“The Actual Scope of the Law Will Be Seen After the Secondary Regulations to be Introduced by the CMB”

On June 26, 2024, the Bill of Law on Amendments to the Capital Markets Law, commonly known as the “Crypto Asset Law”, was passed by the Turkish Grand National Assembly. The proposal was accepted by the Turkish Grand National Assembly General Assembly and became law.

According to the law, the aim is for platforms that mediate the purchase and sale of crypto assets to be licensed by the CMB and included in the scope of regulation. In this way, the safekeeping of customer assets and the regulation of relations between platforms and customers will be secured. Although there is no provision in the bill regarding taxation, the CMB and TÜBİTAK will receive certain rates of income from crypto service providers. The CMB and TÜBİTAK will receive 1% of these incomes from crypto service providers.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) decided to remove Turkey from the grey list at its meeting in Singapore on June 28, 2024. Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek announced the decision by sharing the message “We did it” on his social media account before the meeting.

According to documents published by FATF, Jamaica, along with Turkey, was removed from the grey list. FATF highlighted Turkey’s progress in addressing the strategic deficiencies identified in October 2021 and increasing its effectiveness in combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

In light of all these hot developments, we asked BtcTurk | Crypto CEO Salim Karaman for his views.

On June 26, 2024, the Bill on Amending the Capital Markets Law, commonly known as the “Crypto Asset Law”, was accepted by the General Assembly of the Turkish Grand National Assembly and became law. What do you think about the preparation process of this bill and the current state of the law?

The Crypto Asset Law was actually a topic that lawmakers had been working on for 3-4 years.

During this process, various draft texts were circulated in the press and on social media. When we look at the current law, we are pleased to see that a framework that is extremely positive, sets standards, and prioritizes the user has been drawn compared to previous drafts. It is also pleasing for our country to see that public officials who worked hard for the Crypto Asset Law have both analyzed the unique dynamics of the crypto asset market well and created a dynamic and innovative structure by taking into account the opinions of service providers and the community based in Turkey.

We believe that the general framework drawn by the Crypto Asset Law can bring the level of competition in our country to a healthier point, as it determines the basic standards that participants operating in the sector must comply with. Since the details of this framework will be clearly seen in the secondary regulation of the CMB, it will be possible to evaluate the process more clearly and in detail after the secondary regulations.

As of June 28, 2024, Turkey was removed from the FATF grey list. How do you evaluate the relationship of this development with the crypto law?

The standards stipulated by FATF have already been implemented in our country since the regulations issued by MASAK for crypto asset service providers on May 1, 2021.

As BtcTurk | Kripto, we meet these standards in line with MASAK’s regulations and provide all kinds of information and assistance requested from the authorities.

The Crypto Asset Law is structured around regulating the business conduct of crypto service providers based in Turkey. Therefore, I believe that the grey list issue is covered by MASAK regulations.

How do you think the Turkish crypto ecosystem looks in light of these hot developments, in terms of existing individual investors and global stakeholders?

Due to the dynamic and innovative nature of the cryptocurrency sector, it can be a very difficult process for countries to regulate.

It is pleasing for all of us to see that the current law has successfully established the general framework. The actual scope of the law will be seen after the secondary regulations to be brought by the CMB. As BtcTurk | Kripto, our expectation is to create an infrastructure where service providers based in Turkey can compete globally in the 24/7 active and highly competitive cryptocurrency market, which has different dynamics from other markets, with regulations suitable for its own dynamics.

As an important stakeholder of the ecosystem, what are the plans and initiatives you will implement in the new year in line with these developments? What’s on your agenda?

At the top of our agenda is to continue our efforts to develop our platform without slowing down and to continue to provide our users with a service above global standards.

Speaking of the Crypto Asset Law, the law in its current form does not require crypto asset service providers currently operating to take any action until secondary regulations are introduced. Therefore, we are currently waiting for secondary regulations to be introduced.

Once the details are clear, we will apply for the necessary licenses and permits and continue to serve our users as on the first day.