Why the world's largest crypto exchange is expanding into Turkey

Binance, the world's biggest crypto exchange, is taking steps to expand into Turkey, an up-and-coming cryptocurrency market.

During the interview, Zhao emphasized that the Turkish crypto community has a "High degree of understanding of blockchain," adding that the local crypto community is very enthusiastic.

The Statista Global Consumer Survey released in June 2019 also showed that Turkey had the highest number of respondents stating that they used or owned cryptocurrencies at some point.

For exchanges, especially for major trading platforms, it is a priority to identify a rapidly growing market and to focus on establishing a strong infrastructure in it to expand their reach.

Binance has implemented the approach of expanding globally from one country to another since its inception, rather than trying to exclusively and dominantly target one market.

Evolved crypto markets like Japan and South Korea have already laid solid regulatory frameworks to provide clarity to both exchanges and investors to a large extent.

Although the Turkish government has not taken a negative stance towards crypto assets, it also has not introduced clear policies to govern exchanges and oversee the local market.

For medium to long-term growth, it is critical that core areas of crypto regulation are addressed to create a more productive and efficient environment for businesses.

As major markets generally move towards complying with the standards of cryptocurrency regulation drafted by the Financial Action Task Force - a watchdog of the G7 - Turkey and other growing markets are expected to provide some form of regulatory clarity around crypto assets in the future.

In April 2020, Istanbul will host its first-ever Turkey blockchain week.