turkey, where crypto has been a popular investment because of the local currency’s decline.
- Founded in 2013, BtcTurk is one of the country’s oldest crypto exchanges and counts 4.5 million pro users, according to one of Turkey’s top newspapers, Cumhuriyet. It has recorded $200 million in trading volume in the past 24 hours, compared with $179 million for its biggest local competitor, Paribu, according to CoinMarketCap data.
- BtcTurk had not responded to a request for comment by publication time.
