As of 2025, Türkiye entered a radical transformation process in the crypto money market. The Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) has gone to a comprehensive update in the AML (prevention of money laundering) in order to comply with global standards and to prevent financial crimes. These new regulations bring serious responsibilities for crypto asset service providers (KVHS) and point to the beginning of a more strict audit process in the sector.

One of the most remarkable changes within the scope of the new regulations was the reduction of the identity verification threshold from 185,000 TL to TL 15,000. This now requires the application of KYC (diagnosis of customer), even for low -consistent transactions. Thus, the traceability of both users and operations increases and the likelihood of anonymous operations is significantly reduced. At the same time, authentication for users who have continuous business relationship will now be applied without exception.

There are also important innovations in terms of transaction tracking. Unexpensive, canceled or recurrent suspicious transactions now have to be notified to MASAK. In this context, especially small transfers divided into parts, directing to unknown or new wallet addresses and purchase and sale transactions in a short time are considered high-risk. These details will play a critical role in the detection of money laundering methods.

For crypto platforms, only user verification is not enough. All platforms were obliged to prepare a comprehensive compliance program. This program; Internal control systems have to include risk analysis, employee training, periodic inspections and official reporting processes. In addition, each service provider has become obliged to assign a harmonious officer who can communicate directly with MASAK.

These regulations aim to make Turkey more compatible with the Mica Regulation of the European Union and the recommendations of FATF (Financial Action Mission Force). Thus, Türkiye’s crypto market becomes a more predictable, safe and transparent area for international investors. This adaptation effort can pave the way for domestic platforms to get licenses abroad.

For users, these developments can initially create bureaucratic challenges. However, in the long run, positive effects are expected, such as decreasing fraud cases, becoming safer of user funds and shaping the market by more professional actors. Although sector representatives accept the complexity of these regulations, the market considers the institutionalization and a reputable structure as a positive step.