Survey Finds Turkey Crypto Usage Increased YoY, But Trust in Industry Has Fallen

The rate of people in Turkey who completed transactions with cryptocurrency is up 11 times on year, according to data from cryptocurrency trading platform Paribu. 

The previous rate of crypto usage was 0.7% last year, up 1000% to 7.7% as of this year, the data shows in comparison to Paribu’s previously conducted survey from 2020. 

“In a year, the interest in crypto money has increased significantly,” said Paribu CEO Yasin Oral, in response to the results. “Both the communication activities of the platforms and the activity in cryptocurrencies had an impact on this. We see that Turkey has the potential to play a leading role in cryptocurrencies.” 

The data results of the “Crypto Money Awareness and Perception Research-2021,” which was conducted by Akademetre Research Company on behalf of Paribu, showed substantial growth in the Middle Eastern country’s crypto industry. 

While interest is on the rise, in April, the Turkish government announced it would ban payments in bitcoin and citizens could own cryptocurrencies, but not use them, Blockworks previously reported. Digital asset exchanges were also banned from operating in the country. 

While total crypto transactions were up on the year, the study also showed the number of women who trade cryptocurrencies also increased and doubled from 20% last year to 40% as of this year. 

Bitcoin is the most preferred cryptocurrency by users in Turkey with 7 out of 10 market participants saying they trade BTC, compared to ether, which only 2 out of every 10 people trade, the data showed. 

The research also concluded that satisfaction across generations differed. Millennials born from 1981 to 1996 were the most satisfied at 76.2%, followed by Generation X, those born from 1965 to 1980, with 75.9% and Generation Z, 1997 to 2012 with 58.3%. 

However, the survey said trust in the crypto industry has fallen in the country from 34.2% as of last year to 25.3% this year, due various cryptocurrency bans by the Turkish government. 

Volatility and risk are the two main reasons for the ban, according to the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, which said that cryptocurrencies are not subject to regulation or supervision by a central regulatory authority, wallets can be stolen, transactions are irrevocable, and they may be used for illegal actions due to their anonymous structure.

Turkish interest in bitcoin also grew as citizens feared the country could be heading for another currency crisis, Blockworks also previously reported. 

As a result of this, some platforms caused “user grievances” in April, Oral said and the ban reflected negatively on the research results. Regardless, interest in cryptocurrency continues to rise in Turkey and in order to gain full trust there needs to be further regulation, Oral said.