- Fears of a complete crypto ban in Turkey have been calmed after a TV appearance by central bank governor Şahap Kavacıoğlu
- Kavacıoğlu said that the government had “no intention” of banning cryptocurrencies, although reforms were imminent
- Turks have been flocking to crypto to protect themselves from a rapidly inflating lira
Fears of a complete ban on cryptocurrencies in Turkey have been allayed after the governor of Turkey’s central bank said that the finance ministry has no plans to end the crypto industry in the country. Şahap Kavacıoğlu told the state-run TRT channel that the department had “no interest” in banning cryptocurrency in the country, although sweeping regulations would be announced within two weeks with the aim of preventing money from leaving the country.
— Merkez Bankası (@Merkez_Bankasi) April 23, 2021
“No Intention” of Turkish Crypto Ban
Talk of a crypto ban in Turkey had been touted as being partly responsible for the recent crash in the Bitcoin price from $65,000 to $46,000, although in retrospect how much of an impact it actually had is debatable. It was suggested, without verifiable sources it must be added, that the Turkish government had grown alarmed at the rate at which its citizens were turning to cryptocurrency following the rapid inflation of the Turkish lira and the way in which the president, Tayyip Erdoğan, is dealing with the situation.
It seems that fears of a total Turkish crypto ban arose last week following the finance ministry banning payment processors in Turkey from handling crypto, but the fact that banks have been unaffected by the ban illustrates that the ruling isn’t comprehensive.
Regulations Will Aim to Keep Crypto in the Country
Appearing on TRT, Kavacıoğlu calmed the fears of those in the cryptocurrency industry as well as investors by stating that, “You can’t resolve anything simply by banning crypto, and we have no intention of doing so.” Admitting that the rate at which money was leaving the country through cryptocurrency was “disturbingly high”, despite not having any facts on hand to back up his claim, Kavacıoğlu said that regulations were imminent as the government aims to curb what it sees as the most troublesome aspects of cryptocurrencies.
No details were given about what form these regulations would take except that they would clarify the legal definition of digital assets and govern how institutions should store the cryptocurrency in their possession. While a crypto ban is obviously the last thing that any investor wants to see, overly harsh regulations can be just as damaging.
