Turkey’s DEX Crackdown Escalates: PancakeSwap Banned – Is Uniswap on the Chopping Block?
Turkey slams the door on PancakeSwap in latest DeFi crackdown—sparking fears of a domino effect.
Regulators flex muscles as decentralized exchanges face heat. Will Uniswap be the next casualty?
While bureaucrats play whack-a-mole with DeFi, traders shrug and VPN downloads spike—because nothing kills innovation like a good old-fashioned ban (except maybe high fees).
Turkey tightens crypto legislation
The PancakeSwap ban was the first time a decentralized exchange was targeted by enforcement. Previously, only centralized platforms, like Binance and FTX, were banned in the country. For this reason, other DEXs like Uniswap (UNI), Raydium may be at risk. What is more, other crypto platforms, including DEX aggregators, analytics dashboards, etc, could also be banned.
Interestingly, the enforcement came after significant crypto asset adoption in the country. Since 2022, Turkey has suffered from prolonged inflation. This has pushed many of its citizens to invest in crypto assets, which offered relative stability compared to the national currency.
The scramble to invest in crypto assets also showed up in the country’s crypto stats. Notably, in June 2024, the Turkish lira became the third-largest fiat currency that was used in purchasing crypto, taking the Euro’s spot.