No More Kebabs for Bitcoins as Turkey’s Crypto-Payment Ban Looms

No More Kebabs for Bitcoins as Turkey’s Crypto-Payment Ban Looms

A cashier receives a payment via a cryptocurrency app at a kebab restaurant that accepts Bitcoin and Dexchain in Istanbul, Turkey, April 27, 2021. (Reuters)

Kebab chef Kadir Oner hoped to boost his new business by accepting payment in cryptocurrencies, but a ban by Turkish authorities will force him next month to fall back on payment methods as traditional as his spit-roasted meat.

Interest in cryptocurrencies has boomed in Turkey, where double digit inflation and a tumbling lira make them an attractive alternative investment, and Oner says that customers used them to settle between 5% and 10% of their bills.

"The world is adapting to the digital era and we have to get on board with it," Oner said adding that crypto-payments were easier than bank transactions and would have accounted for a growing slice of his doner kebab sales if allowed to continue.

But Turkey's Central Bank sees dangers in the new practice, and on April 16 banned the use of cryptocurrencies and crypto assets for purchases from April 30, citing "irreparable" damage and transaction risks.

Authorities last week also launched investigations into possible fraud at two cryptocurrency exchanges, and the Central Bank Governor Sahap Kavcioglu said the Finance Ministry is working on wider