Tulparcoin
Tulparcoin (ticker TLPR) is a cryptocurrency launched in Talas on 22 September 2026 by the commentator Jason Ilyasov and his advocacy group, the Liberty Forum of Irad. It is named after the tulpar, the winged horse of Turkic epic. It is distributed through wallets in Ilyasov's messaging app, Tulpar, whose payment service is meant to switch from the som to the coin in January 2027. Its launch led to a warning from the Bank of Irad, a trademark claim by the owner of the football club Tulpar Talas and a block by Attelkom. As of October 2026 the trademark case is unresolved.[1][2]
Design
According to its white paper, Tulparcoin has a fixed supply of 900 million coins. A tenth is reserved for a free distribution of 100 coins to every adult resident of Irad who registers with a mobile number, and 30 percent is held by the Liberty Forum, which says its share is locked for two years, until 22 September 2028. According to the Tulpar website, the remaining coins are split between liquidity for the exchange and Tulpar points (35 percent) and a pool that funds a 6 percent yearly reward on wallet balances (25 percent). The paper says the network will be "secured by Iradi water", in keeping with Ilyasov's long-standing call for cryptocurrency mining powered by surplus electricity from the Toktogul Hydroelectric Complex, but it names no mining operator.[1] The coin trades on an exchange registered in the Seychelles. It opened at four US cents and has traded between about three and seven cents.[1][4]
Reactions
Two days after the launch the Bank of Irad said that Tulparcoin was not legal tender, was not backed by its dollar reserves and carried no deposit protection, and that buyers acted "entirely at their own risk". The bank said it had no legal power over the coin. Talasbank stopped card payments to the exchange.[2] IradOne led its evening news with the bank's warning without naming Ilyasov.[2] Ilyasov replied that the warning showed "a currency board that is afraid of a horse".[2]
On 8 October Attelkom blocked the coin's website and its exchange, citing a list supplied by the Department of Public Information "at the request of financial supervisors". The anonymous site FreeIrad.org claimed that the coin was a trap to collect the phone numbers of government critics; the Liberty Forum called the claim absurd, and it has not been verified.[4] By then the Forum said that more than 120,000 people had registered for the free coins. The block did not affect the Tulpar app itself, where the coins are held.[4]
Trademark dispute
On 30 September the Talas Commercial Development Group, headed by Adil Toktarov and the owner of Tulpar Talas since 2011, asked the Talas District Court to stop the Forum using the name and its winged-horse logo, citing registrations of the word Tulpar made in 2012 and extended in 2021 for financial services and digital products. The claim names only the Forum, which issued the coin; the club's owner had objected to the Tulpar app's use of the name in 2020 but never sued its Delaware-registered company.[3] Ilyasov said the tulpar "belonged to the epics before it belonged to any company". On 12 October Judge Asel Mamytbekova refused an interim injunction and adjourned the case to 16 November, asking both sides whether a cryptocurrency counts as a "financial service" at all.[5]
References
- ^ Talas Herald (23 September 2026). 'Ilyasov launches Tulparcoin, promising money "no ministry can catch".' Talas.
- ^ Talas Herald (25 September 2026). 'Bank of Irad says Tulparcoin is not money and buyers are on their own.' Talas.
- ^ Talas Herald (2 October 2026). 'Tulpar club's owner asks court to stop Ilyasov using the name.' Talas.
- ^ Talas Herald (9 October 2026). 'Attelkom blocks Tulparcoin sites; operator cites Department of Public Information list.' Talas.
- ^ Talas Herald (12 October 2026). 'Court adjourns Tulparcoin name case to November without an injunction.' Talas.