Bitcoin Forum

In Turkey, the cryptocurrency usage has been getting more common in the recent years. While many countries in the world have been tussling with high inflation this situation has been happening much more dramatically in Turkey. Markets didn't welcome the president Erdogan's applying pressure over the Central Bank and decreasing interests. And the official inflation rate has been published as 78.6% in Turkey. However the academicians who are doing an independent research are thinking that the real inflation rate in Turkey is 175.55%.

https://twitter.com/ENAGRUP/status/1543841563935219712?s=20&t=G41fycRj4g3t7a_Ije4P6A

In a country that has this much high inflation rate, people have to make investments to be able to keep the worth of their money. And in Turkey that there is a high population of young people, investments into cryptocurrencies have been quite high in the recent years. For example, local cryptocurrency exchanges have grown big that they can even sponsor the national team comfortably from now on.

https://i.hizliresim.com/p3r3d9q.jfif (https://www.hizliresim.com/p3r3d9q)

https://www.btcturk.com/bilgi-platformu/btcturk-becomes-sponsor-of-womens-and-mens-national-teams/

People are talking about Bitcoin everywhere in daily life from now on. And the number of businesses that are accepting Bitcoin is increasing in Turkey day by day.

The goverment of Turkey stated that they were looking at cryptocurrencies positively in their statements in the past. However the president Erdogan said in the statement he made on May 19, 2022 that he wasn't leaning towards cryptocurrencies. And he added that there was going to be some actions to be taken about this.

What do you think about the bigger interest from the people of a country that has a big inflation rate? Do you think that it stems from the desire that people want to keep the values of things they have? Or is it easier to take risks for these people in countries like this?

What could I say? They must have observed something going wrong with their economy, their national currency is seriously devaluated. There's definitely a decent number of Turkish who're obsessed with using a neutral currency that does not represent a country, whose inflation schedule is programmed.

I don't understand what you mean here.

It is easier to distrust the word of politicians, in cases like Turkey.

I wanted to ask this by saying that: Does the reason why people are going towards cryptocurrencies stem from the desire to preserve their asset against high inflation? Or does it stem from the effort to earn high amount of income?


Even though the banking system in Turkey has been built on solid basis, because of the recent economy policies some people prefer to preserve their money in their homes rather than banks.

The news from last year was that Turkey banned payments with cryptocurrencies, has anything changed regarding that law?

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There is no great mystery here, people are just looking for a way to try to outsmart inflation in any way, and Bitcoin is offered as an alternative. Regardless of its volatility, it is still a much better option for some than what the Turkish lira currently offers. Of course, it's always easier to take a risk if you have no other choice, but for those who believe in Bitcoin, it doesn't matter if they live in Turkey, the US or India - each of them believes in Bitcoin more than in their national currency.

Personally, I do not like a generalization that is not based on a study or something that supports it. Just because people are talking about Bitcoin, it does not mean that they will invest. This is if we define people and how much they are compared to the percentage of the population and the percentage to the GDP.
Inflation is a problem in Turkey, Bitcoin is one of the solutions, but not the only solution and not everyone will use it. This does not negate that growth in Turkey and around the world is an upward function.

Bitcoin might be a solution if faced with 50%+ inflation but I still think the value fluctuations are problematic with it - they'll probably be less likely to panic sell and more likely to hold though given how their native currency loses value too. It might be disliked by their president because stablecoins can pay a good interest to people too (and in usd).

I've heard quite a lot of proposals that have come out since the inflation rate hit and stayed around 50% for a few years.

One of them was to top up accounts with the amount the currency had inflated so the value remains the same (this would worsen inflation and those on lower domestic salaries - unless they rise more than inflation).

Apparently a lot of Turkish bank accounts also accept dollars to be deposited (but don't offer interest on them). It's an odd situation to see an economy manage to survive on such high inflation rates and do well - it'd be better if they educated people on how to invest in companies (either on a national level or and inter atonal one) as I think they'd see a lot of demand for their currency over the long term on the forex market too (maybe initially a drop further in the value of their currency though).

175% Inflation is a very high number!!! I thought that Erdogan's economic policies had greatly improved the Turkish economy, as the government propaganda says, I hear Erdogan and his party are very popular in Turkey, but I am not surprised by this because I know that governments lie constantly in order to improve their reputation abroad.
In any case, it is normal for people to turn towards Bitcoin as a store of value due to the very high inflation rate, people do not want to lose their money by putting it in fiat that loses its value every day, but of course this will not be liked by the Turkish government and may put strict laws towards cryptocurrencies.

Turkey is a country that is currently hit by inflation, I have heard about their news everywhere. If I'm not mistaken Turkey's financial system is going against the west. Adhering to an Erdoganomic economic system that does not refer to an increase in interest rates. As a result, they experienced 2x greater inflation. Correct me if I'm wrong, when Turkey's inflation continues to swell there is a positive side where Turkish stock prices soar while western stocks experience drastic declines when interest rate hikes are announced. One of them is Turkey BIST100 which is up by 30%.
https://iili.io/wkJrPI.png
https://www.investing.com/indices/ise-100-30

Regarding Turkey and bitcoin interest in this country, I have som a few words to say, 2-3 years when I visited this country there were many bitcoiners there and even when I came to a coffeeshop in Istanbul I heard lots of people were talking about bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies but they were trying to keep it secure to protect themselves from the government investigations hardly. I like that they like bitcoin but due to the situation of the country they had some problems, at least that is what I saw. On the other hand, decreasing the value of their fiat currency because of the inflation rate increases the interest in this market.

In terms of percentage, how many people is this? Was there a survey about how many are open to this idea?
A conflict. If the people are trying to use a new option while the government is pursuing something else. This will not be good.
I have heard a lot of news about the unstoppable inflation in Turkey even before the pandemic hits. Vloggers seems to have floated that issue especially those who make food contents.
That's one, keep the value.
Even if they are avoiding the risk, it's not like they have a lot of options but to force themselves in buying currencies that won't easily depreciate.

I think it is the same exchange that sponsored a soccer team in Turkey some years ago. They indeed grew bigger and bigger.   

I read yesterday that Turkey is number one or second with the highest inflation. I am surprised, to be honest. I knew Lira continues to slide down since the 2016 failed coup but 78.6% is very very high. Is the Turkish government printing a lot of money too? I think Turkey is one of few countries that is benefitting from the current war in Ukraine. They are exporting a lot of weapons for that war. West Europe's winter is coming and they will be needing more supplies of gas from Azerbaijan where Turkey gets passage fees. More Russian businesses are also in Turkey and who knows maybe laundering money too.


I am not from Turkey but I read a lot of news articles this year and the Turkish government seemed positive about cryptocurrencies. I believe it wanted to attract many exchanges to do business in their country where the government can impose taxes. And if crypto is illegal then BtcTurk cannot sponsor its country's national team? Maybe it is illegal to use it as a form of payment only.     

It is possible that the OP is referring to businesses that are exclusively related to crypto trading, because as far as I know, the law from last year is still in force. Companies that provide crypto trading services can sponsor anyone as long as they make payments in fiat and not in cryptocurrencies.

I'll just repeat that no country can be considered crypto-friendly if it bans Bitcoin as a means of payment, although most people don't consider it too negative considering that their reasons for owning Bitcoin are far from using it as a currency.

Ofcourse, when inflation is hitting hard there should be deliberate policy to encourage the production of scarce goods and services that are causing the inflation, which should help drive the inflation down... Decreasing interest rate for producers of scarce goods/services esp rather than for consumers is one of the most important ways to encourage production and drive down inflation. In this case, people from countries that earn Bitcoin either by selling goods or services, or from its price appreciation would also help drive inflation down as long as they use their earnings more for production. I actually prefer a mutual or symbiotic relationship between Bitcoin and world's economies, hence the need to make sure things are not too difficult for producers in Bitcoin world... Bitcoin also benefits when producers are doing well. It's important to start building a safe system that grooms independent producers & help them to thrive on some sort of decentralized Bitcoin economy to benefit their economies and Bitcoin

The law you mentioned is still running now. However this situation is tying the hands of big companies more. For example, the possibility of coming across cafes and restaurants that are accepting payments with Bitcoin on the streets is not low at all.


Since November 2002, Erdogan and his party have been in power. The government is controlling the media completely as you can also assume. It has been all over the news that Turkey have got much stronger for the recent 20 years. And it has been added that the Europe and the USA are attacking the Turkish economy to prevent this buildup. There are nearly 10 months left for the elections in Turkey. After twenty years Erdogan seems behind his opponents according to surveys for the first time.


In fact Turkish banks are giving interests for dollar investments. However some people are still preferring to keep their money in their homes instead of banks.

https://i.ibb.co/VCpwrQ1/dolar.jpg (https://imgbb.com/)


I don't have any information about this topic unfortunately.


As Lucius said, it is allowed to make investments into cryptocurrencies in the country now. However it is forbidden to make payments by cryptocurrencies. For example, you can buy Bitcoin from the exchange that is the sponsor of the national team and keep it. However you can't make the payment for your rent by using it legally.

Some people are seeing the last year ban of crypto in Turkey as a wrong signal for crypto investment but we should know that this is in no way affecting them from investing in cryptocurrencies because as it is they can leverage on crypto to achieve 2 things viz; they can either get into crypto to secure their assets knowing that its safer or they can also go into crypto currency as an investment. the current slump in crypto market may seem discouraging but its assurance is far better than their 24 years of continous economic downturn or inflation.
 

Risk taking is never a good idea especially in any country but isn't it all just the same? At the end of the day people play bets if the government will crash or not, the Russian rubles crashed like nothing and at the end of the day it also was stronger than anything as well, did anyone know it was going to happen ? Can we predict anything, anything at all?
I think no, and that is why we must understand the fact that sooner or later it would be essential to integrate cryptocurrencies, since they can provide an individual buffer system as well, even if the government does not accept that then also they would be dealing with cryptocurrencies because it cannot be stopped to be honest. Therefore it is good that the government might try and integrate it. But then again the situation does not seem VERY hopeful.

This is interesting information, because I thought that Turkey is not a country where laws are not respected and that the punishments for those who do not follow them are very severe. Is it possible that the law then exists, but is not actually implemented, especially when you mention cafes and restaurants? I know that in my country there are state inspections in the form of tax inspections that visit catering facilities and cafes and check everything that can be checked - and apart from fines, the facilities can also be temporarily closed.

If a restaurant in Turkey accepts Bitcoin as a means of payment, then it must do so in a way to avoid paying taxes, although people are obviously very resourceful and know how to outwit the law.

Though I wouldn’t mix up bitcoin and a particular countries inflation, in case of bitcoin as whole is very stable.  I am not talking about bitcoin and its USD value or neither Turkish currency but I am speaking about bitcoin and its own decentralised economy over blockchain. Its independent and there is no harm if Turkishian is making bitcoin as legal tender. Bitcoin will keep up its value of transaction since market depth is rising day by day and it wont stop.

Bitcoin is not USD and it gets powered up with the help of all countries bitcoin users. So I would say Turkey isn’t doing wrong it should keep up the legal usage of bitcoin.

I believe the major source of the problem we have in the world today is our leaders because they are not making the required decision with steps. The people see cryptocurrency as a way out of the inflation the world is experiencing instead of them supporting the movement and creating a platform that will make mainstream they are saying another thing and wasting the country's resources on something that will create more problems.

In fact some things are overlooked by the goverment as there are less than 10 months left for the elections in Turkey. Most of cafes and restaurants don't give any receipt unless you want it particularly (Except touristic areas and big businesses). I think that these topics are going to be put in order more after the elections. Therefore I don't think that the main goal of businesses that are accepting payments by cryptocurrencies is escaping taxes. They are only trying to get ahead of their opponents by making their businesses different.

I think the case of turkey holds clue for us as well.  Turkey fought well with inflation using bitcoin, When there is a danger of inflation and risk of recession on global economy, can we use bitcoin to fight this off. Can bitcoin help us to prevent impeding crisis in some way, Economists need to seriously look into bitcoin for such possibilities

It has been claimed residents of turkey are investing in tether and stablecoins as inflation protected assets. To protect their wealth against inflation. The dollar is strong on FOREX markets, which translates to elevated demand of US dollar pegged assets like tether. I think that was turkeys gateway drug to becoming more interested in crypto and the opportunities and tools it can provide.

There have been similar previous in other countries. Cuban migrants used bitcoin to send funds to their family in cuba. Venezuelans with free electricity mined bitcoin in the early days before the caracas hydroelectric dam failed. There are still many today with access to free electricity who mine bitcoin. Although the practice appears to be on a decline with other crypto coins and tokens being more profitable from a mining perspective.

What would people think if Putin released a stablecoin pegged to the russian ruble. Would that be god tier trolling? At least it might give people something to laugh about.

Honestly? I think you are both right and wrong with the stablecoin thing. First of all, there are of course some people who do "invest" into stablecoins to protect themselves against the inflation. But we also gotta remember that the dollar price was around this level like 6 or so months ago as well, it dropped and now back to the same price and yet the prices doubled during the same time, which means if you held USDT during that period, you wouldn't gain anything, and your costs would be higher.

There were protests here and there, and it has been ugly. All in all we can't do anything but to wait for the elections and hope that these people finally lose. Politicians who have absolutely no idea how to rule a nation, and only get elected because they are liked, is a terrible side effect of democracy. Right now, we are living in an inflation where I could say I am making like x3 more than what I made last year around the same times, and I am still having a harder time, think about it. If you are an american, and you are earning 3 times more than what you earned a year ago would you have a hard time? I am literally poorer with a x3 more salary.

It is natural for a people whose currency is fast losing its purchasing power to find ways to retain their money's value. So I guess this is the primary driving force why a lot of the Turkish people embraced Bitcoin. And I guess they're not embracing Bitcoin with the sense that they're risking too much.

In the first place, they cannot bet on their fiat anymore. It is, after all, fast devalued. So they have no choice but to look for something else. Second, Bitcoin has an open track record. While it is indeed volatile, that's only if we look at the charts in short time frames. But if we look at it from afar, it is actually appreciating in value.

Thanks for the clarification, now it's much clearer to me how things actually work and that the law is actually only valid on paper, while it is not actually applied in practice. However, it is not clear to me that issuing a receipt is not mandatory, because in my country, even a customer can be fined if he leaves the store and does not have a receipt for what he bought. I think that the Turkish treasury is losing a lot of money with such laws, because it was the same in my country until the fiscalization bill was introduced, and anyone who does not work according to the law can really have a bad time.

However, as you say, maybe things will change after the election or the government will continue to buy social peace in this way.

So BTC wins because fiat money fails? Actually, fiat money shouldn't have failed. It's crazy Erdogan who has failed.
I hope Turks will get a better government in the future.

Leaning or depending on cryptos alone is risky because they are not stable but is there a country where they totally depend on cryptos? I guess there aren't and even the el salvador themselves didn't invest all of their funds on bitcoin. The thousands of bitcoin that we see are only a tiny percent of their overall wealth.

Like what? Regulating bitcoin? Or maybe they are planning to ban it soon if they feel that people are totally depending on it. I don't know but I feel what he said there is negative and I have a bad feeling about it. Let's hope I was wrong with this because people on their country are for sure not going to like those new changes.

If the government of Turkey is trying to discourage the usage of bitcoin from their people then it will just lead to the anonymous trading so no records and traces but still people will have their bitcoin meanwhile their local currency will face the hyper inflation with no second thoughts so this has to be tackled smartly by how to make the use of cryptos to stronger the economic crisis is happening there like generating the revenue will help the government so it will reduce lot of their economic burden of government.

After the global economic crisis, what happened was that many citizens of a country began to be interested in bitcoin. starting from the thoughts of those who are looking for solutions to maintain the value of the wealth they have. because some countries have experienced a severe economic crisis and strangely enough in every country that has a high level of economic crisis, that is where people's trust in bitcoin grows and develops. and one of them is a Turkish citizen.

It is a very natural thing because countries with a greater level of progress and a high level of economic crisis, have more opportunities for every citizen to believe in Bitcoin and it makes the growth of Bitcoin use increase, as well as the use of other cryptocurrencies because citizens can easily it's easy to learn it and use it on every thing they can use and they need.

And I think it will be different from a poor country whose country's development rate is still very slow so that the growth rate of the use of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is also hampered even though all citizens are very confident in Bitcoin, but they are hindered by the economic turnaround which is still very little.

Maybe they see that bitcoin offers to keep the value of their wealth while inflation will come in their country so everyone needs to keep their money by investing in things that can provide benefits in the future. People who have money don't want inflation to be affected, so they turn their attention to new things like bitcoin. And even though they may know that the price of bitcoin can go up and down drastically, it doesn't make them afraid that the value of the money will decrease but instead they can hope that the value of the money can also increase if the price of bitcoin will rise in the future. And from there, people's trust in bitcoin will begin to grow and develop as you said.

My opinion is maybe People are risking their money because they think it will be more valuable in the future. and became a major draw on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and had a growing effect on the Turkish economy.

On the other hand, this is considered important because it can make many investors interested in investing in Bitcoin trading and buying. The use of Bitcoin is increasing every day, and this trend will continue as more and more countries learn about this type of currency.

Interest in crypto among Turks, like the rest of the world, has increased over the years. But Turkey’s economic crisis has pushed millions of curious observers to actually sink their savings into Bitcoin, Ethereum and other coins. The new converts aren’t simply drawn to the investment promise of cryptocurrencies, which are prone to wild, volatile price swings. They see virtual currencies as a potential store of value to shield their savings as the lira is roiled by routs that saw the Turkish currency lose more than 40 percent of its value last year alone.

Year after year, Bitcoin and cryptocurrency become the hottest topic attracting businessmen in all countries to adopt this and accept it as a mode of payment. For what happened to Turkey, this is also how it looks like in other countries. It was to see the interest across the world about crypto is wildly increasing as people had seen that they can make money from this and even a jobless person can do. In fact, during the covid-19 crisis, we see a huge incline of crypto investors.

The huge money involvement in cryptocurrency what makes it a hot topic and also the participation of big institutions are also one addition why there are so many people get curious to know more about it. And if Turkey will decide to make it as their legal tender then maybe this is also one deciding factor for other country to make this action to.

maybe you are right. because even in bitcoin has a high risk of decline as well. but in bitcoin they also become hopeful for profit when the bitcoin price starts to rise. it is this hope that can move people to get into bitcoin. And it seems the inflation rate in Turkey is quite high. even seems to have reached the highest inflation in the last 24 years. so it's natural that many Turkish citizens are starting to be interested in crypto and bitcoin.

Not like the rest because the adoption rate on other countries are slower compared to what is showing there by the turks even though crisis such as inflation are also felt globally. Maybe people on turkey is more open minded and willing to try new things even if they know that it can be risky but luckily they are right with their choice.

Many people already proves the positive effect of bitcoin and they encourage more people to do the same thing. I like this kind of mentality better not unlike to the others out there which will only depend on the government and sometimes they blame the government for the difficulties that they are experiencing.

It is good that the Turkey government views crypto as a positive thing, which means they are not against crypto and support the development of crypto in Turkey. Although President Erdogan didn't say whether he supports crypto, he doesn't hate crypto at least. As long as no ban or no negative sentiment from the government, I am optimistic that the interest in Bitcoin or crypto in Turkey will continue to increase day by day. I hope the good situation of crypto/Bitcoin development in Turkey will trigger the growth of crypto businesses in the whole world.

In addition to the hope of gains that can be seen by the citizens of Turkey at this time. They also place Bitcoin as the best choice in terms of investment and also consider it an initial effort to reduce the amount of inflation that is there because eradicating inflation on a very large scale is always difficult for every country including Turkey.
So the Turks have set the very right direction for themselves there at this point by looking at crypto and choosing Bitcoin.