A new regulation issued by the Turkish Central Bank regarding Prohibition on Payments to be Made with Cryptocurrency (the "Regulation") has been published in the Official Gazette dated April 16, 2021 and numbered 31456. The Regulation will come into force as of April 30, 2021.

The new developments introduced by the Regulation can be found as follows:

• Cryptocurrencies, directly or indirectly, will not be used as a payment method and the services with respect to the usage of cryptocurrencies, directly or indirectly, in payments will not be provided as per the Regulation.
• Payment service providers will not develop business models using cryptocurrencies, directly or indirectly,  in the process of providing payment services and, (ii) in the issuance of electronic money and they will not be able to provide any services regarding such business models.
•  Payment and electronic money institutions will not act as an intermediary for (i) platforms providing services with respect to the purchase and sell, deposit, transfer or issue of cryptocurrencies, or (ii) transferring funds from such platforms.

Kind regards,
Güner Law Office