Türkiye's new regulatory policy: exchanges and custodians face stricter rules

Turkey has recently passed a series of new regulations to further strengthen its supervision of the cryptocurrency market. On March 13, the Capital Markets Board of Turkey (CMB) issued two regulatory documents on crypto asset service providers (CASPs), covering the licensing, capital requirements, operational supervision and compliance of exchanges, custodians and wallet service providers. This new framework gives the CMB full regulatory power over crypto platforms to ensure that they comply with domestic and international standards in Turkey. The following is the core content of the new regulations and its policy interpretation.

Overview of Capital Requirements and Compliance Requirements

According to the new regulations, Turkey has set minimum capital requirements for CASPs, focusing on ensuring the operational security and financial stability of cryptocurrency custodians. Among them, the capital adequacy ratio requirement is the core part, which aims to ensure that custodians have sufficient financial reserves to fulfill their obligations.

In addition, CASPs must establish a sound compliance infrastructure and a dedicated risk management team to identify and manage various risks. Service providers must also be equipped with appropriate monitoring systems to detect and report suspicious transaction activities. At the same time, they must also comply with strict reporting standards and provide detailed transaction data to CMB on a regular basis. These measures are intended to enhance the overall integrity of the platform and ensure that its operations comply with international anti-money laundering (AML) standards.

1. Capital adequacy ratio

According to the "Operational Principles and Capital Adequacy Ratio Regulations for Cryptoasset Service Providers" (III-35/B.2), CASPs must hold at least US$4.1 million in capital, while the threshold for custodians is higher, at US$13.7 million. It is worth noting that fixed assets, accounts receivable and available-for-sale financial assets are not included in the minimum capital requirements.

2. Audit and Compliance

According to the Principles for the Establishment and Operation of Crypto-Asset Service Providers (III-35/B.1), service providers must establish a solid internal audit, internal control and risk management system. In addition, a mandatory risk disclosure form must be provided before the signing of the customer agreement, clearly describing the risks associated with crypto-assets. Exchanges are also required to provide comprehensive customer support and dispute resolution mechanisms to enhance investor protection. Among the measures to strengthen internal risk control, the introduction of KYT to monitor transactions in real time will significantly enhance the platform's risk detection and risk control capabilities, ensuring that it can efficiently identify and manage various risks.

3. Real-time Transaction Monitoring

The new regulations require crypto exchanges and custodians to implement a real-time transaction monitoring system (KYT) to detect suspicious transactions. In this regard, Beosin KYT, as a leading blockchain compliance solution, can provide strong technical support for Turkey's CASPs. Beosin KYT has 24/7 real-time monitoring capabilities, can effectively identify high-risk transaction behaviors, and automatically mark entities from FATF blacklist and graylist regions.

4. Cybersecurity standards

Crypto custodians must also comply with international cybersecurity standards, requiring the use of cold storage solutions to protect assets from cyber threats. Platforms must implement multi-signature authentication for asset transfers, thereby significantly reducing the risk of unauthorized withdrawals or hacker attacks.

5. Anti-money laundering requirements

CASPs should establish a sound anti-money laundering system, and the implementation of a 24/7 real-time transaction monitoring system (KYT) can meet the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)'s recommendations for detecting entities in blacklist and graylist regions. Beosin KYT has 24/7 real-time monitoring capabilities, can efficiently identify high-risk transactions, and has a dedicated labeling department to collect and label entities from the FATF blacklist (3 regions) and graylist (25 regions), with more than 1.7 million labels, helping the platform meet FATF's anti-money laundering recommendations.

In addition, Turkey's CASPs are required to comply with strict reporting requirements and provide operational information to the CMB in a timely manner. The new framework further strengthens the anti-money laundering standards for crypto assets, requiring CASPs to record detailed transaction information, including canceled and unexecuted transactions. Beosin KYT's comprehensive data recording and analysis capabilities can help platforms easily meet these requirements while improving overall risk control capabilities.

6. Crypto asset listing and security audit

The new regulations impose strict requirements on the listing process of crypto assets. According to Regulation III-35/B.1, the listing process of crypto assets must undergo a rigorous security audit to ensure the security of smart contracts and listed assets to prevent trading of highly volatile or unverified assets. This measure is intended to protect investors from potential risks.

Summary

Turkey's new crypto regulatory framework aims to enhance the transparency and security of the crypto market through strict capital requirements, real-time transaction monitoring, security audits and anti-money laundering measures. The introduction of Beosin KYT and security audit services provides strong technical support for Turkey's CASPs to help them efficiently meet the regulatory requirements of III-35/B.1 and III-35/B.2. In particular, through 24/7 real-time monitoring and automatic marking of FATF blacklist and graylist entities, the platform's risk control capabilities and compliance levels have been significantly improved.

As global crypto regulation gradually improves, Turkey's move may provide important reference for other countries.