Could Binance be leaving the Turkish market?

Just five days after the Turkish Parliament passed a new regulation bill on crypto assets, Binance global made changes to its services in Turkey. In an announcement titled “Updates to Binance’s services in Turkey under the new crypto regulations”, Binance stated that Binance.com will still be accessible to users in Turkey. However, the Turkish language option will be disabled over the next three months.

Turkish crypto assets regulation

Under the new crypto assets regulation bill, crypto asset service providers must obtain a license from the Capital Markets Board (SPK) in order to operate in the country. The law specifies that individuals and officials representing unauthorized crypto asset service providers could face imprisonment for three to five years and fines ranging from 5,000 to 10,000 days.

Any service provider caught embezzling funds or crypto assets may face imprisonment from 8 to 14 years, fines of up to 5,000 days, and will be required to compensate for damages. There is currently no regulation in place regarding the taxation of crypto assets, and this issue will likely be addressed in future separate laws or regulations.

Scope of crypto in Turkish market

According to HedgewithCrypto, the adoption rate of crypto in Turkey has doubled over the past three years, with 40% of the population now holding crypto. Turkey has one of the highest crypto adoption rates globally, with an estimated two out of five Turkish citizens owning crypto.

Trading data from CoinMarketCap shows that the trading volume on Binance TR was $201.2M in the last 24 hours. In September 2023, Turkey’s Lira was the top fiat trading pair on Binance, accounting for 75% of the exchange’s trades.

A report by Chainanalysis in March 2024 ranked Turkey as the 10th country in terms of returns gained from cryptocurrencies in 2023, with an estimated $0.95 billion in gains.

Source: Chainanalysis

What to expect?

The exact reasons for Binance’s decision are unclear, but there are speculations that they may be considering withdrawing from the Turkish market. The regulations in Turkey require platforms without an SPK license to cease operations and liquidate within three months.

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