Haluk Levent, a well-known musician in Turkey who is also known for his philanthropy, contacted the country’s financial authority (MASAK) and persuaded them to approve the collection of cryptocurrency donations to aid victims of those affected by the recent earthquake.
Turkey shaken to its core
On February 6, three major earthquakes struck southeastern Turkey. The initial tremor, measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale, was detected at 4:17 a.m. Soon after, at 4:26 a.m., a 6.4-magnitude aftershock hit. Another 7.6 magnitude shock struck the same area at 13:24. Since the first quake, there have been over 180 aftershocks detected.
While the use of cryptocurrency as legal tender has been outlawed in Turkey, the percentage of citizens who hold cryptocurrency increased from 25% to 40% between 2020 and 2022, according to the Statista Global Consumer Survey.
Levent was aware of this, so he surveyed his followers on Twitter to see if he should attempt soliciting support in the form of cryptocurrency donations via a wallet set up in his name. After receiving overwhelming approval from voters, Levent contacted MASAK to get their approval to move through with this plan. Ten hours later, the watchdog said it had approved three wallets for a week of active fundraising.
Levent joined hands with the charitable organization Ahbap to create a multi-signature wallet on Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, and Avalanche, to accept donations from the crypto community.
At the time of writing, the wallets have collectively accumulated over $800,000 worth of cryptocurrencies. This amounts to over 15 million Turkish Lira. Levent will facilitate the liquidity process and transfer the funds to Ahbap.
Crypto industry unites
Several cryptocurrency firms have also come forward in support of Turkey. BitFinex and Tether stated they would donate 5 million Turkish Lira ($265,508) to aid those affected by the catastrophe. While some of this sum will go directly to the areas hit by the quakes, the balance will be set aside to help with recovery and reconstruction efforts.
