The decline in national fiat currencies and a generally unstable economy have helped Bitcoin (BTC) surge to record prices in Turkey and Nigeria, despite securities trading 50% below its peak in U.S. dollar terms.
Data shows that the recent price increase has seen Bitcoin surpass price peaks against the Turkish lira and the Nigerian naira. As of Friday morning, Bitcoin was trading at 9.6 million against the lira (TRY) and 27.4 million against the naira (NGN), pushing the monthly gain in local currency to as much as 30%.
According to CoinGecko, local crypto exchanges traded a total of $40 million worth of Bitcoin in the last 24 hours. This number may not include locals trading on global exchanges like Binance or Coinbase.
The naira has fallen 0.45% in the last month and 45% in the last six months against the US dollar, while the lira has fallen 2.9% in the month and 31% in the last six months.
A study by the IMF shows that inflation rates in Nigeria increased by 25% compared to 2022, while in Turkey they increased by 51%, leading to a massive decline in the purchasing power of TRY and NGN. This has likely boosted demand for Bitcoin, a perceived fiat alternative.
Turkey and Nigeria enjoy relatively high cryptocurrency adoption. A September report by analytics firm Chainalysis ranked Nigeria as the second most active country after India in terms of the number of users participating in decentralized finance (DeFi) and crypto trading activities. Turkey came twelfth on the twenty-country list.
Expectations of a U.S. spot approval of a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) created euphoria among crypto investors last week, driving Bitcoin to weekly gains of 20% and near-record options activity.
Price volatility not seen in recent months appeared to return as Bitcoin surged to $35,000 in a matter of hours earlier this week following the discovery of a ticker linked to BlackRock’s proposed Bitcoin ETF irrational exuberance – who would have believed that? Sign of consent.