Turkey Leads MENA with $200B in Crypto Volume – but Chainalysis Warns It’s ‘All Speculation’

Turkey has emerged as the Middle East and North Africa’s largest cryptocurrency market, recording nearly $200 billion in annual transactions, according to new data from ￰2￱ country’s volume surpasses all others in the region, accounting for nearly four times that of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which ranks second with $53 billion.) and Latin America (63%), the report points to a clear trend: cryptocurrency continues to thrive in MENA despite economic instability and political uncertainty. Turkey’s case stands ￰3￱ early 2021, the country has seen gross cryptocurrency inflows surpass $878 billion by mid-2025, even as it grapples with steep currency devaluation and persistent double-digit inflation.) and FATF standards, a move analysts say has contributed to declining retail ￰4￱ new framework introduced stricter KYC rules, withdrawal limits, and reporting requirements for crypto ￰5￱ above 15,000 Turkish lira (around $360) must include identifying details and a 20-character transaction ￰6￱ is tightening crypto AML regulations!

By February 2025, all transactions over 15,000 lira will require user identification. #TurkeyCrypto #AML ￰0￱ — ￰7￱ (@cryptonews) December 25, 2024 Withdrawals without full sender and recipient information face delays of up to 48 hours, while new users experience a 72-hour ￰8￱ also capped stablecoin transfers at $3,000 daily and $50,000 monthly , with higher limits only for providers fully complying with the Travel ￰9￱ and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek warned that non-compliant firms risk fines, license revocations, or outright ￰10￱ has enacted strict crypto oversight with mandatory source checks and a $3K daily stablecoin limit. #Turkey #Regulation ￰1￱ — ￰11￱ (@cryptonews) June 24, 2025 The Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) has gained new powers to freeze accounts linked to suspicious ￰12￱ March 2025, Turkey expanded its oversight further through amendments to the Capital Markets Law No. 6362 , bringing all crypto exchanges, custodians, and wallet providers under the Capital Markets Board (CMB).

Two communiqués, III-35/B.1 and III-35/B.2, require platforms to operate as joint-stock companies, maintain minimum capital reserves of $4.1 million for exchanges and $13.7 million for custodians, and undergo proof-of-reserve ￰13￱ reforms also set governance and transparency standards, banning conflicts of interest and mandating user protection mechanisms such as dispute resolution systems, clear risk disclosures, and segregation of customer ￰14￱ reason that can lead to the drop in retail activities is the big players’ exit from the ￰15￱ example, crypto exchange Coinbase has already withdrawn its pre-application to enter Turkey’s crypto ￰16￱ exchange Binance also announced that it would terminate its retail referral program in Turkey to comply with local ￰17￱ Still Thrives in Turkey Despite Tougher Regulations and Exchange Withdrawals Despite the heavier regulatory environment, Turkey remains one of the most active crypto markets globally, ranking 14th in Chainalysis’ 2025 Global Crypto Adoption ￰18￱ government has also floated the idea of a small transaction tax of 0.03% to boost public revenues , though Finance Minister Şimşek has stated that profits on crypto assets are not yet subject to taxation .

Meanwhile, Chainalysis’ analysis of trading behavior suggests that much of Turkey’s market activity has shifted toward speculative altcoin trading.