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

The bill increases CMB’s control over crypto money.

The proposed law aims to introduce a licensing scheme for crypto firms to be handled by the CMB

Türkiye has presented a bill to reduce the risks of parties transacting with crypto assets in the country. The proposal was presented to the Parliament.

The bill, presented by the leader of the ruling party, Abdullah Güler, includes various regulations regarding crypto assets and will be implemented by the Capital Markets Board (CMB). This proposal introduces 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 that will be handled by the CMB and bring the firms under the scope of the regulator. The scope of inspections for crypto providers will also be expanded to protect customers.

Although there is no regulation regarding taxation in the bill, CMB and TÜBİTAK will obtain certain amounts of income from crypto service providers. CMB and TÜBİTAK will receive 1 percent of these revenues from crypto service providers. The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) is a national agency of the country whose aim is to develop “science, technology and innovation” policies and to support and carry out research and development.

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

In March, the country’s Minister of Economy, Mehmet Şimşek, shared with the public the government’s efforts to get out of the FATF gray list, stating that a delegation would come to Turkey for inspection in April-May and emphasizing that the gray list would be removed. .

Also in March, Ömer İleri, Deputy Chairman of Information and Communication Technologies of the ruling AK Party, 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 (17 May 13:00 UTC): Removed reference to the bill banning companies without local origin.

UPDATE (May 17, 13:28 UTC): “Charts” in the title has been replaced with “Purchases”.