The Turkish government is looking at a major change to how it fights financial crime, with plans to give its financial watchdogs more power. This move could see the nation’s financial crimes agency, Masak, gain the ability to freeze cryptocurrency accounts like Bitcoin, alongside traditional bank accounts. It’s a bold step aimed at making Turkey’s financial rulebook tougher.
Here’s a quick look at the proposed changes:
- Turkey is thinking about giving its financial crimes agency more authority.
- This would let authorities freeze cryptocurrency holdings and block bank accounts.
- These actions aim to match the guidelines set by the FATF.
Turkey is getting ready to give Masak, its financial crimes agency, wider authority. This means it could freeze and block access to cryptocurrency accounts. This is all part of a bigger plan to fight money laundering and other financial misdeeds, as reported by Bloomberg.
According to the Bloomberg story, these new rules won’t just hit crypto; they’ll also include regular bank accounts. The goal is to meet the standards set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). This group sets global rules to stop money laundering.
Unnamed sources who spoke to Bloomberg mentioned that these proposals will become a bill in the Turkish parliament. However, we don’t know all the details yet.
This initiative comes from a growing worry in Turkey. Officials are seeing cryptocurrencies used more often in illegal activities. The country wants to make its financial rules stronger.
Giving Masak more power would let it step in more directly with digital asset operations. This could really shake up Turkey’s cryptocurrency market, which is one of the busiest in the area.
The Bloomberg report points out that these actions are part of a larger push by the Turkish government. They want to meet international standards and look better in the eyes of the FATF. Turkey has been under pressure to improve its financial rules. It was placed on the FATF’s “grey list” in 2021. That signaled weaknesses in how it handles money laundering.
The bill hasn’t officially been put forward yet. But the idea that Masak could freeze crypto accounts has made investors and traders in Turkey nervous.
The use of cryptocurrencies has boomed in Turkey in recent years. This is because of high inflation and the falling value of the Turkish Lira. Many citizens have turned to crypto to protect their savings. The Chainalysis 2025 report ranked Turkey as the 14th largest cryptocurrency market by adoption. This shows a lot of public interest.
Bloomberg also noted that the sources they talked to stayed anonymous. This is because the plan isn’t public yet. Turkish authorities haven’t made any official comments about the proposal so far.