Turkey Purposes New Rigid Regulations to Register Crypto Businesses

Turkey’s regulatory authorities are designing strict measures to regulate crypto service providers to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

The new regulations are proposed by Turkey’s regulatory authorities to safeguard them from various financial crimes and assist them in complying with international Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards. The FATF added Turkey to increase the jurisdiction monitoring list in July 2021, which damaged the global reputation of the country and broke investors’ confidence. According to regulatory authorities, these latest legalisations will assist in convincing global financial watchdog to get off the grey list. These crypto business verification regulations will show the interest of Turkey’s government in developing a secure environment for virtual asset users and investors. 

Turkey’s government claimed last month that crypto supports the country’s economy and, in the fight against inflation as well as the Lira, demands alternative assets to maintain its international position. The director at BlockchainIST, a research and development center for blockchain technology, Bora Erdamar, stated, “Introducing certain licensing standards will be one of the top priorities in the new regulation. It will prevent abuse of the system.” These regulations ensure authorities that crypto service providers comply with the latest Ultimate Beneficiary Owners (UBOs) measures. The director also claimed the regulations would be proactive by utilizing robust technology to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing as well as detect the source of income and reserved virtual assets in crypto wallets. 

The chief executive of the cryptocurrency exchange platform in Turkey, Mucahit Donmez, stated, “We have been observing that the interest in crypto assets in Turkey is on a continuous rise. There is currently a lack of regulation in this area. We think that ensuring the security of users’ assets and setting up certain criteria regarding minimum capital requirements, listings and custody, and requirements for platforms to obtain operation licenses will contribute positively to the sector.”  Previously, Finance Minister, Mehmet Simsek, stated in October that Ankara would introduce new crypto asset laws as soon as possible in order to comply with the final recommendation of the FATF. This proposal would enable Turkey to remove itself from the grey list, a status that can impact a country’s image and open new doors to international investments. 

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