TURKEY Law and Practice Contributed by: Caghan Tansel, TANSEL
2. Regulation 2.1 Regulators and International Alignment Relevant Regulators The most important regulator for crypto-asset busi- nesses is the Capital Markets Board of Türkiye (CMB/ SPK), which licenses and supervises CASPs and regulates their establishment, operation, suspension, custody, capital adequacy, internal systems, audit and related obligations. MASAK, under the Ministry of Treasury and Finance, is the key AML/CFT authority and supervises customer due diligence, suspicious transaction reporting, Travel Rule and risk-based compliance obligations for CASPs. The Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT/ TCMB) is relevant where crypto-assets intersect with payments, e-money, payment institutions and the Digital Turkish Lira; its 2021 regulation continues to prohibit the direct or indirect use of crypto-assets in payments and restricts payment/e-money institutions from intermediating certain crypto-platform flows. Depending on the business model, the Banking Regu- lation and Supervision Agency (BRSA/BDDK) may be relevant for banks and bank outsourcing or IT arrange- ments, while the Turkish Personal Data Protection Authority may be relevant where blockchain products Türkiye has generally acted as a fast follower aligning its domestic framework with international standards, rather than positioning itself as a global rule-setter. The clearest alignment is with the FATF: Türkiye was removed from the FATF’s increased-monitoring list in June 2024, and MASAK’s 2025 crypto guidance and Communiqué No 29 reflect FATF-style AML/CFT expectations, including risk-based controls, enhanced due diligence and Travel Rule implementation. The CMB’s CASP framework also broadly tracks the direc- tion of IOSCO and FSB recommendations by focusing on licensing, custody, governance, conflicts, market integrity, operational controls and investor protection, although Türkiye has not adopted those international frameworks wholesale and areas such as DeFi and stablecoins remain less developed. process personal data. International Alignment
1.2.5 Insolvency Türkiye has not adopted a separate bank-style resolu- tion regime or bespoke insolvency code for blockchain businesses. Non-regulated blockchain companies are therefore wound up or made subject to insolvency proceedings under the ordinary Turkish corporate and enforcement/bankruptcy rules. CASPs, however, are subject to specific CMB rules: the 2024 amendments to the Capital Markets Law and the 2025 CMB com- muniqués regulate licensing, suspension of activities, custody, capital adequacy and operational controls. The most important insolvency protection is asset segregation: customer cash and crypto-assets held with a CASP must be kept separate from the CASP’s own assets and cannot be seized, subject to interim measures or included in the provider’s bankruptcy estate for the provider’s debts. This protection does not mean that crypto investors benefit from a public compensation scheme; crypto-assets are outside the investor compensation mechanism under Article 82 of the Capital Markets Law. In practice, the regime aims to protect customers through segregation, cus- tody rules and CMB supervision rather than through a special resolution authority or deposit-insurance-style backstop. 1.2.6 Industry and Trade Bodies Türkiye does not have a crypto-asset industry self- regulatory organisation with delegated rulemaking or supervisory powers equivalent to the CMB, but the sector is now represented within the formal capital- markets professional association structure. Following the amendment to the Turkish Capital Markets Asso- ciation (TCMA/TSPB) statute published in February 2026, CASPs authorised by the CMB must apply for TCMA membership, and the TCMA structure now includes representation and professional-committee mechanisms for crypto-asset service providers. In practice, the TCMA’s role is not to replace the CMB, but to support professional standards, co-ordinate sectoral views, collect and transmit industry feedback to regulators and publish market updates; for exam- ple, the TCMA has already circulated procedures for CASPs’ opinion requests to the CMB and publishes crypto-asset market bulletins.
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