On date of 01.04.2021 Republic of Turkey Ministry of Finance and Treasury has made statement to the press. The statement is about since crypto money is used extensively in laundering proceeds of crime and financing terrorism, Financial Crimes İnvestigation Board (“MASAK”) can request information from platforms in order to prevent and monitor these crimes.
There were rumors that users using crypto money trading platforms on social media and some websites were asked for various information such as identity number, title, registration time, value in TL of the value in their wallet. Thereupon, the Republic of Turkey on the subject of news with the Treasury and the Ministry of Finance made a statement and asked to clarify this situation.
Republic of Turkey Ministry of Finance and Treasury stated that MASAK can request information from market actors operating in this field, such as crypto asset trading platforms, within the framework of its duties and powers. It was emphasized that this study is within the scope of MASAK’s mentioned duties and responsibilities.
In the statement made by the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Finance and Treasury, the following expressions were used;
“MASAK develops implementation strategies in order to perform the aforementioned functions, provides coordination between relevant institutions and organizations, and exchanges views and information. MASAK conducts studies in many financial and financial fields. In this sense, although crypto assets, which have been on the agenda in recent years, provide some convenience to their users due to their features, they can also be used extensively in activities of money laundering and terrorism financing, especially due to their anonymous structure. Within the framework of MASAK’s duties and powers and within the scope of combating the said crimes, information can be requested from market actors operating in this field, such as crypto asset trading platforms. The work done is also included in the mentioned duties and responsibilities of MASAK. “
