Since the economic crisis and inflation rate (that started last year) keeps on continuing in the country with the passage of time, Bitcoin is getting more popularity in Turkey. According to the Andy Cheung, head of operations at OKEx, a renowned cryptocurrency exchange, in just a matter of one week since they provided their services in the country, over 30,000 Turkish residents have signed up with the platform.
This impressive revelation should not be perceived as a surprise, as evidently, Turkey tops the number of countries in Europe that own cryptocurrency.
According to the survey conducted by the ING Bank last year, a Dutch multinational banking group, 18% of the Turkish population owns Bitcoin. At the same time, 45% of the Turkish people indicated their plan to hold cryptocurrency for longer-terms, way more than other first world countries such as the USA, France, and Britain. The individuals from these countries responded at 21%, 17%, and 15% respectively.
Andy Cheung said,
“Turkey is without a doubt the only country that boasts of a high percentage of independent crypto-ownership in Europe and the Middle East, It has one of the most robust and promising crypto communities anywhere in the entire world”
In fact, Lira, Turkish fiat currency, accounts for 6 percent of the cryptocurrency-fiat cashflow recorded just in 2019, as we look at the data presented at the CoinMarketCap platform – making it the fifth most mainstream fiat-crypto pair globally.
Interestingly, it’s not just OKEx that has gained this massive amount of customers in Turkey, another Turkey-based crypto exchange, BtcTurk, also recorded over 30,000 new subscriptions from the local habitats this year. Ozgur Guneri, CEO of the BtcTurk, considers the country’s increasing inflation rate to be the force behind this increasing demand for giant cryptocurrency Bitcoin.
Guneri further explains about the increasing adoption of Bitcoin among Turks by presenting an example of the time when Lira plunged down by 20% against USD in a matter of one night on August 10, last year, his platform’s volume amplified by more than 100% in no time.
According to the Professor at Cornell University Emin Gun Sirer, besides the country’s weakening economy and wavering condition of the national fiat currency, Lira, one other aspect also plays a huge role in the adoption of Bitcoin. He believes that as the country has a higher proportion of youth population as compared to other European countries and they are more inclined towards modern day’s technology, so today’s culture has rapidly lean in favor of the cryptocurrency.
Furthermore, according to his observation, Turks are relatively more attracted to financial schemes with high-margins. It seems that the digital sphere has a number of attractive factors that convince Turks to invest in the industry.
As for Erdogan, the President of Turkey, his administration has not made crypto trading illegal in the country. That being said, he has been seen making arguments in front of his people many times that instead of converting dollar into Bitcoin they should consider the nation’s fiat, Lira. Even the State’s religious authority, Diyanet, also dictated that trading in cryptocurrency is forbidden for Muslims.
As for the Turkish people, they seem to enjoy their right to freedom in making their own decisions. It’s not that they are not aware of the digital space’s pros and cons, they are also mindful of the government’s unreliable policies (if there are) as well as the current situation of their national currency.
Image courtesy of Pixabay.
Disclaimer: The presented information is subjected to market condition and may include the very own opinion of the author. Please do your ‘very own’ market research before making any investment in cryptocurrencies. Neither the writer nor the publication (TronWeekly.com) holds any responsibility for your financial loss.
