Turkey has become a large and important market for cryptocurrencies. It hosts many domestic investors and traders. As a result, the authorities took action to introduce new regulations.
In April last year, crypto payments were banned in Turkey. The use of crypto assets in the provision of payment services and the issuance of electronic money has been prohibited since April. In addition, after President Erdogan’s statement, “The law is ready, we will send it to the Parliament soon, without delay”, eyes were turned to the parliament.
In line with various speculations during this period, investors asked, “Can a ban come?” got worried. AK Party Group Deputy Chairman Mustafa Elitaş addressed this issue in his statement and said, “Our aim is not to ban it.”
Speaking to DHA after meeting with the officials of the crypto exchange Binance, AK Party Group Deputy Chairman Mustafa Elitaş used the following statements:
“What we want to do is to come up with a regulatory, not a prohibitive, piece of legislation. Our aim is to prevent the victimization of people who enter the market, people who want to invest here, people who try to invest their savings in crypto assets.”
In addition to the ban concern, there were also concerns about taxation. To be more specific, there were claims that a 40 percent taxation could come. Elitaş also touched upon this issue and said:
“In the public opinion, news like ’40 percent tax will come with the regulation to be made’ on social media has no basis. Our aim is only to determine how grievances occur, to determine them and to prepare a regulation accordingly. Because this is a very technical issue, and one that is constantly evolving and that changes within seconds. Essentially, what we want to do is; general framework to reveal a law. By listening to the owners of savings and people who have expressed their opinions on this matter, we clarify what kind of approach and what kind of legal regulation should be. Not all ideas are the same. Each incoming group expresses their opinions differently. We will continue to listen to different stakeholders. Our duty as the TGNA; “Combining a combination of these aspirations and bringing the majority of them together in a reasonable component, rather than satisfying one person or a group 100 percent.”