The Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) imposed a fine of 8 million lira ($750,000) on Binance’s local unit BN Teknoloji after it was found the exchange violated anti-money laundering requirements.
Three domestic partners were identified and invited to sign a memorandum of understanding with the bank, whose goal is to develop the “Digital Turkish Lira Collaboration Platform."
The country’s Ministry of Finance has finalized a digital currency bill that it would propose to parliament in October, in a bid to protect investors and prevent money laundering.
BtcTurk had initially denied the hack, but after hackers started posting some of the data they accessed, the exchange was forced to come clean.
The measures were announced by the Minister of Treasury and Finance Lütfi Elvan, putting the Financial Crimes Investigation Board, or MASAK, at the heart of enforcement of the rules.
Senior government officials in Turkey are considering establishing a centralized authority to tackle counterparty risk in digital currency transactions, after employees were arrested at Vebitcoin and Thodex.
Thodex exchange is suspected of taking $2 billion from close to 400,000 investors in Turkey, according to reports.
Is there trouble in the digital currency paradise? With significant movement happening in the space, governments around the world are reacting, and it is not always positive for the ‘bad eggs’ in the basket.
The central bank termed digital currencies as risky because “they are neither subject to any regulation and supervision mechanisms nor a central regulatory authority.”
Minister for Industry and Technology Mustafa Varank says he has warmed up to digital currencies, which he described as “effective for world trade.”
The Turkish Ministry of Treasury and Finance tweeted that it was beginning work with a number of regulatory bodies to assess the risks posed by cryptocurrency, and to devise a government solution.
Turkey is set to begin trials of a new digital currency in 2021, after the country’s central bank announced it had been working on a digital lira.
