Turkey Bans The Use of Cryptocurrencies in Payments

The Turkish Central Bank banned the use of cryptocurrencies assets in the purchase of goods and services, pointing to potential “irreparable” damages and great risks in those transactions.

In the legislation published in the Official Gazette early Friday, the Turkish central bank said that cryptocurrencies and other digital assets based on distributed ledger technology could not be used, directly or indirectly, as a payment tool.

The bank said, “Payment service providers will not be able to develop business models in a way in which encrypted assets are used, directly or indirectly, in providing payment services and issuing electronic funds, and they will not be able to provide any services related to these business models.”