Turkey has made it to the top of the list of the countries in terms of investment in cryptocurrency with 18 per cent of the country’s investors have purchased digital currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum in the past few years.
The finding was revealed in a survey conducted by Statistca. The survey was conducted on 15,000 individuals.
Notably, the national currency of Turkey, Lira, fell by more than 50 per cent against the US Dollar on the backdrop of the additional sanctions on Turkish economy imposed by the US Government earlier this month which also excluded Turkey from the global banking system operated by SWIFT in Belgium.
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It was reported by Bloomberg that Turkish merchants were losing out massively with their holdings in Lira due to the conflict with the US. This conflict got intense that after Turkey refused to free pastor Andrew Brunson, who was moved to house arrest last month due to health issues.
Local merchants have been not able to cash out their holdings in Lira on the backdrop of existing capital controls and the government’s encouragement to prevent converting the Turkish currency to other reserve currencies like the US Dollars.
Bloomberg quoted a 58-year-old retiree saying, “I have respect for our president, but I can’t sell my gold and foreign currency just because he made that call. I’ve cut down on food for those savings.”
It was also revealed by a jeweller that he lost around 1 million Liras which is worth $350,000 due to the intense conflict between Turkey and the US.
It should be known that if the liquidity of the currency is low and the users are not allowed to exchange it for other assets then the value of the currency could be called into question. This is because, whether a national currency or consensus currency, a currency is as much valuable as its ability to operate as a medium of exchange.
The financial freedom of its resident is being eliminated by the government as it is controlling and dominating over Lira. This has further fueled the demand of cryptocurrencies by local merchants, individuals as well as businesses.
It was reported by CCN that Germany has declared its objective to create a financial system that is independent from the US. The intention of one of the largest economies in Europe is on the backdrop of issues between Iran and the US.
Notably, the US Government has been leveraging the SWIFT banking system for many years to exclude countries like Iran and Turkey from the global financial system.
Heiko Maas, German Foreign Minister in Angela Merkel’s cabinet said, “For that reason it’s essential that we strengthen European autonomy by establishing payment channels that are independent of the US, creating a European Monetary Fund and building up an independent Swift system.”
As a growing number of countries call for the establishment of independent financial systems, the merit of cryptocurrency as an anti-censorship and decentralized financial network will appeal to a larger group of consumers.
