Huge Fines Were Imposed On Turkish Cryptocurrency Exchanges

Huge fines were imposed on Turkish cryptocurrency exchanges. Bitçi, Paribu, BtcTürk and Icrypex were fined 18 million TL.

The Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK), the financial intelligence unit of the Ministry of Treasury and Finance, has imposed administrative fines on four Turkish cryptocurrency exchanges. A total of 18 million 700 thousand liras of administrative fine was imposed. MASAK also decided to examine the cryptocurrency wallets on the exchanges to prevent financial crimes and money laundering. In this context, as of May 1, 2021, cryptocurrency exchanges have been included in the scope of the Law No. 5549 on the Prevention of Laundering Proceeds of Crime. According to this law, various obligations were brought to cryptocurrency exchanges. These obligations are; recognition of the customer, reports of suspicious transactions, providing continuous information and documents. As a result of the liability audit conducted by MASAK, Paribu, BtcTurk, Bitci and Icrypex exchanges were fined. According to the statement made, 4 million 250 thousand liras of administrative fine was imposed for Bitci Teknoloji AŞ, 4 million 100 thousand TL for Icrypex Bilişim AŞ, 8 million TL for Paribu Teknoloji AŞ, 2 million 450 thousand TL for BTC Türk, a total of 18 million 800 thousand TL.