NFTs in Turkey

The legal status

Creating, buying, selling, and holding NFTs is lawful in Turkey. There is no prohibition on NFTs, and Turkish artists, collectors, and platforms take part in the market. What Turkey does not have is an NFT specific statute. The country regulates crypto asset service providers under Law No. 7518, and the open question is how far a given NFT falls within the legal definition of a crypto asset. A purely unique collectible may be treated differently from a token that behaves like a tradable financial instrument. Because of that, the way an NFT is structured and the role a platform plays can pull it into or out of the licensed crypto framework supervised by the Capital Markets Board of Turkey (CMB). This carries an as of date of June 2026.

Platforms and the CMB framework

The clearer point is about platforms rather than the tokens themselves. Where a service offers NFT trading, custody, or transfer to Turkish users in a way that looks like a crypto asset service, that service may need to be authorised by the CMB under Law No. 7518. A marketplace that simply connects a buyer and a seller may sit outside that scope, while one that holds assets, runs an order book, or handles customer funds is more likely to be inside it. Because the boundary is not fully drawn, do not assume an NFT marketplace carries the same licensing and consumer protections as a CMB authorised exchange. Check how the platform describes its regulatory status.

The payment ban

The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) payment regulation in force since 30 April 2021 prohibits using crypto assets as a means of payment. To the extent an NFT, or the token you use to buy it, is a crypto asset, that ban can reach the transaction if it is being used to settle for goods or services. Buying and selling NFTs as assets is not the target of the ban, which is aimed at crypto used to pay. The practical point is that you should not treat an NFT as a way to make a regulated payment.

Tax

Turkey has not published a clear NFT specific tax rule. General income tax principles can reach NFT activity where it amounts to a business or a profession, for example an artist who sells work regularly or a trader who deals frequently, with income generally valued in lira when received. A one off sale by a private individual sits in the same uncertain space as other occasional crypto disposals, which the 2026 tax framework was still settling. Keep records of what you paid, what you received, and the dates, and confirm the treatment with the Revenue Administration (Gelir Idaresi Baskanligi). This is general information, not tax advice.

Risks and how to act

NFTs combine the ordinary risks of a volatile and often illiquid asset with the specific uncertainty of an unsettled legal classification in Turkey. The consumer protections that attach to a CMB licensed exchange may not reach every NFT marketplace, and the tax position is changing. None of this is investment advice or a view on whether any NFT holds value. If you take part, understand exactly what rights the NFT gives you, check how the platform is regulated, and keep records. Where you buy NFTs through a licensed exchange that also offers them, the exchanges genuinely available to Turkish residents are compared below.

Regulator and sources

• Capital Markets Board of Turkey (CMB / SPK), spk.gov.tr, the licensing of crypto asset service providers under Law No. 7518 published in the Official Gazette on 2 July 2024 and the communiqués of 13 March 2025
• Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT), tcmb.gov.tr, the Regulation on the Disuse of Crypto Assets in Payments, in force 30 April 2021
• Revenue Administration (Gelir Idaresi Baskanligi), gib.gov.tr, income tax treatment of crypto activity
• Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK), masak.hmb.gov.tr, anti money laundering obligations and the 2025 circular introducing transfer limits and withdrawal waiting periods for crypto asset service providers

Frequently asked questions

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