Erdoğan says Turkey is waging a separate war against cryptocurrencies

Turkish authorities and the central bank have no problem with openness to cryptocurrencies; on the contrary, they are ‘waging a separate war and struggle’ against them. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said this at a meeting with students, BloombergHT reports.

According to him, the country will not facilitate the spread of private digital assets, and will continue to use its own currency. He described the latter as part of the national identity.

The remarks followed a question about a platform for the digital lira, a memorandum on its creation which was signed by the central bank and three domestic research and technology companies.

Earlier it was anticipated that the testing of the central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the country would begin in the second half of this year.

In 2021 the Turkish central bank banned the use of cryptocurrencies as a means of payment. The regulator subjected Bitcoin to criticism for risks related to environmental impact, volatility, anonymity, irreversibility of transactions and the lack of oversight and supervision.

In July, Turkey completed work on a bill regulating cryptocurrencies.

Authorities tightened trading-platform requirements for digital assets after incidents involving the Bitcoin exchanges Thodex and Vebitcoin.

user verification has become mandatory, as well as the to inform the regulator of transactions above 10,000 (~$1,150).