Bitcoin Global News (BGN)
August 13, 2018 -- ADVFN Crypto NewsWire -- Deteriorating economic
conditions in Turkey could lead to an outright recession. Bitcoin
exchanges in the Turkey saw 100% or more volume surges briefly as
inflation of the domestic currency, the lira, climbed as high as
20%.
U.S. Trade
Sanctions
President Donald Trump imposed
economic sanctions on the country because President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan has refused to hand over an American preacher that is
jailed in the country. President Trump followed this by further
authorizing steel and aluminum tariffs to be doubled. They are now
20% and 50% respectively. President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, has urged citizens to sell their foreign currencies to
support the lira. The domestic currency is positioned as a way to
“fight a war of independence and the future” for Turkey.
Global
Impact
The situation in Turkey will have
global impact because of the country’s physical location. It is
essentially a buffer between European Union countries, and five
countries which are in ongoing internal conflict. On the Western
side, Turkey borders Greece and Bulgaria, and their other six
bordering countries are Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Armenia, and
Nakhchivan, a territory affiliated with Azerbaijan. Turkey has the
largest standing army in Europe because of this.
Bitcoin
Impact
Data from Turkey’s four largest
cryptocurrency exchanges highlight the benefits of decentralized
currency in these situations.Trading volumes soared on Friday last
week in direct correlation to inflation of the lira. Across the
four exchanges (BTCTurk, Paribu, Koinim, Koineks), average volume
growth was 112%.
BTCTurk is the most active exchange
in the country, and showed the largest volume rise of 166%. Bitcoin
was by far the most traded for cryptocurrency, with Tether and XRP
showing some increased activity. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
could make a move to ban cryptocurrency exchanges to reduce any
further loss to Bitcoin from the lira. However, the market seems to
have stablized. Coming into this week, volumes have stabilized to
their previous values.
In comparison of Bitcoin and the
lira as investments for 2018, BTC has lost 23% against the lira.
however, a longer term look at Bitcoin held from one year ago would
have brought a 223% return of the lira. As the most universal
cryptocurrency, it’s likely that individuals in countries
experiencing extreme inflation will always turn to Bitcoin because
of its consistent resistance to hacks, market leading liquidity and
overall versatility.
By: BGN Editorial Staff
News:
Bitcoin
(BTC)
Turkey
Cryptocurrency