The draft for a new Turkish crypto law is ready and will be sent to parliament soon. That said the Turkish president Erdoğan during a press conference on Friday.
The status of crypto exchanges is of great importance
“We will immediately take a step and send the bill to parliament,” Erdoğan said.
While Erdoğan has not revealed many details this time, he said in September that the government has “absolutely no intention of embracing cryptocurrencies”. Despite the harsh words, a crypto ban is not expected.
The new law is likely to focus on taxes and the legal status of crypto exchanges. This will determine whether the exchanges should be treated as banks or exchange offices.
The status of crypto exchanges matters as Turks increasingly use them to sell the Turkish lira for US dollar-pegged stablecoins. That is not surprising since the Turkish lira has fallen by 34% against the US dollar this year. The stablecoins are therefore massively used in the country as a safe store of value.
The big Lira problem
“While older Turks still use banks and exchange offices to buy the US dollar, crypto exchanges are very popular among people aged 40 and under. The new generation is massively buying dollar-pegged stablecoins on these platforms, Bayraktar says.
Crypto exchanges are open 24/7 and offer better rates than banks or exchange offices when it comes to trading foreign currencies, he explains.
But the Turkish government wants people to invest in the lira. This week it launched government-backed savings accounts indexed to the price of the US dollar. It hopes to encourage people to sell their dollars and just hold liras.
“Crypto has added another struggle for the Turkish government to the big currency problem, Bayraktar said. Now the government has to convince the people that its money is a better value.
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