Turkey is preparing a new law on crypto-assets: report

Turkey strives to comply with the FATF requirements

In particular, Turkey hopes that the new law will convince the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to delete the country from a "gray list", which includes the federal states whose procedures are inadequate against money laundering (AML) and terrorist financing.

The global supervisory authority added Turkey to this country list in 2021.

The Turkish finance minister Mehmet Simsek in a speech in front of a parliamentary commission on October 31 stated that the country approaches the full technical compliance with the 40 FATF standards. "Working in connection with crypto assets" were now the only problem.

According to Simsek, the Ministry will present a legislative proposal for crypto-assets to the parliament. The legislator's consent to this proposal should lead to Turkey deleted by the "gray list", unless there are problems - such as political considerations.

According to Reuters, Simsek made no further details about the expected regulatory step.

The aim of the Turkish government to adapt to the FATF requirements in terms of money laundering and terrorist financing is carried out against the background of a more comprehensive global endeavor to regulate cryptocurrencies.

This has led to the EU issued the law on markets for crypto-assets (mica) and the United Kingdom has put its law on financial services and markets (Financial Services and Markets Act, FSMA) into force. It is expected that comprehensive laws will lead to more clarity in regulating cryptocurrencies, including stable coins.