Turks are flocking to the cryptocurrency market as a safe haven against the lira’s plunge. Local demand for USDT surged ahead of the general election in early May and has remained high since Erdogan’s re-election as Turkey’s president sparked market turmoil.
In early June, the lira accounted for 10 percent of the total in the $1.1 trillion-a-day crypto market, after peaking at 18 percent in May and 4 percent in early 2023, according to data from Kaiko. %.
Despite the global regulatory crackdown on the crypto asset class, the lira fared worse, falling below record lows in recent days. The Turkish lira has fallen 11% against the dollar in the past week as the central bank pulled back from intervention in the currency after the election.