Turkey's central bank bans the use of cryptocurrencies for payments

The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey has banned the use of cryptocurrencies for payments.

Announcing the news on Friday, the central bank said crypto-assets cannot be used directly or indirectly for payments, and no firm can provide such services.

"Payment service providers cannot develop business models in a way that crypto assets are used directly or indirectly in the provision of payment services and electronic money issuance, and cannot provide any services related to such business models," said the central bank.

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Cryptocurrencies pose significant risks, according to the central bank. They are not regulated by a central authority, are volatile, their transactions are irrevocable, and could be used for illegal activities due to their anonymous structure, said the central bank.

"Recently, some initiatives have emerged regarding the use of these assets in payments. It is considered that their use in payments may cause non-recoverable losses for the parties to the transactions due to the above-listed factors and they include elements that may undermine the confidence in methods and instruments used currently in payments," said the central bank.

The regulation comes into force on April 30.

Bitcoin is currently trading down by around 3% at about $61,600, according to tracker TradingView.

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Yogita Khatri is a senior reporter at The Block, covering all things crypto. As one of the earliest team members, Yogita has played a pivotal role in breaking numerous stories, exclusives and scoops. With nearly 3,000 articles under her belt, Yogita holds the records as The Block's most-published and most-read author of all time. Prior to joining The Block, Yogita worked at crypto publication CoinDesk and The Economic Times, where she wrote on personal finance. To contact her, email: [email protected]. For her latest work, follow her on X @Yogita_Khatri5.