Short answer: Yes, with limits. As of 3 November 2026, crypto is legal in Turkey to buy, sell and hold: Turkish law regulates the firms that provide crypto services rather than banning ownership. Crypto cannot be used to pay for goods or services, firms need permission from the Capital Markets Board (SPK, also called CMB) under Law 6362, and Article 99/A treats foreign platforms aimed at Turkish residents as unauthorized. SPK states that appearing on its operating list does not mean a firm is authorized.
Turkey has moved from having no dedicated crypto regime to a licensing system supervised by the Capital Markets Board (Sermaye Piyasası Kurulu, SPK), but the transition is not finished. That is why the answer to "is it legal?" depends on who is doing what: a customer holding an asset, a shop accepting it as payment, a Turkish platform or a foreign one.
This guide is general education based on the law, the communiqués and official notices, each read for this guide and checked on 3 November 2026. It is not legal advice and recommends no coin, platform or strategy. Tax is covered in the separate guide to Turkey crypto tax.
Is crypto legal in Turkey or banned?
Crypto is not banned in Turkey, but payments, unlicensed services and some products are prohibited.
| Activity | Status | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Individuals buying, selling or holding crypto | Not prohibited by the texts reviewed; the rules target providers | Law 6362 Art. 35/B, 35/C |
| Paying for goods or services with crypto | Prohibited since 30 April 2021 | Regulation of the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (TCMB, also CBRT), Art. 3 |
| Running a platform or custody business | Needs SPK permission | Law 6362 Art. 35/B(1), 109/A |
| Foreign platform activity aimed at Turkish residents | Counts as unauthorized | Law 6362 Art. 99/A(1) |
| Leverage, derivatives, margin and short sales on assets listed on Turkish platforms | Prohibited | III-35/B.2 Art. 14 |
| Crypto ATMs located in Turkey | Had to stop by 2 October 2024 | Law 6362 Temporary Art. 11(5) |
Capital market instruments are a separate regime with their own intermediaries, as described in how to buy Turkish stocks.
Turkey crypto laws: Law 6362, Articles 35/B and 35/C
The core rules are in Capital Markets Law No. 6362, into which Law No. 7518 (Resmî Gazete, 2 July 2024, issue 32590) inserted the crypto provisions.
- Permission (Art. 35/B(1)): crypto asset service providers must obtain SPK permission to be established and to start operating, and may carry out only the activities SPK sets.
- Scope (Art. 35/B(8)): the Law does not apply to crypto assets other than those carrying capital market rights or those traded on platforms under Art. 35/C(2).
- Identity checks (Art. 35/C(1)): providers must identify customers under anti-money-laundering Law No. 5549.
- No public guarantee (Art. 35/C(2), (4)): a listing or an SPK permit does not put transactions under public guarantee, and investor compensation under Art. 82 does not cover crypto.
- Custody (Art. 35/C(6)): customers' own wallets are the starting point; otherwise custody goes to authorized banks or institutions. Client cash must sit at banks, and neither is covered by deposit insurance.
- Segregation (Art. 35/C(7)): client assets are separate from the provider's and cannot be seized for its debts or join its bankruptcy estate.
- Penalty (Art. 109/A): running an unauthorized provider carries three to five years in prison and a judicial fine of 5,000 to 10,000 days, for individuals and the authorized officers of legal entities.
Article 35/B(9) also keeps the Turkish currency protection rules (Law No. 1567) in force for all crypto transactions.
Turkey crypto license: Communiqués III-35/B.1 and III-35/B.2
Two SPK communiqués published on 13 March 2025 (Resmî Gazete issue 32840) set out how a provider gets a permit and how it must operate.
| Provision | What it says |
|---|---|
| B.1 Art. 17(5) | An authorization certificate (yetki belgesi) lists permitted services; no activity before it is issued, subject to the transition rules |
| B.2 Art. 5, 6(2) | Licensed services are order handling and execution, settlement, transfer and custody, intermediating first sales and investment advice, by authorized providers only |
| B.2 Art. 14 | No leverage, derivatives, margin purchases, short sales or lending of listed assets |
| B.2 Art. 15 | Investment advice only for customers holding at least TRY 60,000,000 on that platform in 2026 (TRY 50,000,000 in the text); managing customer portfolios under a proxy for a benefit is prohibited |
| B.2 Art. 34 | Minimum founding capital of TRY 250,000,000 for platforms and TRY 630,000,000 for custodians in 2026 (SPK Bulletin 2025/68 (opens in a new tab)), up from TRY 150,000,000 and TRY 500,000,000 in the March 2025 text; Art. 53 lets SPK update communiqué amounts yearly |
| B.2 Art. 51 | No cash handling; money moves only by electronic transfer through customers' own bank accounts |
A search of the Resmî Gazete daily contents pages from 13 March 2025 to 3 November 2026 found no amendment to either communiqué. The related changes found concern remote identification (Communiqué III-42.1.a of 28 February 2026 and a further change on 3 September 2026).
For technical access, which is a separate question, see crypto exchange API integration and Turkish crypto exchange APIs.
How to read the Turkey crypto exchange list
SPK's "operating list" (Faaliyette Bulunanlar Listesi) is a public notice of firms in the transition, not a list of licensed or approved exchanges.
The version posted when checked on 3 November 2026, is marked temporary and has 49 rows, nine of them marked as custody applications. SPK states on the page that the list informs the public about firms that declared they would operate under Temporary Article 11, and that it does not mean those firms are authorized. Listing is not authorization. One entry carries a footnote: under a Board decision of 23 September 2026, that platform may not accept new customers or list new assets until further notice.
The timetable is still open. Communiqué III-35/B.1 required authorization certificates by 30 June 2026, but SPK decision 18/617 of 26 March 2026 postponed that date and the custody contract date, to be set after authorized custodians begin serving platforms widely. On 4 June 2026 SPK approved requests from three banks to operate as custodians (Bulletin 2026/34). SPK bulletins through 2026/78 of 30 October 2026 show no new date, so whether any platform holds a final certificate could not be confirmed.
- Search by legal trade name, not brand; the list shows current and former names.
- Read any footnote attached to the entry.
- Check the separate list of firms in liquidation.
- Search SPK's weekly bulletins for permits, fines, access blocks or criminal complaints.
- Confirm the web address is the firm's own.
These checks are not a ranking, and this guide names no platform.
Are foreign crypto platforms allowed to serve Turkish residents?
No: Article 99/A of Law No. 6362 treats activity by foreign platforms directed at Turkish residents as unauthorized crypto asset service provision.
A Turkish office, a Turkish-language website, or promotion and marketing directly or through people or institutions resident in Turkey is each enough to make the activity count as aimed at Turkish residents, and SPK may add further criteria. SPK told foreign providers to end such activity by 2 October 2024. It can order content removal or access blocking (Art. 99/A(3)), and its bulletins record such decisions, for example Bulletin 2026/1 of 8 January 2026.
So the provider is restricted rather than banned everywhere: the rule concerns activity aimed at Turkish residents, not a platform's service to people elsewhere. Article 9(1) of III-35/B.2 is only a scope clause: it says that communiqué does not regulate services a resident takes from a foreign provider wholly on the resident's own initiative, where no promotion is aimed at people in Turkey. It is not a license or a safe harbor. It does not amend Article 99/A, authorizes no foreign platform and does not say that any particular use is lawful. Under Article 9(2), a listed trigger brings the activity back under the rules, and a foreign platform's customer should not assume the custody and segregation protections above apply, because they are written for providers under SPK supervision.
Article 109/A's penalty is addressed to providers and their officers. This guide does not assess a customer's own position, which is a question for a Turkish lawyer. It presents no foreign platform as an option and does not explain how to get around access blocks, identity checks or geographic restrictions. Readers living outside Turkey should check their own country's rules.
Can you pay with crypto in Turkey?
No: the Central Bank's regulation has prohibited using crypto assets directly or indirectly in payments since 30 April 2021.
The Regulation on the Disuse of Crypto Assets in Payments (Resmî Gazete, 16 April 2021, issue 31456) bars such use and any service offering it (Art. 3). Payment service providers may not build business models around it, and payment and e-money institutions may not intermediate fund transfers to or from crypto platforms (Art. 4).
The consolidated text on mevzuat.gov.tr showed no amendment on 3 November 2026. In practice, money reaches a Turkish platform through the customer's own bank account under III-35/B.2 Art. 51. For opening one, see bank accounts in Turkey for foreigners.
MASAK limits on crypto withdrawals and transfers
MASAK, Turkey's financial crimes board, requires platforms to delay certain withdrawals and cap stablecoin withdrawals under its General Communiqué No. 29 (Resmî Gazete, 28 June 2025, issue 32940). Several of these rules point to the Measures Regulation, Turkey's regulation on measures against money laundering and terrorist financing.
| Rule | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Waiting period | At least 48 hours after the purchase, swap or deposit of that asset, for withdrawals under Art. 24/A(6) and (7) of the Measures Regulation (unregistered wallets and foreign providers with no duty to share sender and recipient data), including transfers to other platforms |
| First withdrawal | At least 72 hours, under the same rule |
| Stablecoin withdrawals | USD 3,000 per day and USD 50,000 per month, or the equivalent, including transfers to other platforms |
| Doubled limit | Limits may be doubled where Art. 24/A(1) of the Measures Regulation applies |
| Description | The customer gives a description of at least 20 characters for every transfer |
Providers also set their own amount and count limits, and Article 4(6) has a narrow carve-out for liquidity, market-making or arbitrage transfers, approved customer by customer by the platform's own board of directors.
Separately, the "travel rule" in Article 24/A of the Measures Regulation sets what a transfer message must carry; it is not a withdrawal limit. Since 7 October 2026 its threshold is TRY 30,000, raised from TRY 15,000 by Presidential Decision 11845 (Resmî Gazete issue 33393). MASAK's provider guide of September 2025 still shows the old figure. At or above the threshold, the sender's name, wallet address and one further identifier must be included and verified, plus the recipient's name and wallet address. Below it, both parties' names and wallet addresses are still required, without verification.
Hypothetical example. A customer buys an asset at 10:00 on a Monday. For a withdrawal covered by the waiting rule, the earliest transfer is 10:00 on Wednesday (48 hours), or 10:00 on Thursday if it is the customer's first crypto withdrawal (72 hours). A stablecoin withdrawal worth USD 4,000 in one day exceeds the USD 3,000 limit unless the doubled limit of USD 6,000 applies; the monthly equivalent would be USD 100,000.
Frequently asked questions
Is Bitcoin legal in Turkey?
The same rules apply to Bitcoin as to other crypto assets: it can be bought and held but not used for payments. A listing on a platform does not mean any public guarantee of the asset.
Is Binance legal in Turkey?
This guide assesses no brand and presents none as an option. A brand name settles nothing: under Article 99/A a foreign platform's activity aimed at Turkish residents counts as unauthorized, so the check is the firm's legal trade name against SPK's list, and even a listing is not proof of authorization.
Does being on the SPK list mean a platform is licensed?
No. SPK says the operating list does not mean the firms on it are authorized. As of 3 November 2026 the deadline for authorization certificates stands postponed with no new date in the bulletins checked.
Can foreigners buy crypto in Turkey?
The texts reviewed frame the rules by provider and residence rather than nationality, and each platform sets its own terms. Since 27 June 2026, MASAK Communiqué No. 32 lets obliged institutions identify non-Turkish nationals remotely with an NFC passport under conditions. Residence permits are a separate matter.
Sources
- Capital Markets Law No. 6362, consolidated text, Articles 3, 35/B, 35/C, 99/A, 109/A and Temporary Article 11 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Resmî Gazete: Communiqué III-35/B.1 on the establishment and activities of crypto asset service providers, 13 March 2025 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Resmî Gazete: Communiqué III-35/B.2 on working procedures and capital adequacy of crypto asset service providers, 13 March 2025 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- SPK: Operating list of crypto asset service providers, as shown on 3 November 2026 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- SPK: List of crypto asset service providers in liquidation (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- SPK: Announcement on crypto asset service providers, 2 July 2024 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- SPK Bulletin 2026/18, 26 March 2026: decision 18/617 extending custody contract and certificate deadlines (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- SPK Bulletin 2026/34, 4 June 2026: custody activity permits (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- SPK Bulletin 2026/1, 8 January 2026: access-block decisions on unauthorized crypto services (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Resmî Gazete: Presidential Decision 11845 amending the Measures Regulation, Art. 24/A threshold, 7 October 2026, issue 33393 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Mevzuat Information System: Measures Regulation (no. 2007/13012), consolidated text, Article 24/A (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Mevzuat Information System: Regulation on the Disuse of Crypto Assets in Payments (Resmî Gazete, 16 April 2021, issue 31456), consolidated text (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Resmî Gazete: MASAK General Communiqué No. 29, 28 June 2025, issue 32940 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Resmî Gazete: MASAK General Communiqué No. 32, 27 June 2026, issue 33293 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- MASAK: Compliance guide for crypto asset service providers, September 2025 version, predates the TRY 30,000 threshold (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
This guide is general information, not investment, legal or tax advice. Amounts, rates and rules in Turkey change often: check the date given for each figure and the official source before you rely on it, and ask a licensed adviser about your own situation. Sources, checks and corrections: see the editorial policy.