Turkey To Send Crypto Bill To The Parliament As Lira Surges 20%

The President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has announced that the country’s crypto bill is set to be sent to the national assembly with immediate effect. The President announced to reporters during a Friday press conference in Istanbul.

While President Erdoğan didn’t let many details slip this time, he said:

“We will take a step right away and send [the draft bill] to the parliament”

Back in September, the government revealed its serious reservations about crypto, saying it “has no intention of embracing cryptocurrencies.”

Erdoğan had used that opportunity to reassure his countrymen that Turkey would continue working on its identifiable digital currency that has its own identity.” And despite blowing hot on the matter, there have been numerous indications to suggest that there would be no outright ban on crypto.

Crypto Gaining Massive Popularity In Turkey As Lira Hits Record Lows

Even with Turkey’s native currency — the lira, hitting all-time lows against the U.S dollar earlier in the year, and inflation also on the upward trend, the popularity of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have continued to soar impressively. Probably because these users consider cryptocurrencies as a kind of shield from those challenges previously mentioned.

But the wide adoption of cryptocurrencies is presently causing a lot of problems for Erdogan, who has been looking to strengthen the lira to help improve Turkey’s not-so-good economy.

Whereas, despite the central bank of Turkey banning crypto payments in April, it is not illegal to own or hold crypto in the country.

The legal status was confirmed when the governor of the central bank of Turkey, Şahap Kavcıoğlu noted at the time that crypto regulations were being compiled by the country’s Treasury and Finance Ministry with no intentions to outrightly ban crypto.

Meanwhile, in related news, the lira surged nearly 20% on Tuesday, barely 24 hours after Erdogan announced measures to protect lira deposits.