Turkey Cracks Down on Foreign Crypto Investors with New Onboarding Rules

The Capital Markets Board of Turkey (CMB) has introduced new rules for remote onboarding of foreign clients. Foreigners will no longer be able to transfer funds or crypto assets without verifying their addresses.

According to the new regulation, foreign nationals must use a passport with an NFC feature that complies with the ICAO 9303 standard for remote identity verification. If the information on the passport's chip does not match the information on the document, client onboarding will not be carried out.

Individuals whose identity is verified through their passport will be considered in the high-risk group and will undergo a video interview by personnel specifically trained in passport examination. AI-based applications may also be used for liveness tests and photo matching.

The regulation also requires foreign clients to verify their address within three months using a residence permit document or utility bills such as electricity, water, and natural gas from the last three months. Until the address confirmation is completed, clients will not be allowed to transfer funds or crypto assets.