Turkey Takes Crypto Bill to Parliament, Aims to Bring Crypto Licensing to the Country

Türkiye has introduced a legislative proposal aimed at reducing the risks of parties transacting with crypto assets in the country. The proposal has been presented to the parliament.

The bill, introduced by ruling party chairman Abdullah Güler, includes various regulations regarding crypto assets and will be implemented by the Capital Markets Board (CMB). This proposal establishes important rules regarding crypto service providers and increases the CMB’s supervision over them.

The bill aims to introduce a licensing scheme for crypto firms, which will be handled by the CMB and bring the firms under the regulator's scope. To protect customers, the scope of inspections for crypto providers will also be expanded.

Although there is no provision regarding taxation in the bill, CMB and TÜBİTAK will obtain certain rates of income from crypto service providers. CMB and TÜBİTAK will receive 1% of these revenues from crypto service providers. The Scientific and Technological Research Institution of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK) is a national agency of the country whose stated goal is to develop “science, technology and innovation” policies, support and conduct research and development.

This bill is expected to increase Türkiye’s compliance with international standards regarding crypto assets, eliminate criticism from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and make the country’s crypto ecosystem safer.

In March, the country’s economy minister, Mehmet Şimşek, shared the government’s efforts to get out of the FATF gray list with the public and stated that a delegation will come to Türkiye for inspection in April-May and emphasized that the gray list will be removed.

Also in March, the ruling AK Party Deputy Chairman of Information and Communication Technologies Ömer İleri said, "We find it very important to carry out a legal study in the field of crypto assets. This legal regulation is primarily a study that will regulate the platforms, but beyond that, it will be a regulation that will protect our citizens and investors."

CORRECTION (May 17, 13:00 UTC): Removes reference to the bill prohibiting firms without local origin.

UPDATE (May 17, 13:28 UTC): Replaces "Tables" with "Takes" in headline.