The Financial Stability Board has told Turkey to write dedicated stablecoin rules and to find better ways to police offshore exchanges, after a peer review found that a large share of the country’s crypto trading happens beyond the reach of its regulators. The report published on Wednesday cites blockchain data giving Binance’s global platform about 70% of the Turkish market, far above what local supervisory figures show.
What the FSB recommended
The review is the FSB’s second on Türkiye, the name the board uses, and the first to focus on crypto. The first, in 2015, covered macroprudential policy and bank resolution. Turkey volunteered for this one. The board, chaired by Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey, said Turkish authorities had made “meaningful progress” since its 2025 thematic review, which found a crypto framework in place but nothing for stablecoins.
Since then, Turkey has brought most of its crypto market inside the regulatory perimeter through registration and licensing for crypto-asset service providers, overseen by the Capital Markets Board. It also runs a central registry, known as KVMKS, that collects weekly data from licensed platforms.
The FSB asked for four things: a framework to monitor financial stability risks from crypto, a dedicated regime for stablecoin issuers, stronger supervision and enforcement, and more cross-border cooperation. Its recommendations are not legally binding, though member jurisdictions commit to periodic peer reviews. Cointelegraph also reported the findings.
Where the trading actually happens
The most striking numbers in the full report concern market share. Turkish supervisory data put BTC Turk at 29%, with Midas and Binance TR, Binance’s local entity, at 19% each. Blockchain data for the first quarter of 2026 from CoinDesk, cited in the same report, tells a different story: Binance Global at roughly 70%, with BTC Turk at 18%.
The gap reflects how the rules are built. Licensed Turkish platforms can offer only spot trading, and they cannot steer clients to a global affiliate even when it belongs to the same group. Users who want leverage or derivatives sign up with foreign platforms on their own, outside Turkish investor protections. Market participants told reviewers that some buy USDT locally first and then move it to those platforms.
The FSB puts annual crypto transactions in Turkey at nearly $200 billion in 2025, citing Chainalysis, which ranks the country among the 20 largest crypto markets and the biggest in the Middle East and North Africa. KVMKS shows only about $3 billion in holdings at licensed providers, around 0.3% of banking-sector assets, because it cannot see self-custody wallets or offshore accounts.
Regulators report more than 7.1 million crypto accounts tied to 5.3 million holders, though only 51% hold a positive balance. Bitcoin makes up 18% of holdings at local platforms, ether 11%, XRP 9% and USDT 7%. Daily crypto trading volume of about $0.5 billion compares with $3.9 billion on Borsa Istanbul.
The stablecoin gap
Turkey treats stablecoins like any other crypto asset under its capital markets rules. There is no issuer regime covering reserves, redemption rights or stabilisation, and no listing standard on peg history or reserve transparency. The one domestically issued stablecoin, the lira-pegged BiLira (TRYB), has a market value of about $5.9 million, according to the report.
The main control so far is a cap on crypto-to-crypto stablecoin transfers of $3,000 a day and $50,000 a month, with exceptions, mostly for companies, that each platform’s board must approve. The FSB also flagged a recent e-money amendment that allows certain currency-pegged stablecoins to be treated as e-money. That opens a possible route into payments despite the crypto payment ban, and the report says the position will stay unclear until the central bank issues implementing rules.
For an emerging market with a weak currency, the board argues, the stakes are higher than in richer countries because of heavier retail use and the risk of digital dollarisation. It wants rules that differ by currency, spell out what domestic platforms owe when the issuer is abroad, and closer ties with foreign issuers’ home regulators. Nigeria moved on the same question this month, when its central bank set stablecoin licensing rules and banned algorithmic tokens.
Licensing still in transition
The review also describes a slow move from interim registration to full licences. Platforms applied in a three-month window in 2025, the regulator ran its first on-site inspections by October that year, and authorisation deadlines were extended again at the end of March 2026, with officials citing shortages of custodians and backlogs in IT audits.
Banks cannot hold crypto on their balance sheets but can offer custody through subsidiaries. As of late June, six banks had preliminary approval from the banking regulator and the Capital Markets Board had deemed three “suitable”, the report says. Three banks have since received custody licences but none has started the service, market participants told reviewers.
On enforcement, the report is direct: “Enforcement tools also require improvements to address off-shore crypto-asset activities that can reach domestic users.” Authorities have named unauthorised firms and restricted access to their platforms, but the FSB said there is little practical experience yet in using cross-border cooperation agreements for exchange supervision. What to watch next is whether Ankara proposes a stablecoin issuer regime and when the central bank publishes its e-money rules.
FAQ
Is the FSB review binding on Turkey?
No. The FSB’s recommendations do not create legal obligations. Turkey is a member, and the review sets out where its rules fall short of the board’s crypto and stablecoin framework.
Why do the Binance market share figures differ so much?
Supervisory data covers licensed Turkish platforms, including Binance TR at 19%. The blockchain data from CoinDesk, which puts Binance Global near 70%, also captures activity on Binance’s offshore platform, which sits outside Turkey’s regulatory perimeter.
What limits apply to stablecoins in Turkey today?
Crypto-to-crypto stablecoin transfers are capped at $3,000 a day and $50,000 a month, with approved exceptions, and stablecoins cannot be used for domestic payments. There is no dedicated framework for stablecoin issuers.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
