Turkey Is Cracking Down Cryptocurrency-Funded Gambling Activities

In 2019 the government of Turkey had launched one of its largest nationwide crackdowns on online gambling followed by simultaneous raids across 40 provinces. Turkey’s increasing hostility toward online gambling has led to a focus on the funding of gambling activities via alternate modes of payment.

Turkey has seen a lot of growth in online betting and gambling over the years, with more and more people having easy access to 4G technology. The government has begun its crackdown on illegal betting by banning online gaming websites.

With “illegal bets and games of chance” treated as “crimes under the draft legislation being proposed in the Turkish parliament,” according to Turkey’s Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) chairman Hayrettin Kurt, Games like Hall of Gods are still illegal in Turkey.

Crackdown on Gambling Activities and Digital Currencies

As we mentioned the crackdown on online gambling earlier, there have been new rules proposed. Based on these new rules:

• The banking regulation agency (BDDK) will put measures into place to prevent financial institutions from processing online gaming-related transactions.
• They will also tighten the ropes on the use of cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, for being used as an alternative mode of payment for gambling.
• The monitoring of search engines will be a part of the crackdown. If you are flagged accessing illegal sites, then you will be sent a text message warning from the government to remind them that you are being watched.
• Not only will it be monitored on an individual level, but on the advertising and sponsorship front as well. Advertisements for gambling and any form of promotional links like affiliate links or sponsored links that take citizens to illegal gambling sites will be shut down.
• Third-party monitoring will also be included, such as internet cafes that allow access to gambling sites will be fined heavily.
• These rules won’t only affect the customers but the operators as well. The incomes of gambling operators and anyone working in any capacity in the field will be seized. Any establishments with gambling activities will be temporarily requisitioned by the government.

Players who believe their activities can’t be tracked should know that their digital footprints are being followed by the state with huge fines imposed by the Turkish courts. All of the unregistered websites, national and international alike, will be blocked by the Information Technologies and Communications, as part of the crackdown.

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