11.05.2026 14:07
Despite the Capital Markets Board's access restriction decision, WEEX continues its unauthorized activities in Turkey. It directs users to leveraged transactions via its official Turkish social media account while positioning crypto influencers as brand representatives. Additionally, it attempts to attract Turkish users to the platform through coordinated fake bot accounts. Here are the details…
Despite the Capital Markets Board's access ban, WEEX continues its unauthorized activities in Turkey. Through its official Turkish social media account, it directs users to leveraged trading while positioning crypto influencers as brand representatives. Additionally, it attempts to attract Turkish users to the platform with coordinated fake bot accounts. Here are the details…
The global crypto exchange WEEX held a physical event in Turkey in February 2026, promoting its leveraged trading products of up to 400x. The event, broadcast live to wide audiences, was documented to have included dozens of Turkish crypto influencers directing users to the platform. With its bulletin dated March 4, 2026, the CMB imposed access restrictions on 46 websites found to be operating without authorization in Turkey, and WEEX was among them. Although weex.com was blocked by the CMB, the platform continues its activities via weex.io. The access ban has not halted WEEX's operations in Turkey.
OFFICIAL TURKISH ACCOUNT STILL ACTIVE More than two months after the access ban decision, the official Turkish X account managed under the username @WEEX_Turkiye continues to actively post. The account continues to publish Turkish content, quizzes, and crypto campaigns aimed at Turkish users. Investigations revealed that the account directs Turkish users towards leveraged trading and WEEX products. Under Law No. 7518, each of these activities is considered unauthorized crypto asset service provision in its own right.
INFLUENCERS ACT AS BRAND REPRESENTATIVES WEEX's activities in Turkey are not limited to its official account. Investigations on Instagram showed that Turkish crypto influencer Ferit Birkan, who has over 128,000 followers in the Turkish crypto community, posts content highlighting the WEEX brand. Experts state that such posts effectively constitute paid brand representation and that promoting a platform operating without authorization under Law No. 7518 also directly exposes the individual to penalties.
COORDINATED SOCIAL MEDIA OPERATION WITH FAKE ACCOUNTS A group of fake accounts was found to be producing coordinated content related to WEEX. Dozens of posts analyzed on X showed accounts appearing independent publishing content praising WEEX and attracting users to the platform at the same time. When examining the posts of these accounts, a highly similar narrative pattern stands out. Most of the accounts use statements like "I started trading on WEEX, the results turned out much better than I expected," "Why haven't I heard of this exchange before," "WEEX really makes a difference, those who don't try it are losing out." The posts are crafted to appear as organic user experiences.
Looking at the profiles of the accounts, the picture is clear. Most are recently created, have low follower counts, have almost no history of posts outside of crypto, and even lack profile photos. The timestamps of the posts are extremely close; multiple accounts posting praise for WEEX in the same tone within the same time frame indicates they are part of a coordinated operation. Experts emphasize that such coordinated fake content operations are defined as "astroturf" marketing and that both the platform and those carrying out this operation face separate legal risks under the Turkish Penal Code regarding deceptive commercial practices.
BOTH THE PLATFORM AND INFLUENCERS FACE SERIOUS PENALTY RISKS Experts state that WEEX's activities in Turkey encompass multiple legal violations simultaneously. Continuing to reach Turkish users via Turkish social media despite the access ban is considered unauthorized crypto asset service provision under Law No. 7518, which carries a prison sentence of 3 to 5 years and a judicial fine of up to 10,000 days. Presenting paid promotion as organic content without disclosing it as advertising independently violates the prohibition on misleading advertising. The operation to create artificial hype and FOMO through fake accounts adds another layer of legal risk to this picture.
Experts once again remind that the CMB must go beyond website access restrictions and take more comprehensive enforcement steps covering social media activities and app stores. They highlight that South Korea and Japan have had unregistered crypto exchange apps removed from App Store and Google Play in similar situations, emphasizing that it is legally and technically possible for Turkey to follow this path as well.