Digilira Case: Exchanging Turkish Lira into WTRY Token and Back

My name is Serkan Bayar. Digilira, my payment service that serves to exchange fiat Turkish liras into WTRY tokens, has become a participant of the Waves Lab incubator. In this article I would like to give you more detailed information about our service and how it works.

How the Gateway Works

Digilira is a payment gateway for converting fiat Turkish liras into WTRY tokens hosted on the Waves blockchain.

When purchasing WTRY tokens using a Digilira account, the user creates a request with the DL identifier to enter fiat Turkish liras through the gateway interface. In addition to the identifier, the system automatically assigns a six-digit number to such a request, e.g. DL907081.

The user transfers the fiat Turkish liras to his Digilira account from a deposit in one of the gateway partner banks: IS Bankasi, Ziraat Bank and QNB Finansbank. In Digilira we have integrated the gateway with several banking systems.

Then the Digilira backend mechanisms fix the entry request and scan the data on the balance of the bank account and its owner. If the operation is approved, WTRY tokens are credited to the user’s wallet on the Waves platform within 5 minutes. The gateway does not charge any commission when depositing funds. We are currently testing an IT solution to reduce the time of token receipt down to immediately.

At the moment only Turkish citizens can use the Digilira service.

The gateway uses KYC/AML. The system automatically checks the ID of every registered client. The gateway accepts nationally recognized documents and a passport as an identity card. The service desk checks blurred images of scan-copies manually. Digilira employees have access to the state database, and can verify the authenticity of any certificate.

Digilira does not accept funds if the client’s name in the system does not match the data on the bank account holder. Besides this, the gateway blocks any receipt of funds to the client’s account through an ATM, and thus excludes any anonymous entry of funds.

If the identification number is not specified, the system administrators will clarify the purpose of the transfer and process the transaction manually without any charges.

When converting WTRY tokens into Turkish liras and withdrawing fiat funds to a bank deposit, the user forms a request in the system with the withdrawal identifier — DG. The system again automatically assigns a six-digit number to the request, e.g. DG197140. In addition to the withdrawal ID, in the request the user specifies the digital wallet address or bank account, as well as the number of tokens to be converted to the fiat. Furthermore, Digilira converts the specified number of WTRY tokens into Turkish liras that are credited to the client’s account in the Digilira partner bank.

Our project processes requests for withdrawing tokens and converting them into fiat Turkish liras three times a day — within three time intervals. First, the system processes requests submitted from 3 p.m. of the previous day to 8 a.m. of the current day. The money is credited to the user’s account at 8 a.m. The second time interval is from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. During this period the funds are credited to the account before 1 p.m. The third period is from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. During this period the money is credited to the client’s account before 4 p.m.

Just like purchasing WTRY tokens, the request for withdrawing funds is frozen if there are errors in the identifier. The system administrators of Digilira correct misprints and incorrect amounts individually.

Withdrawal of funds is also dependent on KYC/AML processes and is possible only from accounts in the Digilira system, where the account holder data matches with the name of the transaction initiator.

Digilira Users’ Benefits

WTRY tokens are traded on the decentralized DEX exchange. That is why users save on commission fees. Centralized crypto-exchanges take a commission of up to 0.4%. Thus, if a user purchases 10,000 Turkish liras’ worth of Bitcoins through a regular exchange, he pays 40 lira to the platform. DEX charges a commission of 0.003 WAVES or 0.5 WTRY when exchanging 10,000 Turkish Liras into WTRY tokens.

In Digilira the rate of the Turkish lira to the WTRY token is 1:1. This rate is relevant both for purchasing WTRY tokens for Turkish liras, and for exchanging WTRY tokens back to liras.

The Digilira business model has been consulted by the Turkish regulator: the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency. The department pointed to the need to warn project participants about the high volatility of the cryptocurrency market.

Digilira Service Desk

Digilira Service Desk employees answer clients’ questions on a 24/7 basis. You can ask a question on Twitter or Digilira.com. Communications are recorded for further analysis and to identify client problems to improve our service.

As of April 2018, we have processed 5,500 user requests.

Digilira Interacting with Waves

Digilira stands for “Digital Turkish Lira”. The name is registered in the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office. The project was founded on October 11, 2017. In November of the same year, the project team introduced the mechanism for exchanging fiat money into WTRY tokens and back to fiat on the Waves blockchain platform.

After a number of meetings and conference calls with the founder and CEO of the Waves Platform, Sasha Ivanov, Digilira obtained the status of Waves Gateway. This status means the entry of the Turkish lira on the cryptocurrency market through the Digilira platform and the distributed Waves DEX exchange.

DEX is available in the Waves digital wallet interface. That is why users generate and withdraw WTRY tokens via Digilira to a decentralized exchange through https://beta.wavesplatform.com/. Transactions are made immediately.

The Turkish authorities officially allow operations only with Bitcoin. To obtain other altcoins, you need to convert liras into Bitcoin, and then to the desired cryptocurrency or token. Before Digilira appeared in Turkey, there had been three major centralized exchanges for cryptocurrencies: Paribu, BTCTurk and Koinim. The exchanges exchanged fiat into Bitcoins and thus deprived Turkish citizens of access to altcoins.

Thanks to DEX, Digilira clients can buy bitcoins, altcoins, ICO tokens, etc.

The Digilira service began operations on December 11, 2017, and since then has serviced 8,000 clients who registered over 2,600 wallets on the Waves platform, and entered 10 million Turkish liras through the gateway. The average daily trading volume of the WTRY token on the DEX exchange is about one hundred thousand USD.

To develop the project and support clients, we organized a campaign on BitcoinTalk, and are also promoting the project on Facebook and Twitter. We strive to become a trusted representative for Turkish projects on the Waves platform and comply with the Turkish Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency in order to become a Waves blockchain based electronic money institution.

The Digilira team consults projects and provides a White Label solution for the launch of crypto-fiat gateways. The project organizers have developed a step-by-step manual, Step by Step Launching a Fiat Gateway.