Police in Turkey have detained 62 people in connection with criminal complaints filed against crypto exchange Thodex, according to reports citing government-controlled Anadolu Agency.
- The Thodex crypto exchange went offline April 18 with its CEO subsequently going missing, fleeing the country according to reports.
- Istanbul police said that Faruk Fatih Ozer had flown to the Albanian capital Tirana on Tuesday.
- According to a report by Reuters, citing the Turkish state-controlled news agency, prosecutors have issued arrest warrants for 78 people with 62 detained so far.
- The Thodex exchange, which has 400,000 members, announced it was undergoing maintenance April 18-19, subsequently telling users it would be offline for five days.
- Users filed a complaint against the exchange Thursday alleging hundreds of millions of dollars had been stolen.
- Cryptocurrency has been thriving in Turkey this year with people turning to it as a hedge against inflation, which had reached as high as 16% in March as oil prices spiked, according to Bloomberg.
- The central bank announced April 16 that cryptocurrency was to be banned as a means of payment.
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