22.04.2026 17:39
Asian exchanges that cannot act against regulations worldwide are disregarding the rules of the CMB in Turkey. Another unlicensed foreign crypto exchange operating with a Turkish interface has been added to the list. While TapBit openly serves Turkish users with both a Turkish website and an official Turkish social media account, it is unknown whether it has applied for a CMB license. Moreover, the platform promotes unlimited leveraged futures products through Turkish influencers. Here are the details...
The Law No. 7518, which entered into force in July 2024, and the regulations published by the Capital Markets Board (CMB) within the scope of this law clearly defined the activities of crypto platforms based abroad in Turkey. Accordingly, a foreign crypto exchange creating a Turkish-language website, operating a Turkish-language social media account, conducting promotion and marketing targeted at Turkish users, and publishing advertisements directly or through intermediaries are considered unauthorized crypto asset service provision. This provision is also explicitly included in the CMB's official bulletins: platforms based abroad must terminate their activities targeting individuals resident in Turkey.
BOTH THE PLATFORM AND INFLUENCERS ARE AT RISK Experts point out that TapBit's activities in Turkey encompass multiple legal violations simultaneously. Operating a Turkish-language website and social media account constitutes unauthorized crypto asset service provision under Law No. 7518. Promotions conducted through a referral system are evaluated both as unauthorized activity and within the scope of the prohibition of misleading advertisements. The coexistence of these two violations brings the risk of imprisonment from 3 to 5 years and judicial fines up to 10,000 days for both the platform and the influencers sharing referral links.
TURKISH-LANGUAGE WEBSITE, TURKISH-LANGUAGE SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNT TapBit offers spot and futures services to Turkish users with a Turkish interface via the address tapbit.com/tr. The platform also has an official Turkish-language X/Twitter account with the username @TapbitTurkish. Campaigns, events, and platform promotions targeted at Turkish users are actively shared through this account. Experts emphasize that each of these activities is considered unauthorized activity in itself within the scope of the CMB's legislation.
PROMOTION OF UNLIMITED LEVERAGE PRODUCTS THROUGH INFLUENCERS TapBit's activities in Turkey are not limited to direct promotions. It was also determined that the platform operates a referral (affiliate) system through Turkish crypto influencers. Investigations on social media revealed that a Turkish crypto influencer promoted a high-leverage futures bonus campaign in Turkish on behalf of TapBit. The post, promising a $600 bonus for a minimum $1,000 deposit and a $4,000 bonus for a maximum $6,666 deposit, contained a personal referral link directing to the platform. Another notable element in the post was the explicit use of the phrases "no leverage limit" and "KYC not required." There was no indication of "advertisement" or "sponsored content."
Accepting users without KYC obligation constitutes a separate problem in terms of Turkish legislation. International anti-money laundering standards (FATF Travel Rule) mandate the verification of sender and recipient information for transactions above a certain threshold. It is technically impossible for a platform not applying KYC to fulfill these obligations.
REMINDING THE WEEX EXAMPLE ONCE AGAIN WEEX, which shares the same profile, faced an access block during the CMB's inspection in March 2026. The WEEX example, which was added to the access blocking list of 46 websites on the grounds of Turkish language support and promotion of leveraged products to Turkish users, bears great similarity to the activities TapBit is currently conducting.