On Monday, May 5, 2025, the BCTR Securities Tokenization Report Launch, held at İş Bankası Towers in Levent, brought together leading names in the sector. The presentation of the report, prepared by the BCTR Finance, Banking and Insurance Working Group operating under the umbrella of the Turkish Informatics Foundation (TBV), took place with intense participation and interest.

📍 Program Flow and Speeches

The event began at 10:00 a.m. with a welcome and conversation session with the participants. This was followed by TBV Secretary General Çağdaş Ergin, who introduced the general structure and working principles of BCTR. In his speech, he expressed his satisfaction with the interest shown in the working group and emphasized that BCTR's mission, vision, and interdisciplinary expertise paved the way for such effective work.

Sharing information about the scope of the report in his opening speech, Sabri Gökmenler, Deputy General Manager of Türkiye İş Bankası and Chairman of the BCTR Working Group, stated that the report addressed global tokenization examples and regulations, as well as legal regulations in Turkey. Saying that this study is one of the first steps taken in the sector and that development will continue to increase, Sabri Gökmenler drew attention to the strategic vision behind the report with the words, "Blockchain is not just a technology. The business models built on it will transform it into a disruptive structure," said Sabri Gökmenler, highlighting the strategic vision behind the report.

📌 Panel Session: Tokenization of Securities

Meral Şengöz (T3i Partner Network, Partner) moderated the panel session, where the areas covered by the report were detailed:

  • Seçil Demir Kahraman (İş Bank of Turkey) emphasized the importance of establishing token standards and provided comprehensive assessments of tokenization's interaction with the financial system and the legal world.
  • Merve Tunçyüz (Halkbank) shared the meaning of tokenization from the perspective of institutions based on the sections of the report.
  • Turan Sert (BlockchainIST Center – BAU) stated that tokenization is gaining increasing interest on a global scale and that this development will continue both technologically and in terms of regulation.
  • Hasan H. Yasar (Kolcuoğlu Demirkan Koçaklı Law Firm) addressed the current legal infrastructure and regulatory uncertainties in Turkey. He stated that clarifying the legal framework is vital for the development of the sector.
  • Sabahattin Can Bukulmez (BTguru) shared his assessments on technological applications and the adaptation process of the sector.

📌 Academic and Technical Evaluations

Pınar Çağlayan Aksoy (Bilkent University Faculty of Law), who participated in the event via an online link, evaluated the new ground that tokenization has created for the legal world. Then, Mustafa Takaoğlu, Ph.D. (TÜBİTAK BİLGEM) made a general evaluation from a technical perspective.

📎 Evaluation

This valuable event, which discussed new generation financial instruments and infrastructures, shed light on the future shaped at the intersection of technology, finance, and law by bringing to the table local and global developments in the tokenization of securities. The report published by BCTR serves as a reference source that will help shape the direction of the sector.

🔗 To review the report: https://bctr.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/MKTokenRapor_Final.pdf