Bitcoin searches in Turkey spike 566% after Turkish lira drops 14%

Google searches for Bitcoin (BTC) emanating from Turkey exploded in the past 24 hours, after the value of the Turkish lira dropped 14% following the firing of a central bank governor.

According to data from Google Trends, the number of searches for Bitcoin spiked 566% in the hours immediately following news of the lira’s demise.

The lira’s value dropped 14% in a flash dip after Turkey's President Erdogan fired the governor of the country’s central bank. Former governor Naci Agbal had been credited with pulling the lira out of historic lows, partly by raising interest rates to fight inflation. His abrupt removal was said to have shocked domestic and foreign investors, reports BBC News.

The Turkish lira regained a fifth of its value against the U.S. dollar since the beginning of 2021 alone. The recent 14% plunge was triggered by concerns that the progress made by Naci Agbal could be undone by the appointment of the new governor, Şahap Kavcıoğlu, a banker and politician who is said to oppose the use of high interest rates to fight inflation.

The uptick in the number of Bitcoin searches by Turkish citizens is an all-time high to date, representing almost double the number of searches recorded during the bull run of 2017–2018.

It’s not just Turkish citizens who are taking a refreshed look at cryptocurrencies. At the beginning of March, Turkey’s Ministry of Treasury and Finance announced that it would work with the central bank in conjunction with regulatory bodies in order to lay down clear guidelines concerning the use of crypto.

“We share the rising concerns about crypto with the rest of the world. The developments (on crypto around the world) and the state of crypto in Turkey are closely monitored by our ministry,” announced the ministry at the time.