One of Turkey’s initiatives in the field of innovation adoption is active work in the field of blockchain technology. However, in relation to cryptocurrencies, the government of the country has chosen the exact opposite course.
On the eve, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that government agencies have no reason to support the adoption of cryptocurrencies. Moreover, according to him, Turkey «is at war with the crypt. «
Earlier, the President of Turkey did not comment on the topic of cryptocurrencies, but the country came to the attention of fans of digital assets. In particular, this happened in April 2021, when two large crypto exchanges closed in Turkey. We are talking about Vebitcoin, which stopped working due to financial difficulties. Before her, Thodex went offline, whose creators, among other things, mentioned cyberattacks as problems for work.
Who doesn’t like cryptocurrencies
Last week, Erdogan attended an event in the Turkish city of Mersin, during which he shared answers to youth questions. One of the guests asked the president a question about the digital lyre project in the country and the progress of its adoption by the central bank. He also inquired about Erdogan’s opinion on the cryptocurrency industry in general.
To this the author of the question received the following answer from the President. Cointelegraph quoted him .
We have absolutely no intention of accepting cryptocurrencies. On the other hand, we are waging a separate war against them. We would never support a cryptocurrency approval strategy because we are moving forward with our own currency.
Thus, Erdogan made it clear that he considers decentralized digital assets to be aliens. This position is understandable, since cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum operate without control from the central banks of individual countries. However, in terms of ownership, blockchains of different cryptocurrencies can in fact be called common, since everyone can join the life of the digital asset network. He can just keep coins in his wallet, or use protocols from the field of decentralized finance, vote on changes in the work of projects, or keep the blockchain operational by mining or staking.
According to sources, Turkey first announced its intention to create blockchain infrastructure in the country back in 2019. Since then, many local government officials have begun to advocate for developments in central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
As you can see, Bitcoin and altcoins have not yet found a place for themselves among the future initiatives of the state. Most likely, the matter is in the great instability of digital assets, which are viewed by Turkish financial regulators as a threat to the national economy.
As an example, we can recall yesterday’s behavior of Bitcoin, which collapsed up to 40 thousand dollars. Moreover, the drawdown was traditionally noticeable both in the pockets of investors and in the general market as a whole.
Bitcoin price hourly chart
But in El Salvador, the situation is completely different. Recall that this country on September 7 made Bitcoin an official means of payment on its territory. In parallel with this, the government of El Salvador began buying BTC and the day before announced the addition of another 150 BTC to the budget.
Now cryptocurrency investments of local authorities reach 700 bitcoins for the entire time of adoption, Cointelegraph reports .
Statement by President Salvador Nayyib Bukele to buy 150 BTC
The funny thing is that in the tweet Bukele used the terminology of cryptocurrency investors. He said that «it will be impossible to beat you if you buy back the deep», that is, you buy cryptocurrencies on a market crash. In addition, Nayib noted that this is not a financial recommendation, but a «presidential one.»
Presidential advice 🇸🇻
– Nayib Bukele 🇸🇻(@nayibbukele) September 20, 2021
We believe that such a huge contrast in the perception of cryptocurrencies between governments of different countries once again reminds of how early in the development of digital assets. And although Bitcoin has existed since 2009, it was really actively considered as an investment tool in the summer of 2020, when MicroStrategy invested $ 250 million to acquire BTC. Bitcoin became El Salvador’s legal tender this year, but it is still an early stage in the popularization of digital assets. So then you must surely wait for great results.
