Key Takeaways:
- Turks now perform over one million crypto transactions amidst dwindling Lira values.
- Turkey’s restriction from allowing Turks access gold, USD easily made them go for crypto.
- Turkey government become hostile with crypto amidst its growing popularity.
NIGERIA (CoinChapter.com) – Cryptocurrency trading has continued to get more popular in economically embattled Turkey. Recent report reveals that the daily crypto trade has now surpassed one million.
The surge in the daily crypto trade is not far-fetched from the value of Turkey’s currency (Lira) which has plunged nearly 40% since September. Turks have adopted cryptocurrencies as haven to jeep their savings and avoid the effects of soaring inflation.
Lira’s continued plunge
Data from crypto analytics platform, Chainalysis and Kaiko reveal that daily crypto trade surpassed one million first earlier in the year when the sudden replacement of the country’s central bank chief in March triggered the Lira’s first major slump of 2021.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s unexpected dismissal of the central bank governor Naci Agbal led to inflation fears among Turks and caused the Lira to plunge by more than 10%.
Afterward, the Lira saw relative stability, reducing cryptocurrency transactions trades per day.
The figure dropped below 500,000 but has surged above the one million mark again after the Lira’s latest plunge.
How access to US dollar, gold in Turkey led to crypto popularity
According to Reuters, the rise in crypto trading in Turkey is a direct effect of the restrictions imposed during the year that have made it difficult for Turks to convert the Lira to gold.
Another reason for crypto popularity in Turkey is Bitcoin’s surge to a new all-time high at $69,000 in November.
Turks prefer trading Bitcoin or stablecoin USDT. Data shows that the TRY/USDT pair is one of the most traded pairs while the fiat currency’s pair with BTC is the 12th most traded.
Amidst popularity, Turkey displays hostility with crypto
The surge in crypto trading in Turkey come a few months after the central bank prohibited the use of crypto assets when paying for goods and services.
Months back also, President Erdogan said the country was at war with cryptocurrencies.
“On the contrary, we have a separate war, a separate fight against them. We would never lend support to [cryptocurrencies]. Because we will move forward with our own currency that has its own identity,” he said back then.
Ever since then, however, Turkey has not crackdown hardly on crypto except the restriction from using it as a means of payment.
