Originally published on January 26 2023 and updated in October 2023 and February 2026.
Summary
- Crypto usage has risen significantly as Turks try to navigate the country’s economic challenges, including volatility in the fiat currency, the lira.
- Turkey’s government placed a partial ban on crypto usage, with further action taken towards the end of 2025, and yet, the number of crypto users continues to rise.
- The population is young and interested in ‘borderless’ banking and investing, and for some, crypto represents freedom from government policy.
- Check out more CCI resources and examples on the Crypto In Action collection page.
Overview
In recent years, Turkey’s population has turned to crypto in an attempt to ride out economic problems. Turkey has witnessed high inflation and currency depreciation, a situation that a devastating earthquake in 2023 exacerbated. Since 2023, the authorities have been working to enact a comprehensive economic plan, which has prompted GDP growth of 3.2% in 2024, anticipated growth of 3.1% in 2025, and inflation registering 30.9% in December 2025.
This followed several years of rampant inflation, where the rate registered 85.5% at its highest (according to official figures) in October 2022, although one study suggested it rose to 160%. At the same time, the lira fell in value, registering a 40% fall against the dollar during 2021 and 60% between 2021 and 2023. This served to heavily erode the value of real wages.
Such volatility created the right conditions for crypto adoption. And yet, Turkey is not the most fertile market for this development. In 2017, the country’s Directorate of Religious Affairs said that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were not permissible in Islam. April 2021 saw the collapse of two exchanges, Thodex and Vebitcoin, and the disappearance of Thodex’s owner. Following this, the central bank banned the use of cryptocurrencies to buy goods and services although trading was permitted.
Crypto’s growth in Turkey
However, this doesn’t appear to have dulled interest in, or usage of, crypto, and a number of factors are feeding into the sector’s growth in Turkey. In the 2025 index, Turkey ranked 14th globally for crypto adoption. The country is leading the MENA region in terms of crypto activity; as of December 2024, overall crypto transaction volumes reached more than $60 billion, rising to $200 billion annually.
As of 2024, almost 20% of the population owned digital assets, which is the third-highest rate globally. Digital asset awareness is high, registering 99%.
Typically, the Turks have relied on foreign currency to protect their purchasing power, but even the dollar has proven inadequate in the face of high inflation rates. According to figures from 2025, the average salary for Turkey is €873.
Many are disillusioned with government policy, and don’t trust that the authorities can find workable solutions to the country’s economic problems. In this respect, it helps that the median age in Turkey is 33; reports indicate the Millennial mindset is attuned to technology, more open to digital finance, and looking for alternatives to traditional banking.
It’s not just trading that is proving attractive; the number of crypto enterprises is growing rapidly, with crypto jobs offering payment in other currencies or stablecoins, as well as often a different way of working, free of the usual, more formal corporate constraints. For startups, crypto’s decentralized nature gives them access to global investors, making developing a company a possibility in an otherwise inhospitable economic climate.
Interest in crypto has shown no signs of diminishing. The KuCoin Understanding Crypto Users report revealed an increase from 40% in November 2021 to 52% in May 2023, with a focus on using crypto as a hedge against inflation. Men still make up the majority of investors, but the participation of women, particularly younger women, is rising. In terms of usage, 58% are looking to create long-term wealth, 37% to preserve the value of assets, 25% to diversify their investment portfolios, 34% for quick transactions and 17% for quick profits. Bitcoin remains the most popular cryptocurrency, used by 71% of Turkish crypto investors.
Cracking down on financial crime
With the explosion in adoption have come crypto security problems. In line with recommendations from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), moves are under way to crack down on financial crimes, such as money laundering. The FATF had Turkey on its grey list between 2021 and 2024 because of problems with its anti-money laundering standards. In December 2024, amendments were made to AML legislation, with measures related to crypto asset service providers.
Three months later, the authorities unveiled a new set of crypto regulations and put the Capital Markets Board (CMB) in control of the sector. The regulations set out strict criteria for Crypto Asset Service Providers (CASPs), including compliance measures and a requirement for user crypto assets to be insured.. In October 2025, the government announced that it was preparing a draft bill that would give the country’s financial regulator the power to freeze crypto accounts involved in illicit dealings.
In February 2026, it emerged that Tether had frozen more than half a billion dollars in crypto at the authorities’ request. The funds were reportedly tied to an alleged illicit online betting and money-laundering operation.
Outlook
What crypto’s future looks like in large part depends on how the government regulates the industry. On one hand, regulation could be a boon, particularly in addressing the security issues that have emerged. Globally, regulators are struggling to keep up with the rapidly developing crypto sector. On the other hand, if regulators either use a heavy hand or simply get the legislation wrong because they don’t understand the market and how it works, crypto’s development in Turkey could be hindered.
The president initially took a relatively benign approach, offering advice and suggesting that he wanted Turkey to become a producer (rather than a consumer) in the digital assets world, although what this looks like is unclear. In 2024, however, he was quoted as saying: “We have absolutely no intention of embracing cryptocurrencies.”
