Would you believe it if someone tells you that the most advanced countries in the world are the ones that adopt new technologies sooner than the rest? If you did, then you might be wrong with a few things, especially mobile banking and Bitcoin adoption. Let’s take Turkey for example.
ING, the Dutch multinational banking and financial services company recently published a report titled “ING International Survey – The rise of mobile banking and the changing face of payments in the digital age” .The survey was conducted by ING along with Ipsos to understand the behavior of its existing and potential customers. According to the survey, even though the Netherlands is at the forefront when it comes to using mobile banking services, Turkey is where the opportunities lie.
Unlike other European countries, Turkey has the highest adoption rate to mobile banking and mobile based payment apps. Over 65% of the total Internet users in Turkey use mobile banking and payment methods. Most of them have purchased things using mobile payments, Electronics and Computers are the most bought items in that list.
It is also found that people in Turkey are more optimistic than rest of Europe about the future of digital currency. Almost half of the Internet using population in Turkey believe that Bitcoin and other digital currencies will be the future of the economy.
Surprising, in spite of recent disturbances in the region, where the government resorted to Internet censorship by banning applications like Twitter, YouTube etc. the Bitcoin space is left unregulated at the moment. The wide spread acceptance of digital currency has made Turkey the hub of Bitcoin. According to the country’s banking regulatory authority, Bitcoin does not qualify as electronic money and hence, it is not covered by any existing regulations.
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Turkey boasts of having more than 300 merchants across the country who accept Bitcoin payments through BitupCard. BTCTurk, a Turkish exchange that allows people to trade Bitcoin for Turkish Lira. Guess what, Istanbul Ataturk Airport is also the home to the only Bitcoin ATM in the country, where people can exchange money for Bitcoin, PayPal or Qiwi currency.
Apart from a friendly, libertarian government, Turkey seems to possess all the qualities to become the Bitcoin Heaven!