Turkey Plans New Powers to Freeze Crypto Accounts

[johnblockbuster]

Turkey is preparing a bill that would give its financial crime watchdog, MASAK, the power to freeze cryptocurrency accounts suspected of illicit use.

According to reports, the legislation would expand MASAK’s anti-money-laundering mandate to include both bank and crypto accounts. If passed, MASAK could freeze or close accounts, impose transaction limits, and blacklist wallets linked to criminal activity.

The move aligns with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations and targets “rented accounts” — bank or crypto accounts that criminals pay people to use for illegal gambling, fraud, or money laundering.

Crypto trading remains legal in Turkey and profits are still untaxed as of October, but the government is steadily tightening oversight.

[EmTeam]

Turkey’s new bill could let MASAK freeze or blacklist crypto wallets just like bank accounts.

[Nahid10]

Expanding AML powers to crypto marks a big shift in how tightly the sector will be policed.