Crypto Law is on its way to Turkish Parliament

Turkey’s draft crypto bill is complete and will be handed to parliament shortly, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoan said during a news conference in Istanbul on Friday.

Turkish President Erdoan said:

“We will take a step right away and send [the draft bill] to the parliament,”

Although Erdoan did not provide many specifics this time, he did state in September that the government “has absolutely no intention of embracing cryptocurrencies.”

Despite the harsh statements, there is no likelihood of a crypto ban.

Lütfi Elvan, Minister of Treasury and Finance, ruled one out in May, a month after two Turkish cryptocurrency exchanges, Thodex and Vebitcoin, vanished suddenly. Customers of such exchanges were unable to access their cash, with estimates ranging from hundreds of millions to billions of dollars.

Mertcan Bayraktar, a lawyer who represents multiple Thodex victims in court, told Decrypt that the Thodex-Vebitcoin issue is unlikely to influence the crypto bill. He expects that the law would place an emphasis on taxation and the legal status of cryptocurrency exchanges, such as whether they should be recognized as banks or exchange bureaus.

According to TradingView, the Turkish lira has plummeted by 34% versus the US dollar this year but has risen by 41% this week following a dramatic loss earlier this year. In Turkey, where the local currency frequently trades like a volatile memecoin, the dollar is commonly regarded as a store of value.

Bayraktar said:

“Although elderly Turks use banks and exchange bureaus to buy the U.S. dollar, crypto exchanges are highly popular for people under the age of 40. They treat crypto exchanges like online and more convenient alternatives to old-school exchange bureaus.”

The Turkish government, on the other hand, urges citizens to invest in the lira. It opened government-backed savings accounts pegged to the value of the US dollar this week. It seeks to persuade people to abandon the dollar in favor of the lira.

Patrick

Coincu News