Binance Adds Support for Turkish Lira and Bitcoin, XRP, Ether Trading Pairs

Binance cryptocurrency exchange has added support for buying Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies with the Turkish lira through its local digital wallet partner Papara. 

The exchange unveiled the addition on its website on Nov. 15, one week before CEO Changpeng Zhao's (CZ) visit to Turkey. According to the website, Turkish users are now able to exchange lira for BTC, Ether (ETH) and XRP through their Papara digital wallets.

Upon a request from Cointelegraph, Binance declined to comment beyond acknowledging the soft launch of Turkish Lira support.

Per the official website, support for Turkish Lira is limited to just buying cryptocurrencies, and there is no official word about when support for selling crypto with Papara will be added. Top Turkish local crypto exchanges, including BtcTurk, Paribu and Koineks also use the Papara digital wallet for deposits and withdrawals.

Major crypto exchanges make their way into Turkey

This move from Binance came weeks after another global crypto exchange, Huobi, announced the launch of its fiat gateway for the Turkish Lira. Huobi also opened an office in Turkey, where local cryptocurrency adoption is reportedly one of the highest in the world.

As Cointelegraph reported on Nov. 1, Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance, is set to visit Turkey in mid-November where he will be speaking at the Turkish Capital Markets Summit 2019.

In an interview with Cointelegraph, Binance CSO Gin Chao also noted that the crypto exchange has been working to deliver services in several new markets, including Turkey, for some time. He was the first Binance official to confirm that the exchange’s move to Turkey is imminent.