Turks turn to Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether as lira plummets

Amid massive economic uncertainty and opposition to a solution, the Turkish lira (TRY) plunged again, and the country’s citizens turned to Google to explore Bitcoin (BTC) and other crypto assets.

Looking at interest in “Bitcoin” in Turkey over the past 7 days, we see that it surged sharply on March 21, from a value of just £17 to a peak in popularity and a peak value of £100 in a week, before falling again.

Compared to BTC, Ethereum (ETH), and the most popular stablecoin, tether (USDT) recorded a value of 13 and 6, respectively, on March 21. It can be noticed that the three values jump and drop at similar or the same time, but the interest varies widely for each person. On average over the past week, BTC has averaged 36, ETH is 7 and USDT is 1.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Saturday sacked the country's central bank chief, Naci Agbal, the third person to quit the country in less than two years, the BBC reported. role person. The Turkish lira plunged 14% at a time when crypto interest was on the rise, and Erdogan’s move reportedly came as a rather surprising move that shocked local and foreign investors.

According to the article, Agbal, who was appointed in November, decided to raise interest rates to fight inflation, while the Turkish lira (TRY) jumped last week. Turkey's central bank's recent monetary policy has been praised at home and abroad, while the lira was at one point the best-performing emerging market currency in 2021. His move "has boosted the lira by 18% against the dollar. It won praise from investors.

Turks turn to Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether as lira plummets

Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at currency exchange firm OANDA, was quoted as saying, "Erdonomics [Erdoğan's economics] is based on the basic premise that rising interest rates lead to higher inflation, a theory that runs counter to traditional economic theory around the world."

Some believe Erdogan's move also comes at a very bad time for Turkey's economy.

Turkey chose the worst time to fire its central bank chief. Erdogan ousted hawkish governor Agbar, who is the new governor to replace him… https://t.co/1xEPMvOZzZ
-Holger zschaeepitz (@schuldenehner)