Legal Liability Arising from Crypto Asset Losses in Turkish Law (Hacettepe hukuk fakültesi dergisi)

Summary

• Turkey ranks 3’üncü globally in crypto asset ownership according to industry data cited in the article.p.5
• Satoshi Nakamoto introduced blockchain technology in a 2008 research paper, leading to the creation of the first Bitcoin in January 2009.p.6
• Data from the Capital Markets Board (SPK) indicates that 58 temporary crypto asset service providers (KVHS) are active in Turkey.p.14
• Article 99/B/4 of the Capital Markets Law subjects crypto service providers to strict liability under Article 71 of Law No. 6098 for losses resulting from cyberattacks or personnel misconduct.p.4

Key insights

1. Crypto asset trading platforms in Turkey operated for many years without dedicated financial sector regulations, creating significant legal protection gaps for consumers.p.2
2. Users of centralized exchanges (CEX) only hold public keys and lack private key ownership, preventing them from exercising full legal and actual possession over stored crypto assets.p.11
3. Decentralized exchanges (DEX) present regulatory enforcement challenges because the absence of a central intermediary leaves regulators without a clear accountable legal entity.p.11
4. Law No. 7518 establishes SPK licensing and oversight for CASPs while assigning TÜBİTAK to assess their technical infrastructure compliance.p.12
5. Strict danger liability under Article 71 of the Turkish Code of Obligations is applied to CASPs due to the inherent potential for frequent or severe harm caused by IT system security risks.p.15
6. Under Article 60 of the Turkish Code of Obligations, injured crypto investors can select between contractual breach and strict tort liability to secure the most favorable legal remedy.p.20