Turkey Bans Crypto Payments, Causes Bitcoin to Fall

Earlier this week, Bitcoin price reached its all-time high of over $64,000. It happened a day after Coinbase made its Nasdaq debut on Wednesday. However, on Friday morning, the value of BTC started dropping rapidly. The reason? Turkey’s decision to ban crypto payments.

The story goes that the Turkish Central Bank has decided to ban cryptocurrency transactions, citing lack of regulation, as well as extreme volatility of the crypto market as the reason to do it.

Although it’s still possible to use cryptos in Turkey, the ban will go in force on May 1.

Turkey’s Withdrawal Is a Big Blow for the Crypto Universe

Turkey’s population is almost 84 million and its economy is the world’s 20th-largest when nominal GDP is considered.

With such a strong player removing itself from the crypto universe, it’s no surprise that the value of BTC went down within only a couple of hours after the news came in.

At the moment of writing, the value of BTC is $60,700. It’s a pretty impressive figure, considering that just a year ago, its price was almost 10 times lower.

Still, BTC did achieve a record high only two days ago, when it went over $64,000 for the first time in history.

With big-name institutions becoming crypto-friendly over the last couple of months, it’s almost certain that BTC is not going to fall down much further.

In fact, it seems that everyone agrees that there’s a bright future ahead for the world’s most popular crypto. The question is how bright?

Unfortunately for crypto fans, Turkey might not be the only country to say no to cryptocurrencies. There are a few more that are reportedly working on something similar, most notably India.

India To Ban Cryptos As Well?

Turkey’s withdrawal from the crypto game might be just one in a long series of similar moves. The worst thing is that the world’s second-most-populous country seems to be thinking to do the same.

India is currently working on a new law that will prohibit cryptocurrency trading. According to some reports, Indian lawmakers are planning to go so far as to make crypto training a punishable offense. If someone gets caught buying or selling Bitcoin in India, they will receive a monetary fine if the controversial bill gets passed.

Unfortunately for Indian BTC traders, such a thing seems imminent. The law has already been introduced in a government agenda in January. The only thing that’s left is for the lawmakers to pass the bill.

The reason behind India’s decision to get rid of crypto trading lies in the fact that the South Asian heavyweight is planning to develop its own digital currency.

If (or when) the bill is passed, India will become one of the several countries where Bitcoin is illegal. In addition to Turkey, those countries include Pakistan, Vietnam, Nepal, Morocco, Algeria, and so on.

In Europe, the only country that’s decided to put a ban on cryptos is North Macedonia. In this country’s case, the reason is the criminal activity associated with cryptocurrencies.