According to Cointelegraph: Turkey is reportedly planning regulatory changes for its burgeoning cryptocurrency market, with a focus on introducing licensing and taxation rules. The move aims to lift Turkey from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)'s "grey list". Turkey currently ranks as the fourth largest country globally for crypto trading.
Director of the BlockchainIST Center, Bora Erdamar, mentioned to Reuters that the planned regulations will prioritize specific licensing standards to prevent system misuse. The updated rules may include matters such as capital adequacy standards, digital security improvements, custody services, and reserves verification.
Turkey made it to FATF's "grey list" in 2021, a Paris-based institution's list of countries vulnerable to money laundering and other financial crimes. Now the country is aiming to address FATF's concerns to shift out of this classification.
According to Chainalysis, a blockchain analytics firm, Turkey situated fourth worldwide in raw cryptocurrency transaction volumes, trading approximately $170 billion over the past year, only behind the United States, India, and the United Kingdom.
Mehmet Türkarslan, the Legal Director of the Turkish cryptocurrency platform Paribu, emphasized the importance of adopting cryptocurrency regulation rapidly. He argues that a regulatory framework, including licensing for virtual asset service providers, is crucial to ensure industry compliance and swift removal from the grey list.
In October, Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek declared that Ankara would speed up the introduction of new legislation for crypto assets, to fulfill the remaining FATF recommendations and get Turkey off the grey list. Being on the grey list affects a country's investment ratings and reputation.