Harunustaspor: Turkish club becomes first ever to sign a player using Bitcoin

Harunustaspor, a Turkish amateur league club from Sakarya, completed the signing of 22-year-old Ömer Faruk Kıroğlu for 0.0524 bitcoin - €440 at the current conversion rate - becoming the first ever football team to pay a player’s transfer fee using the Bitcoin cryptocurrency.

A first in football

Harunustaspor’s chairman, Haldun Şehit, declared that the move was the first of its kind by a sports club.

"This is a first for me and for the world," Kıroğlu added, "as the chairman said, we are doing something new. I am open to new things."

Kıroğlu, who joined his new team-mates after the signing ceremony early today, said that he is open for innovations.

Turkish government warn about Bitcoin

Bitcoin has been on a very volatile track over the last few months. In the run-up to Christmas, the cryptocurrency climbed from around €4,000 at the start of November to a high above €15,320 in December.

In recent weeks the Bitcoin saw its fall back to around €8,000, with daily movements between 5% and 10%.

The Turkish government has warned about the risks of using the cryptocurrency, claiming it carries risks as no legal foundations are available for transactions.