In the world of currencies, governments have long stood on the principal that their financial strength ebbs and flows on the value of their home money. This become highly evident in the 20th century with central bank reliance on gold. Then it broke away in the early 1970s and became hitched to GDP, or domestic economic growth. In any case, if you ever want to get government attention quickly, develop something that steers people away from usage of the natural currency to a viable alternative. Obviously, crypto has become a potential contender for that possibility, which has national government scrambling to regulate, or effectively keep the genie in the bottle. 

In the case of Turkey, the country has a long history or ups and downs, including internal instability. Banking-wise, Turkey is a very young country, essentially re-established at the beginning of the 20th after World War I and the fall of the last of the Ottoman State in 1922. From 1950 to 1980, the country really came into its own, however, with industrialization. Based on a combination of import protectionism while heavily overhauling the country's institutions, Turkey was on a multi-decade chase to become the most eastern part of the EU. That didn't materialize, but in 1980 the country went through another reflection point, and it began to fully engage with the global market.

Significant inflows with bond financing as well as reducing internal deficit gave the country's establishment a leg up, and Turkey became a powerhouse. However, you can only borrow so long before it catches up with you. That's essentially what occurred in the mid-1990s. Political instability between the country's central bank and government caused the house of cards to collapse, and the country went hat in hand to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for help.

Turkey boomed again in the 2000s, only to be clobbered in the knees by the 2009 Recession, which had global ramifications but was, ironically, started by real estate speculation in the U.S. Then, the country recovered and moved upward again in 2018 only to be hobbled yet again by COVID. The pattern then became apparent; high fluctuation and big drops were going to be the norm for the country every few years. That doesn't speak well for stability, much less long-term growth, and it triggers social instability, an instance of which became vivid in 2016 with an attempted coup. So, it's no surprise then that many in Turkey, particularly younger citizens with an interest in the future, began to seek out alternatives for value protection, namely crypto. 

Inflation has been a primary driver for seeking alternatives. It's bad enough when your home country currency begins to be worth less and less. It's quite another when even a foreign country currency that has been the primary alternative for savings loses to inflation as well (i.e. the U.S. dollar). So, as Bitcoin started its astronomical rise to $60,000 a coin in 2020, Turkish people perked up and paid attention. Now, out of the 1 of 2 involved in crypto, more than two-thirds hold their funds in BTC specifically. And, especially for newer investors, it may be a good time for Turkey to hedge into BTC if the crypto original is going to replay it's performance in the future.

Note however, the survey data was limited to 550 respondents, which seems to be a microcosm of the country and far from a good sample.

That said, with a current pricing at the mid $20,000s, there's a lot of room to grow for Turkey financially. While their banks won't appreciate the erosion of the Lira, it's an interesting study in how the global economy is changing its face faster than governments can keep up.