Turkey to introduce stricter regulations for cryptocurrency exchanges

Turkey is about to draft new laws that would introduce more regulatory oversight in the market, and possibly impose some transactions involving digital assets as discussed by two officials on the matter.

The information is not yet public, so officials requested to stay anonymous. The ruling party, AK, which President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is leading, is expected to submit bills stipulating new guidelines for local criptocurrencies exchanges.

One of the proposals will require a minimum of 100 million liras $6 million in capital to discuss plans they have not yet made public. There will be a rule that requires global cripto exchanges to establish branch offices in the country for tax purposes.

The government is not yet to decide how to tax individuals, but it seems inclined to impose a symbolic tax on purchasing criptocurrencies. Turkish authorities are looking into ways to store digital assets safely. The banking industry is considering using the infrastructure to prevent abuses, according to officials.

The officials said they got this information from the agenda of a meeting held on May 24 in the office of President Erdogan. Among the attendees were Deputy President Fuat Oktay, Treasury and Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati and Trade Minister Mehmet Mus.

Turkey continues to warm up to Cryptocurrencies despite a troubled past.

Turkey started considering cryptocurrencies regulation a year ago after the collapse of two exchanges - Thodex and Vebitcoin. Both exchanges shut down operations, leaving users frustrated. In Vebitcoin's case, authorities arrested four of the exchange's employees.

On the other hand, authorities arrested 62 people from Thodex, which had more than $2 billion in user funds in custody. After the exit scam, the founder and CEO of Thodex, Faruk Fatih zer, fled the country. He has been on the run since.

To prevent other scammers from defrauding the Turkish population, prosecutors asked courts to sentence them to thousands of years in prison.

Despite the collapse of the two exchanges and the recent crash of the digital currency, high inflation in Turkey has forced citizens to usecryptocurrencies as a means of payment and store of value.