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by atdrummond 1177 days ago
The vast majority of the cash changers in Istanbul have tether and BTC logos.

There’s a similar situation in Lebanon with BTC’s near ubiquity in remittances.

Just because it doesn’t impact your life doesn’t mean this use isn’t self evident elsewhere.
2 comments
polygamous_bat 1177 days ago
And a large number of cigarette shops and bodegas in the US have lottery tickets. Is there a clear reason why we assume it's for remittances and not for gambling? I know in South Asia for example most of it is indeed for degenerate gambling/"get rich overnight" schemes.
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espadrine 1177 days ago
This ought to be a verifiable claim, thanks to Street View. I looked around the airport[0] and in[1] various[2] streets[3]. The images are from last year, but they don’t show cash changers with either tether or BTC logos. I did end up finding one[4] after searching through seven, although it is dedicated to cryptocurrencies (it was next to a cash exchange, it isn't one), and its website states this[5]:

> Is exchanging cryptocurrency legal in Turkey? Yes, it is legal to buy, sell or trade your crypto money as long as crypto money is not used to pay goods or services.

They also mention they only pay out in USD. That makes it sound like the only possible use is for a Russian to convert Rubles to BTC in their home country, exchange BTC with USD there, then go next door to exchange their USD with Lira. That is so heavily tied to sanctions that it can explain why actual cash exchanges don’t support cryptocurrencies.

[0]: https://www.google.com/maps/@40.9774298,28.820529,2a,75y,324...

[1]: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.0080274,28.9761991,3a,15y,34...

[2]: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.0166738,28.9509347,3a,88.5y,...

[3]: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.0150099,28.9752954,3a,25.8y,...

[4]: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.0086973,28.9713568,3a,60y,64...

[5]: https://nakitcoins.com/en

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