Turkey’s crypto community fights 40% gains levy

Turkey’s crypto community launched a mass #kriptodavergiyehayır campaign ahead of a vote on a draft bill imposing a 0.03% transaction levy and up to 40% tax on foreign-platform gains.

Turkey’s crypto community staged a sweeping online protest on March 24, one day before the Turkish Grand National Assembly was due to vote on a draft crypto tax bill that would introduce a 0.03% transaction levy on all digital asset trades plus a 10% withholding tax on profits for users of licensed domestic exchanges — and as much as 40% for those trading on foreign platforms, according to an explanatory breakdown by Istanbul-based tax advisor CPA Evren Özmen. The backlash was swift and broad, uniting retail traders, influencers, and analysts under the hashtag #kriptodavergiyehayır — “No to crypto tax” — which trended nationally in Turkey on March 24.

Selçuk Ergin, a widely-followed Turkish crypto analyst and educator known as @Selcoin, emerged as one of the leading voices against the bill. His post on March 24 accumulated 145,000 views, 686 retweets, and 3,700 likes on X within hours. “The community showed a tremendous solidarity on the crypto tax issue that will be put to vote tomorrow in parliament,” Ergin wrote. “It said #kriptodavergiyehayır. It stated that the draft is completely flawed. I believe that this mistake will be recognized tomorrow and the right step will be taken.” He added that despite investors on U.S.-listed stocks and the domestic Borsa Istanbul remaining largely quiet, “community solidarity is very high.”

The discontent stretched well beyond Ergin’s platform. Taner Yılmaz, a verified commenter on the thread @TanerYlmaz13, pointed out that “the 15–40% tax rates on crypto income are not a new situation for entrepreneurs and tradespeople who are already under a high tax burden of up to 40%,” arguing that applying the same framework to crypto would further stifle an already strained segment of the economy. Another user, @Temel_analiz1, took a competitive angle: “There is a war in the Gulf. Dubai is a critical place for crypto. Instead of dealing with taxes, we should turn this crisis into an opportunity. Now is the right time to make Istanbul the capital of crypto.”

At the core of the legislation’s controversy is what critics describe as a deliberately punitive structure. Under the draft, investors who keep their holdings on Turkish-regulated exchanges benefit from a flat 10% withholding tax handled automatically by the platform, with no need for individual tax filings. But those using foreign exchanges face a far steeper burden — their gains are classified as standard annual income under Turkey’s progressive tax system, potentially hitting 40%, with the full compliance burden falling on the individual. Critics say the 30-percentage-point gap is effectively designed to force capital out of international platforms and into the domestic financial system rather than to raise revenue fairly.

The stakes are particularly high given Turkey’s outsized position in global digital asset markets. According to a Chainalysis report cited by Istanbul Blockchain Week, Turkey is the MENA region’s largest crypto market with nearly $200 billion in annual on-chain transactions — roughly four times that of the UAE. Driven by persistent inflation and a weakened lira, cryptocurrency has served as a financial refuge for millions of Turkish citizens for years.

Turkey previously declined to impose a crypto profits tax in 2024 after an equity market downturn prompted the government to shelve the idea. The current draft marks a return to the question — and, judging by the volume of the community response, the answer from Turkish crypto holders remains the same.