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As we approach the end of 2023, evaluations of cryptocurrency markets have accelerated. Data for the year's first half announced by CoinMarketCap indicated that Turkey ranked third after the USA and India regarding global crypto users. The CEO of the global cryptocurrency exchange shared his views on the Turkish market. 

TURKEY - As the cryptocurrency markets prepare to leave another year behind, the work to publish the crypto report card of 2023 has accelerated. In the semi-annual evaluation published by the crypto analytics platform CoinMarketCap, the main trends that dominate crypto in the first half of 2023 were also included, while the countries that stand out in using crypto money were also included. Turkey ranked third in the world regarding the number of cryptocurrency users, after the USA an India. Volodymyr Nosov, CEO of WhiteBIT, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in Europe and the official crypto partner of Barcelona and Trabzonspor, evaluated the cryptocurrency potential of Turkey. 

Stating that there is a “crypto explosion” in Turkey, Volodymyr Nosov said, “In April 2021, the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) banned the direct and indirect use of digital assets in product and service payments. In the following period, authorities changed their attitude towards cryptocurrencies with a more positive perspective. Although it's only been two years since these developments, the Turkish market has made significant progress in terms of crypto.”

Revenues in the local market will exceed 101 million USD by the end of 2023

In the report, CoinMarketCap revealed that the global cryptocurrency market size reached 1.17 trillion USD at the end of the second quarter of 2023. Pointing out that this situation indicates a 48% increase since the beginning of the year, WhiteBIT CEO Volodymyr Nosov said, “It was predicted that the cryptocurrency markets would completely disappear in 2022 due to the bankruptcy of a well-known crypto exchange. Despite this, markets recovered steadily. The market, which has overcome the stock calmly, continues to grow. According to Statista data, revenue in the local cryptocurrency market in Turkey is expected to reach 101.2 million USD by the end of the year. All of this is not just a result of high inflation in Turkey but also due to Turkish investors and even authorities being aware of the fundamental value, uniqueness, universality and reliability of blockchain technology. For example, the CBRT continues to work for Digital Lira by following global trends. “It is possible to speak optimistically about the future”, he mentioned. 

“Turkish youth see Bitcoin as the new gold”

Volodymyr Nosov, who also shared his views on the latest developments in Bitcoin in his evaluations of the Turkish cryptocurrency market, said: “Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency in terms of market value, reached the level of 30,000 USD on June 30th and has gained an 80% increase in value since the beginning of 2023. On the one hand, there are Bitcoin-based exchange-traded fund (Bitcoin ETF) applications of traditional fund managers such as BlackRock, and on the other hand, there are crypto-supporting attitudes of countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Nigeria, and Bitcoin is counting the days for its halving event, which occurs every four years. Optimists say that under certain conditions, the price of Bitcoin could reach up to 100,000 USD next year. The young generation, with high technological awareness and financial literacy, sees Bitcoin as digital gold, especially in Turkey. Young investors choose to invest in Bitcoin as digital gold, foreign currency securities. All of this supports the development of the cryptocurrency market both in the Turkish market and globally.”

“Turkey can turn into a crypto centre”

Arguing that there is a sufficient precondition for Turkey to become a crypto centre, WhiteBIT CEO Volodymyr Nosov concluded his evaluations with the following statements, “Authorities in Turkey continue their work to determine the legislation, as WhiteBIT, which successfully passes Hacken.io cyber security checks regularly and maintains its leadership with the highest AAA level in the CER.live rating, we believe the that the decision made by the authorities will be decisive in the development of the crypto market. If Turkey can agree on common principles that will protect the interests of all stakeholders while regulating the digital asset market, we have full faith that users can completely flood the country with crypto investments.”

In our journey, which started in Ukraine in 2018 and quickly turned us into one of Europe’s largest centralised crypto exchanges, we see Turkey as a very important market for exactly these reasons. As WhiteBIT, which offers more than 350 trading pairs, more than 270 digital assets and hosts the highest transaction volume of 2.5 billion dollars daily, we will continue to work and cooperate to develop the crypto ecosystem in Turkey.