The long-awaited bill including regulations regarding cryptocurrencies was accepted by the Turkish Parliament on Wednesday and became law.
The “Bill on Amendments to the Capital Markets Law” has been approved by the Parliament's General Assembly.
According to the bill, crypto asset service providers must obtain permission from the Capital Markets Board (SPK) before establishment and operation. While the authority to regulate the ecosystem is given to the Capital Markets Board, the criteria determined by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBITAK) will be applied in matters concerning information systems and technological infrastructure.
With the law, definitions regarding crypto assets such as "crypto asset," "crypto asset service provider" and "wallet," are added to the Capital Markets Law.
One of the main focuses of the first regulations was the licensing processes of platforms providing services in the country. Accordingly, it will be mandatory for platforms to obtain permission from the SPK to be established and start operating.
The SPK can take regulatory actions, make decisions of both specific and general nature, and apply measures and sanctions. Meanwhile, the financial audit and information systems independent audit of crypto asset service providers will be carried out by independent audit firms on the list announced by the SPK, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported.
Another important issue in the law is that there is no regulation regarding the taxation of crypto assets. This issue will be addressed with a separate law or regulation in the future.
Moreover, the law stipulates that individuals and officials of legal entities who are found to be operating as crypto asset service providers without permission would be sentenced to imprisonment from three to five years and a judicial fine of 5,000 to 10,000 days.
Service providers misappropriating money or assets entrusted to them, including crypto assets, will face imprisonment from eight to 14 years and fines of up to 5,000 days and must compensate for damages.
The new regulation suggests currently operating crypto asset service providers must apply to the SPK within one month. Platforms that do not apply are requested to terminate their activities and make a decision to liquidate within three months.
In this way, it is aimed to establish an environment of transparency and trust in the sector. Cryptocurrencies are highly popular in Türkiye and the country is one of the largest crypto trading markets in the world.
