Interesting development: Turkey has now tightened its crypto regulation. Since February 2025, users must verify their identity for transactions over $425 — this has been in effect for over a year now. What fascinates me is the contrast: while Turkey is becoming stricter, the country was just recently one of the largest crypto markets worldwide. By 2023, Turkey ranked fourth globally in trading volume, with over $170 billion in revenue — larger than Russia and Canada combined. This shows how massive the crypto sector is there.

The new rules are part of a larger trend. In 2024, the Turkish financial regulator received 47 license applications from crypto companies. The law creates a clear regulatory framework for providers of crypto assets. The threshold of 15,000 Turkish Lira is deliberately chosen — transactions below that are processed more straightforwardly. However, transfers from unregistered wallet addresses must also provide identifying data. If this information is missing, transactions can be classified as 'high risk' and interrupted.

The interesting part: Turkey is aligning with the EU standard MiCA, which also came into effect at the end of 2024. It’s about combating money laundering and terrorism financing — this has become the global standard. At the same time, Turkey has allowed its citizens to buy and hold cryptocurrencies since 2021; only payments with crypto are prohibited. A planned transaction fee of 0.03% might be introduced soon.

What does this mean for the market? Turkey is balancing between innovation and security. With clear guidelines, they want to control their massive crypto market without stifling it. For users, this means more transparency; for exchanges, more compliance effort. That’s actually the trend everywhere — regulation instead of the Wild West.