FSB tells Turkey to write its own stablecoin rules

The gap the review names

The Financial Stability Board published its second peer review of Turkey on 11 November 2026. The report says Turkey has regulated cryptoasset markets but still has no rules for companies that issue stablecoins.

The FSB is a forum that coordinates financial stability officials from 24 jurisdictions. It has no power to sanction, and its recommendations are not legally binding. Turkey volunteered for the review in 2026.

What Turkey already does

Since 2025, the Capital Markets Board has required cryptoasset service providers to register and hold a licence. Providers must keep client assets separate from company assets under strict criteria. Cryptoassets remain banned for domestic payments.

The review says these measures limit channels of contagion into banks and payment systems. Supervision is recent: the report describes selective on-site inspections backed by external audits and the first enforcement actions.

A central data platform, KVMKS, reconciles what platforms report. Using official data, it puts crypto holdings at about $3 billion in 2026, close to 0.3% of banking sector assets.

The size of the market

The peer review puts annual crypto transactions in 2025 at almost $200 billion, the highest figure in the Middle East and North Africa.

Authorities report more than 7.1 million cryptoasset accounts belonging to 5.3 million entities, though only 51% have a positive balance. Holdings declared by local platforms are spread across 1,500 different asset types.

The only stablecoin issued by a Turkish entity is BiLira (TRYB), with a market capitalisation of about $5.9 million and liquidity that lira depreciation has drained. The rest of the market runs on dollar tokens from abroad. Blockchain data for 2025 show dollar-pegged stablecoins account for 17% of transactions, against 3% for other stablecoins and tokenised assets.

Transfer limits and dollarisation

The full review sets limits of $3,000 a day and $50,000 a month for crypto-to-crypto transfers. Temporary exceptions for corporate clients must be approved by each platform's board after enhanced due diligence.

The FSB says the absence of an issuer regime matters more in an emerging economy with heavy retail use, exchange-rate channels and potential digital dollarisation. Turkish authorities share the diagnosis on cross-border flows and deposit composition, according to the review.

The same review notes that Turkish authorities consider transmission channels contained by the size of the crypto ecosystem and its limited interconnection with traditional finance. The risk exists but is not systemic today, the report says.

The fourth recommendation

The FSB asks Ankara for issuance requirements tailored to fiat-referenced stablecoins. These include redemption rights, effective stabilisation mechanisms and prudential requirements for the issuer.

The review also asks Turkey to clarify how stablecoins fit with payments and e-money rules without opening the door to their use in domestic payments. A recent amendment allows certain currency-referenced stablecoins to be treated as equivalent to e-money.

The report says Turkey can supervise who distributes and who custodies cryptoassets, and does so. It lacks tools to assess the parity, reserve quality or track record of a foreign stablecoin that reaches users through local platforms.