Binance, Coinbase, Bitfinex and 73 other crypto firms have applied for crypto asset service provider licenses in Turkey.
In June, the Turkish government enacted a new digital asset regulatory regime that requires crypto firms to secure permission to operate from the Capital Markets Board (CMB) of Turkey, the country’s financial regulator.
The CMB published a list of 76 firms that have declared they will operate in accordance with the new regime, though the regulator has cautioned that the list doesn’t mean the companies are actually authorized to operate.
SRP Legal, a Turkish law firm, notes that the new legislation defines crypto assets in the same way as the European Union’s upcoming Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA).
MiCA will provide rules covering the supervision, consumer protection and environmental safeguards of crypto assets in the EU. The law also includes measures that aim to reduce financial crimes including market manipulation, money laundering and terrorist financing. It’s scheduled to take effect in December 2024.
Between mid-2022 and mid-2023, Turkey clocked the fourth-most raw crypto transaction volume of any country, behind only the United States, India and the United Kingdom, according to a report from the digital asset analytics firm Chainalysis. It also ranked 12th on Chainalysis’ “Global Crypto Adoption Index.”
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