Turkey Moves to Expand Watchdog Powers Over Crypto, Bank Accounts

Turkish lawmakers are reportedly planning to consider legislation that would grant the country’s financial crimes watchdog sweeping new authority to freeze bank and crypto accounts suspected of illegal activity.

The draft bill would empower Masak, Turkey’s financial intelligence unit, to take direct action against accounts suspected of criminal use across financial institutions and cryptocurrency platforms, according to a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the matter.

Under the proposed framework, Masak would gain the ability to shut down accounts at financial institutions and crypto services, cap transaction amounts, freeze mobile banking access, and add crypto wallet addresses to a blacklist when criminal activity is suspected, Bloomberg noted.

The draft bill, expected as part of the 11th Judicial Package when parliament reconvenes, primarily targets “rented accounts” where individuals lease their banking credentials to criminals for illegal betting and fraud, according to the sources.

The move comes after the Financial Action Task Force removed Turkey from its “grey list” in June 2024, a decision Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek celebrated by tweeting “We did it,” following years of concerns over weak oversight that left sectors like banking and real estate vulnerable to illicit financing.

Hüseyin Gökay Aktaşın, head of market making at Turkey-based crypto exchange CoinTR, told Decrypt that the aim may be to curb fraud related to gambling money.

“From our perspective, the measures being discussed are primarily aimed at preventing financial crime, fraud, and illegal activities such as unlicensed gambling and money laundering,” he said. “As a regulated exchange in Türkiye, we already operate under strict MASAK and SPK guidelines, and we are fully committed to transparency, AML compliance, and user protection.”

Nic Puckrin, crypto analyst and co-founder of The Coin Bureau, told Decrypt that “this proposal is a move toward a Big Brother state, thinly veiled as compliance.”

“Having such powers over bank accounts is questionable enough, but it’s even more antithetical to the entire idea of crypto, which values self-custody and censorship resistance,” Puckrin said, adding that, “It’s certainly not a good look for Turkey if it wants to be a major player in the global crypto arena.”

The proposed regulations remain subject to revision throughout the legislative process and may be amended before final approval, the report said.

“From a user perspective, the uncertainty around thresholds for freezes and lack of legal clarity could drive more activity to decentralized or offshore platform,” Lionel Iruk, senior advisor to Nav Markets and managing partner at Empire Legal, told Decrypt. “Yet paradoxically, institutional interest might grow if the framework is implemented transparently and predictably.”