Cryptocurrency Transactions Overs $1,200 to Be Tracked by Turkish Government

Since the beginning of 2021, several countries have come out demonstrating how they are going to deal with cryptocurrencies. Several countries such as India, Nigeria, and China have banned cryptocurrencies while some countries have welcomed cryptocurrencies with open arms.

However, countries such as Turkey are going with a different approach in regards to cryptocurrency adoption. Since the beginning of 2021, as the country started facing a high inflation rate, the locals started resorting to cryptocurrencies.

The country started breaking all records of Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrency searches logged through the tech giant, Google.

However, the Government of Turkey recently banned the utilization of cryptocurrencies in the country. The government made it clear that no entity on Turkish soil was authorized to use cryptocurrencies in order to make any payments in the country whatsoever.

On Friday, May 7, the regulatory authority from Turkey dropped another news on the cryptocurrency community in the country.

According to the latest news, the cryptocurrency exchanges operating in Turkey would be required to report any transactions over 10,000 Turkish Liras to the concerned Turkish regulatory authority.

At the time of writing, the 10,000 Turkish Liras translate to $1,200. As for the reporting, the cryptocurrency exchanges would be required to report the transactions over to the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK).

Lutfi Elvan, the Minister of Treasury in Turkey made the announcement around the new cryptocurrency policy on Friday, May 7. The Minister of Treasury reportedly shared information about the new policy through an announcement through the national television channel.

The announcement around the new policy for cryptocurrency transaction reporting comes right after the recent incidents that took place in Turkey involving two cryptocurrency exchanges.

In one instance, the cryptocurrency exchange operating in Turkey ended up running away with $150 million worth of investments from Turkish locals.

In another instance, the CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange ran away with almost $2 billion worth of cryptocurrency assets he required through investments made by Turkish investors.

As a result, the central bank of Turkey has also taken action against the entire industry to ensure nothing of this sort happens again. The Turkish locals or any other entity in the country cannot use cryptocurrencies for any kind of payment.

Elvan added that this is the first step towards the streamlining of the cryptocurrency industry in the country. After the implementation of the first policy, the second policy would also involve the services of MASAK. He stated that MASAK would have the right to perform audits on any cryptocurrency exchange and transactions flowing through their platforms.

The regulator would also monitor the activities of the cryptocurrency exchanges. If any cryptocurrency exchange is found not adhering to the policies, then they will be subjected to face penalties and pay fines.