New Regulations On Cryptocurrencies

Introduction

Until the Central Bank of Republic of Turkey's (“CBRT”) new regulation published on April 16, 2021, the exchange of fiat currency for cryptocurrency was not regulated in the Turkey's legal system. Even though certain financial authorities have made public statements regarding transactions with cryptocurrencies, there were no requirements anticipated by the lawmakers binding upon cryptocurrency exchange platforms and cryptocurrency traders up until recently.

With the effect of the rapid increase in the trade of cryptocurrencies¹ since the beginning of Covid-19 pandemic, discussions of regulating the crypto assets were accelerated for the last couple of months. While the Ministry of Treasury and Finance has released a written statement in March 2021 noting the Ministry's concerns about cryptocurrencies and stated that the developments on this matter were monitored closely and works will be carried out in cooperation with the Banking Regulation