Biography
Samet Kurtağzı is a Turkish attorney and independent researcher whose academic and professional interests focus on financial law, capital markets law, arbitration, European Union law, and the legal challenges arising from emerging technologies. He graduated from the Faculty of Law at Yalova University and completed his legal training through internships at the Istanbul Bar Association, where he contributed to the Arbitration Law Commission and the Information Technology Law Commission, and at HUMANA Law Office, where he worked on commercial disputes, arbitration proceedings, and contractual risk analysis. He is currently pursuing a second Bachelor's degree in International Relations at Medeniyet University, İstanbul, deepening his interdisciplinary perspective on law and global affairs. His current research focuses on crypto-asset regulation, financial technologies (FinTech), international tax law, and comparative legal systems. His research aims to contribute to the development of effective and forward-looking legal frameworks for emerging financial technologies and their broader impact on society.
Conference contributions 1
CRYPTO LAW
Since the emergence of Bitcoin in 2009, crypto assets have proliferated globally as a decentralised and cross-border hybrid of technology and finance, transforming the traditional financial intermediation model. Türkiye stands out as one of the leading countries worldwide in crypto asset usage, owing to its young and techsavvy population, high inflation environment, and exchange rate volatility. For a long time, Turkish law lacked a clear definition and comprehensive regulatory framework for crypto assets; under Law No. 6493, only their use as a payment instrument was prohibited, while trading, custody and taxation remained largely unregulated. This situation changed radically with Law No. 7518 on the Amendment of the Capital Markets Law, which entered into force on 2 July 2024, bringing crypto asset service providers under the licensing, supervision and sanctioning authority of the Capital Markets Board (CMB). Adopting a descriptiveanalytical method and a comparative law perspective, this study examines the current state of crypto asset law and tax law in Türkiye in light of Law No. 7518, the CMB's Communiqués III35/B.1 and III35/B.2, the December 2024 amendments to the MASAK regulations, and the crypto asset transaction tax and withholding tax regime adopted in early 2026. By comparing Türkiye's regulatory model with those of Japan, the United States, Switzerland and the European Union (MiCA), the study finds that the current framework has achieved significant maturity in supervision and licensing, while still containing gaps in tax legislation, investor protection mechanisms and judicial precedent. The conclusion offers concrete recommendations for legal practitioners and policymakers.