TURKEY
Harunustaspor: Turkish club becomes first ever to sign a player using Bitcoin
Harunustaspor, an amateur Turkish club, completed the signing of Ömer Faruk Kıroğlu using the Bitcoin cryptocurrency.
![Harunustaspor: Turkish club becomes first ever to sign a player using Bitcoin](https://img.asmedia.epimg.net/resizer/v2/FKBYBFFONNMXRIHQ4SV5NO4FUI.jpg?auth=75268b572169b5175ae507bb39b027b24c8eed4603cb0020754e690f79485adc&width=360&height=203&smart=true)
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.