Volumes Surge on Turkey's Crypto Exchanges as Lira Tanks

Trading volume on Turkey's cryptocurrency exchanges surged Friday as the country's fiat currency plunged to record lows on economic jitters.

According to CoinMarketCap, volume at Turkish exchanges Paribu, Btcturk and Koinim jumped over the past 24 hours by more than 100 percent each.

The Turkish lira hit an all-time low against the dollar, reflecting global market worries about President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's economic policies, his souring relationship with U.S. president Donald Trump and his government's ability to repay its debts.

Doing little to calm such fears, Erdogan spoke in public appearances Friday of "Economic war" with the U.S. and called on Turkish citizens to exchange any dollars, euros or gold they own for the lira to prop it up, according to media reports.

"I started personally trading crypto 1.5 years ago because of the weakness of the Turkish lira, and fear of the political, and financial, status of the Turkish government. Cryptocurrency makes me feel much safer."

Yavuz told CoinDesk his holdings now consist of 30 percent cryptocurrencies, 20 percent U.S. dollars, and just 10 percent lira.

"Most Turkish crypto traders started in late 2017, or the first quarter of 2018, and they got rekt."

Although Turkish lawmakers are considering the creation of a national cryptocurrency, local exchanges may face more hurdles if politicians start to fear the rise of bitcoin.

Where retail investors often turn to in-person swaps and peer-to-peer exchanges like LocalBitcoins because they are blocked from global platforms by both international sanctions and local censorship, Turkish banks often work with exchanges.

Yavuz said the Turkish government may follow in Iran's footsteps and restrict access if bitcoin exchanges grow too quickly, but warned that if it does so, "It will be the end of our economic growth."