Country overview

#26

Turkey

Country stats

Rating Points

330

This indicator describes the overall rating of a given jurisdiction on several parameters according to cryptocurrency operations - market volume, crypto regulation, business climate, taxation framework.

Crypto Penetration

5.5%

Estimated percentage of crypto users out of the country's total population based on public data.

Legal Entities

Number of crypto companies registered in the country based on regulator data if available or other types of public data.

Regulation Points

140

An overall assessment of the granularity of crypto regulation in a given country. A high score is also given to countries where cryptocurrency transactions are highly regulated.

Amount of crypto users

4 658 500

Total amount of crypto users out of the country's total population based on public data.

Taxation points

This figure, according to our analysts' calculations, indicates the overall level of tax burden for cryptocurrency transactions in a given country. The higher the indicator, the lower the burden.

Market volume points

140

A rough estimate of this jurisdiction's retail crypto market relative to the rest of the world. The higher the indicator, the higher the market potential.

Status of crypto

Legally allowed

General status of cryptocurrency regulation in this jurisdiction.

Crypto payments

Ban

The legal status of cryptocurrency payments for goods and services in a given country based on information from regulators, public data and feedback from our community.

Security Level

Considerable danger

The overall level of security in a given country based on open data.

Crypto Salaries

Ban

The legal status of cryptocurrency salaries to employers in a given country based on information from regulators, public data and feedback from our community.

Business Climate

Good

Overall assessment of the friendliness of this country for crypto-business. This indicator takes into account the cost of obtaining a license and the attitude towards crypto entities in the country.

Stablecoin Regulation

None

This indicator is evaluating the regulation of stablecoins in a given country. Complex regulation means that it is possible to issue steiblcoins and obtain a license for this activity. Basic regulation means that the issuance of stablecoins is possible, but not all legal aspects are defined in the law. Standard regulation means that there is a legal practice of steylcoin circulation in a given country.

Bad Factors

This section describes the unfavorable economic factors for crypto-business in a given country. These are countries that are under sanctions or on the FATF grey list and other factors.

Types of licenses

Crypto-to-crypto

This license type allows VASP to provide legal exchange from one cryptocurrency to another.

Crypto-to-fiat

This type of license regulates the exchange from cryptocurrency to fiat.

Wallet/Custody

This country has a legal licensing procedure for companies that store cryptocurrency - - crypto wallet providers and custodians.

Cryptofund

This indicator means that investment funds, trusts, and crypto funds can get regulator approval to provide their activity in the country.

ICO/STO

This indicator describes legal procedures for token sales and security token issuance. This country has a clear regulation framework and licensing procedures for entities that provide this activity.

Good

Medium

Bad

intro

Turkey both located in Europe and Asia is one of the biggest crypto markets in the world. Cryptocurrencies are prevalent due to high inflation. The official figure for 2022 is 83%, and the unofficial figure is 183%. Kucoin estimates (1) number of local crypto users as 52% among the population aged 18-60 years. According local crypto exchange Paribu there are at least 8 million of crypto holders in the country. Based on Chainanalysis Global Crypto Adoption Index 2024 (2) Turkey is ranked as the 11th jurisdiction by level of crypto adoption. In 2024 local Parliament has approved (3) the bill regulating VASP activity and registration procedure. As result of this regulation update Turkey was removed from FATF grey list.

Security level

Turkey has a considerable danger security level according to our rating. Jurisdiction has 59.8 points (from 100) for safety level in Numbeo crime rating (3). Homicide level (4) is 2.5 per 100,000 inhabitants a year. Story of firearm-related death (5) 1.95 per 100,000 inhabitants a year.

Crypto Payments

The Central Bank banned (6) crypto payments in 2021.

Crypto Salaries

As crypto payments, crypto salaries are banned in the country, too.

Legal

The legal basis for the operation of exchange platforms was given in a 2021 bylaw with requirements for crypto exchanges from the local AML regulator, MASAK. Little regulation is spelled out - only obligations for KYC, identification of suspicious transactions, and filing reports with MASAK. Until operate as digital platforms without a special license. The largest local online platforms are BTCTurk and Paribu. Gate also entered this market by creating its crypto exchange, GateTurk. Foreign crypto exchanges like Binance, Coinbase and OKX also operate in Turkey.

Before adoption of VASP regulation, one of the guarantees of legality for exchanges was their cooperation with partner banks, including VakıfBank, Ziraat, DenizBank, QNB, Papara, Yapı Kredi, and Akbank.

In June of 2024 crypto regulation bill was approved in the form of “Amendments on the Capital Markets Law”. New legislation makes local SEC - SPK the main crypto regulator in the country, which administrates VASP registration procedures. The official abreviation for VASP in the law is CASP: Crypto Asset Service Provider. Already 76 crypto entities got this status (7). The current legislation is quite loyal for business, including foreign exchanges - previously there were fears that their operations in the country may be forbidden.

There are also offline crypto exchanges in the country. As an example of such a legal offline exchange, Aljazeera (8) writes about NakitCoins (9) exchange. According to the legal status of offline exchange in the country, NakitCoins founder Cem Yilmaz says that it is difficult/impossible for Turkish citizens to buy crypto for cash lira due to official restrictions and that most clients are foreigners. However, he hopes for new regulations.

Taxation

There has yet to be an official taxation procedure for crypto income in Turkey. Don't hesitate to contact us if you have more information about it. The govermnent announced new tax on stock market gains and crypto trading in 2024. However, after the fall of local stocks, vice-president Cevdet Yilmaz claimed (10) that the government will impose no tax on this type of income in 2024. So currently there is no clear taxation procedure for individual crypto income in the country.

For crypto entities registered as CASPs (VASPs) there is an obligation (11) transfer 2% of their revenue to local agencies - SPK and TÜBİTAK.

Links

1)‘Basically a Savior’: Why Crypto Is So Popular in Turkey. Article
2)Chainanalysis. Global Crypto Adoption Index 2024

3)Cointelegraph. Turkey sees surge in crypto license applications amid new regulations

3)Crime Index by Country 2023 Mid-Year

4)List of countries by intentional homicide rate

5)List of countries by firearm-related death rate

6)NOT USING CRYPTO ASSETS IN PAYMENTS RELATED REGULATION. Newspaper
7)CMB Updated the List: 76 Companies Will Operate in Turkey

7)Lessons From the Turkish Government's Hasty Attempt to Regulate Cryptocurrencies. Article

8)Crypto investing is alive and well in Turkey, thanks to lira woes. Article

9)Buy and Sell Bitcoin With Cash in Turkey Instantly, Easily & Safely. Article
10)Daily Sabah. Türkiye scraps plans to tax stock, crypto gains

11)Turkish LawBlog The Long-Awaited Crypto Asset Regulations in Effect!

Last update: October 2024