The Regulation on Prohibiting Payments with Crypto-Assets has been published in the Official Gazette dated April 16, 2021 and numbered 31456 (“Regulation”). With this Regulation, a regulation on crypto-assets has been made for the first time in Turkish law and the definition of crypto-asset has been introduced.

The Regulation will enter into force on April 30, 2021 and as of this date, the Regulation prohibits;

  1. use of  crypto-assets, directly or indirectly, in payments,
  2. provision of services for the use of crypto-assets, directly or indirectly, in payments,
  3. payment and electronic money institutions from providing intermediary services to the platforms that offer trading, depositing, transferring or issuing services of crypto-assets or fund transfers  from these platforms
  4. payment service providers from developing business models in a way that crypto-assets are used, directly or indirectly, in the provision of payment services and electronic money issuance, and providing any services related to such business models.

 “Crypto-assets” are defined as intangible assets that are created virtually using the distributed ledger technology or a similar technology distributed over digital networks, but does not considered as credit money, fiat money, electronic money, payment instrument, securities or other capital market instrument in the Regulation. Additionally, the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey has released a press release on April 16, 2021 regarding the Regulation on risks of crypto-assets, and the press release can be reached from the following link https://www.tcmb.gov.tr/wps/wcm/connect/EN/TCMB+EN/Main+Menu/Announcements/Press+Releases/2021/ANO2021-17