Sermaye Piyasası Hukukunda Kripto Varlıklara Yönelik Yaklaşımlar

Blockchain technology enables secure, transparent, and decentralised transactions, offering transformative potential for industries, including capital markets. This study examines the legal and functional implications of crypto assets, particularly their status as potential capital market instruments. Although crypto assets often share economic characteristics with traditional financial assets, they lack the legal recognition of currency; hence, they do not fit established definitions within financial regulation frameworks. This paper also explores the role of crypto asset service providers because they facilitate trading and custody services that enhance market liquidity and price discovery. However, the regulatory landscape for crypto asset service providers remains complex and inconsistent across jurisdictions. For instance, the EU’s MiCAR framework seeks to balance investor protection with market stability, while regulatory conflicts persist in the US between agencies like the SEC and CFTC. Although the recent amendments to Türkiye’s Capital Markets Act provide a broad definition of crypto assets, the primary focus remains on regulating crypto asset service providers rather than individual crypto assets themselves. Blockchain’s decentralised structure could reduce reliance on intermediaries in financial markets, yet widespread societal trust in centralised institutions currently limits the practical implementation of fully decentralised systems. Given the evolving nature of blockchain and crypto assets, this study suggests that adaptive regulatory frameworks, combining tailored regulations and secondary provisions, might better align with market stability, investor protection, and innovation in capital markets.