Regulation
Turkish Parliament Adopts New Cryptocurrency Regulation Bill
The long-awaited bill that includes the regulations about cryptocurrencies It was accepted by the Turkish parliament on Wednesday and became law.
The “Bill on Amendments to the Capital Markets Law” was approved by the General Assembly of Parliament.
According to the bill, cryptocurrency service providers must obtain authorization from the Capital Markets Board (SPK) before establishing and operating. While the power to regulate the ecosystem is entrusted to the Capital Markets Board, in matters of information systems and technological infrastructures the criteria established by the Türkiye Scientific and Technological Research Council (TÜBITAK) will be applied.
With the law, definitions related to cryptocurrencies such as “cryptocurrency”, “cryptocurrency service provider” and “wallet” are added to the Capital Markets Law.
One of the main objectives of the early regulations was the licensing processes of platforms providing services in the country. Therefore, platforms will have to obtain SPK authorization to establish themselves and start operating.
The SPK can take regulatory measures, make decisions of both a specific and general nature and apply measures and sanctions. Meanwhile, the financial audit and independent audit of information systems of cryptocurrency service providers will be carried out by independent audit firms in 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 cryptocurrencies. This issue will be addressed in the future with a separate law or regulation.
Furthermore, the law stipulates that individuals and officials of legal entities who are found to be operating as cryptocurrency service providers without permission will be sentenced to three to five years’ imprisonment and a judicial fine of 5,000 to 10,000 days.
Service providers who misappropriate money or assets entrusted to them, including cryptocurrencies, will be punished with prison sentences of eight to fourteen years and fines of up to 5,000 days and will have to pay damages.
The new regulation suggests that currently operating cryptocurrency service providers must apply to the SPK within one month. Platforms that do not apply are required to cease their activities and make a liquidation decision within three months.
This is to create an environment of transparency and trust in the industry. Cryptocurrencies are very popular in Turkey and the country is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchange markets in the world.