Turkey’s Capital Markets Board formally blocked access to 46 sites offering crypto services, claiming breaches of local financial legislation.
Among these is the popular decentralized exchange PancakeSwap, which saw more than $325 billion pass through in June. The regulator took this step to bar unauthorized crypto services accessible to Turkish residents.
The action is under the Capital Markets Law, which entitles the Board to pursue online platforms operating without requisite licenses. Certain other sites, including the crypto tracker website Cryptoradar, were also under similar bans.
It is an indication of Turkey’s stepped-up actions to widen its control of digital asset markets and entrench regulation enforcement.
Regulators also did not issue full details on how precisely each platform violated the law, and a few of the services affected are yet to respond. PancakeSwap is a prominent decentralized exchange in the world and is in the same class as Uniswap and Curve.
Spontaneous enforcement raised alarm on future compliance mechanisms for global decentralized platforms in the country. Since March 2024, the Turkish Capital Markets Board has had increased authority over crypto service providers operating within national borders.
New AML regulations for Crypto transactions in Turkey
The watchdog now requires all platforms to apply for licenses and go through specific requirements for operational transparency and legal conformity.
New money laundering regulation was introduced by the government by putting forward rules on December 25, 2024. Rules obligate crypto service providers to seek identification information of users by those processing transactions of more than 15,000 Turkish lira, around $425.
The limitation was set to encourage low-value transactions of cryptos while enhancing surveillance on larger and potentially unlawful transactions. Such AML-based legislation was enacted on February 25, 2025, and obliges further steps for transferring funds to unregistered wallets.
Crypto services are also responsible for checking sender IDs or else flagging such transactions as “risky” so that they may suspend or limit user activity accordingly. Turkey initially banned crypto transactions in 2021. However, it later permitted holding and trading under certain regulatory conditions.
