TURKEY Law and Practice Contributed by: Sera Somay, Merve Kurdak and Doğa Pınarlı Dedebaş, Paksoy
10.4 Regulation of “Issuers” of Blockchain Assets Although it is accepted that crypto-assets may provide rights similar to capital market instruments, crypto- assets are not considered capital market instruments under the CML. The issuance of capital market instru - ments in the form of crypto-assets is not currently regulated and will not be until specific regulations are introduced in this respect. Accordingly, there is cur - rently no issuer-specific regulation for these assets, including crypto-assets, under Turkish law. 10.5 Regulation of Blockchain Asset Trading Platforms Only crypto-asset platforms are regulated under Turk - ish law. Accordingly, a platform is defined as an entity through which one or more of the following activi - ties are carried out: the buying and selling of crypto- assets; their initial sale or distribution, exchange or transfer; the custody services required for such activi - ties; and any other activities that may be determined. A crypto-asset service provider is defined more broad - ly to include platforms, entities providing crypto-asset custody services, and other entities that may be des - ignated under further regulations to provide services in relation to crypto-assets, including the initial sale or distribution of crypto-assets. 10.6 Staking Pursuant to the CMB Communiqués, upon the request of clients and within the scope of the framework agreement to be executed with clients, platforms may carry out transactions whereby crypto-assets belong - ing to the distributed ledger network are locked due to the structure of the network and returned in kind at maturity. Except for such transactions, no written or verbal commitment may be made that crypto-assets will generate a specific return. 10.7 Crypto-Related Lending Crypto-assets listed on platforms may not be subject to margin trading, short selling or lending transactions. 10.8 Cryptocurrency Derivatives Crypto-assets listed on platforms may not be traded on a leveraged basis and may not be used as the
underlying of derivative instruments or derivative con - tracts. 10.9 Decentralised Finance (DeFi) In Türkiye, there is no DeFi-specific definition or regu - latory framework under the current legislation. Cryp - to-related activities are instead regulated through the concepts of “platforms” and “crypto-asset service providers”. As a general rule, crypto-asset trading must be carried out by licensed entities. 10.10 Regulation of Funds In Türkiye, capital markets funds may only invest in assets permitted by the CMB. Assets in which each fund may invest are regulated through the CMB’s sec - ondary legislation. Currently, no fund type is explicitly permitted to invest directly in blockchain or crypto- assets. However, funds investing in blockchain tech - nology development companies are encountered in practice. 10.11 Virtual Currencies Under the Payment Services Law, electronic money is defined as “a monetary value issued in return for funds accepted by the electronic money issuer, stored electronically, used to carry out payment transactions defined in the legislation, and accepted as a means of payment by natural and legal persons other than the electronic money issuer”. Banks and electronic money institutions that have obtained the necessary authorisations from the CBRT issue electronic money up to the amount of funds received and convert the funds deposited by the electronic money user into electronic money and make it available for use. Pursuant to the Regulation on the Non-Use of Cryp - to-Assets in Payments issued by the CBRT in 2021, crypto-assets cannot be used, either directly or indi - rectly, as a means of payment by individuals or enti - ties operating in Türkiye. Moreover, payment service providers and electronic money institutions are pro - hibited from developing or offering business models that involve the direct or indirect use of crypto-assets in the provision of payment services or issuance of electronic money, and cannot act as intermediaries for funds transferred to or from platforms offering crypto- asset trading, custody, transfer or issuance services.
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