An article on Turkish interest in cryptocurrencies was shared in The Wall Street Journal, one of the mainstream media outlets of the USA.
In the article published today, the main reason behind this interest is the depreciation of the Turkish lira in recent months.
“According to the analysis company Chainalysis, while TL depreciated against the dollar in the fourth quarter of 2021, the daily volumes of the three exchanges that offer the opportunity to trade cryptocurrencies with TL increased to $ 1.8 billion.
While these trading volumes are modest compared to the Bank of International Settlements’ 2019 report of approximately $71 billion in Lira transactions per day, they are higher than any of the previous 5 quarters.
Turks especially trade with stablecoins whose value is pegged to the dollar. According to CryptoCompare, TL has become the most traded government currency against Tether this fall.”
The article noted that the growing interest in cryptocurrencies is related to rising inflation and issues of trust in government.
The article, which stated that the increasing investor interest had an effect on daily life, included the following statements;
“In Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city and commercial centre, there are advertisements for cryptocurrency exchanges on trams, on billboards and at one of the two airports in the city.
The Grand Bazaar is full of Bitcoin-selling shops hiding in the side streets near where merchants sell foreign currency and gold.”
According to Chainalysis, more than half of TL transactions in December were related to Tether.