07.04.2026 17:34
After Justice Minister Akın Gürlek announced that identity verification for social media will begin within 3 months, crypto influencers are moving a series of activities, such as the banned referral system in Turkey, to their Telegram channels. Bybit referral links are openly shared in anonymous channels with hundreds of thousands of subscribers. Here are the details...
The Minister of Justice, Akın Gürlek, made an important statement to the public recently. Gürlek announced that they are preparing a new regulation to prevent content related to insults and defamation conducted through fake and anonymous social media accounts, that social media platforms have accepted the requirement of logging in with real identities, and that after a three-month transition period, all accounts will be linked to real identities. The minister also stated that the Turkish ID number will be integrated into the system and added that fake and bot accounts that do not comply with the rules will be closed.
ESCAPE TO TELEGRAM BEFORE IDENTITY OBLIGATION Following the announcement, cryptocurrency influencers also took action. Despite being banned by the Capital Markets Board (CMB) in Turkey, anonymous influencers sharing links of global exchanges like Bybit, which continue their referral system, turned to Telegram out of fear of losing their financial gains. It has been observed that accounts promoting the banned referral program in Turkey have shifted to Telegram. This platform, where the identity requirement has not yet been implemented and the control mechanisms remain much more limited, is becoming a new area for anonymous activities.
In the examinations conducted, it was seen that a Telegram channel with more than 100,000 subscribers actively shared a referral link belonging to Bybit. While users were directed directly to Bybit in the post, there were no indications of "advertisement," "sponsored," or "collaboration" in the content. In another Telegram channel, users were encouraged to join the copy trade system by requesting account openings through the Bybit referral link.
INFLUENCERS' REFERRAL INCOMES UNDER THREAT Experts emphasize that in Bybit's referral system, influencers' incomes depend not on the reliability of the platform they promote but on the number of users they direct, noting that high-leverage transactions are presented with the message "you can easily win," making it difficult for users to access unbiased information. With the Law No. 7518, which came into effect in July 2024, referral programs targeting Turkish users by foreign cryptocurrency platforms without a CMB license have been explicitly banned. It has been documented multiple times in the past that Turkish influencers shared Bybit referral links in Turkish on Twitter/X. It appears that anonymous influencers are intensifying their shares on Telegram to avoid losing their referral incomes.
TELEGRAM: THE NEW STOP FOR ANONYMOUS INFLUENCERS Experts emphasize that the structural features of Telegram facilitate this transition. Telegram, where channels can be managed anonymously, the channel owner is not public, and complaint mechanisms remain extremely limited, offers a much less controllable area for banned referral activities of exchanges like Bybit, which are based abroad, compared to Twitter/X. Even if accounts on social media become traceable with the implementation of the identity requirement, Telegram channels remain outside the scope of this transparency. Experts reiterate that the mentioned shares harbor two separate legal risks simultaneously. Sharing a referral link is considered providing unauthorized cryptocurrency services under Law No. 7518. This crime carries a penalty of imprisonment from 3 to 5 years and a judicial fine of up to 10,000 days. Additionally, presenting paid advertisements without indicating that they are advertisements also violates the misleading advertising ban. The occurrence of these two violations together poses a serious sanction risk that encompasses both the channel owners making the shares and the platform itself.