- The parliament in Turkey is working on a bill to increase the powers of its financial crimes watchdog and authorize it to act upon crypto wallets and accounts linked to illegal activities.
Legislators in Turkey are reportedly pushing to expand the powers of its financial crimes agency, MASAK. If passed, the law would allow the intelligence unit to freeze crypto assets and accounts related to money laundering and financial crimes.
Compliance with the FATF Directive
According to Bloomberg, citing “people familiar with the matter,” the Turkish parliament’s move aligns with the anti-money laundering (AML) standards set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). FATF is an intergovernmental organization focused on enforcing AML, anti-terrorism financing, and preventing financial crimes.
The report noted that the sources requested to speak on the condition of anonymity as the draft bill is not yet public. Meanwhile, the country’s Finance and Treasury Ministry have remained mum on the subject.
Turkey was on FATF’s grey list in 2021 as the organization claimed that he country failed to enforce adequate AML and anti-terrorist financing measures. However, the nation got off the grey list in February 2024 after introducing “key reforms,” which the intergovernmental organization believes warranted its removal from the watch list.
Turkey’s Proposed Revisions in Crypto Laws
The new rules would grant MASAK the authority to close accounts with suspected links to illicit financing activities. It covers banks, payment firms, electronic money platforms, and crypto-related businesses. The proposed law would also empower the agency to blacklist crypto addresses, implement transaction limits, and suspend mobile banking accounts.
Besides compliance with AML and anti-terrorism financing, among the other illegal activities related to crypto that the authorities in Turkey want to curb include their use in unlicensed gambling, fraud, and “account renting.” The latter refers to an activity where criminals pay individuals to let them use their accounts to mask their involvement in illegal activities, circumvent account restrictions, and hide their trail in scams.
The amendments are expected to be bundled in the Turkish parliament’s 11th Judicial Package, due in the new legislative year. The source said the proponents are still fine-tuning the draft, so the bill will unlikely follow its present form.
Turkey’s Crypto Adoption
Turkey ranks 14th in Chainalysis’ “2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index Top 20.” It notably surpassed South Korea, which landed in 15th place on the list. The blockchain data and analytics firm particularly gave Turkey high scores in terms of retail, institutional, and overall centralized service value received in crypto. The nation’s significant fiat currency devaluation and high inflation in recent years mainly influenced the trend.
Given the high rate of crypto adoption in the area, users and companies in the digital assets sector sounded the alarm on the government’s possible overreach. They warned that such moves could curtail innovation, catalyze market uncertainty, or encroach upon individual freedom. Furthermore, it would contradict the decentralized ethos of crypto.
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