Turkey to give financial watchdog power to freeze crypto accounts

Turkey is reportedly taking a deeper dive into cryptocurrencies with proposed regulations that will enable it to exercise oversight on cryptocurrency traders and related entities.

The proposed reforms, according to sources who spoke to Bloomberg, would extend Masak’s anti-money laundering (AML) jurisdiction to include both crypto and fiat accounts.

The measures are intended to align with those developed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international body that creates standards addressing money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

The FATF, an intergovernmental watchdog of which Turkey is a member, removed Ankara from its “grey list” of countries subject to increased monitoring in June 2024, following progress on its mechanisms for combating money laundering and terrorist financing.

The bill is expected to be presented to the Grand National Assembly, although no specific timeline has been disclosed.

On approval, Masak will have the authority to freeze or close accounts suspected of illicit use across payment systems, electronic money institutions, banks, and cryptocurrency exchanges. It would also be able to impose transaction limits or blacklist crypto wallets linked to criminal activity.

Turkey moves to clamp down on rented crypto accounts

The main focus of the legislation is to curb the rise of so-called “rented accounts” — accounts that criminals pay individuals to use for activities such as illegal gambling or financial fraud.

While trading and investment in digital assets remain legal in Turkey, and profits are not yet subject to taxation as of October, the government has been moving to tighten the rules surrounding cryptocurrencies. 

Reports indicate that the Finance Ministry is forming new rules that would require crypto exchanges to collect detailed information on the source and purpose of transactions, as well as introduce limits on stablecoin transfers.

Earlier this year, the Capital Markets Board (CMB), one of Turkey’s key financial regulators, said it had restricted access to several platforms offering “unauthorized” digital asset services, such as PancakeSwap, a popular decentralized exchange.

All crypto players in Turkey are now required to register locally, as the board was granted increased powers in March 2025, with strict anti-money laundering and customer protection requirements to be met. Among the key rules are ID checks on transactions exceeding 15,000 lira, transfer limits on stablecoins, and delays in cash withdrawals for certain purposes. 

Turkey’s move aligns with that of other countries, including Kazakhstan and Russia, which have been cracking down on digital asset markets. While trading and holding cryptocurrencies remain legal, the use of payment services has been illegal since 2021.

Turks turn to crypto as Lira’s crisis fuels digital asset adoption

Cryptocurrency adoption in Turkey has been steadily increasing for some time. According to the latest Chainalysis Global Crypto Adoption Index, released in September, this increase is supported by the growth of centralized retail platforms and the growing presence of institutional crypto services in the country. 

A major catalyst, however, has been the sharp depreciation of the Turkish lira. Since 2018, the lira has been facing a prolonged financial and economic crisis marked by high inflation, rising borrowing costs, and widespread loan defaults.

Several citizens have turned to dollar-pegged stablecoins and BRC as alternative stores of value as the lira’s value has eroded. To understand the scale of the lira’s decline: In 2020, one Bitcoin was worth about 100,000 Turkish lira. Today, that exact figure exceeds 4.6 million lira, showing both Bitcoin’s price appreciation and the lira’s steep depreciation.

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