TechFlow reported on March 19 that, according to CoinDesk, the Turkish lira (TRY) hit a record low against the U.S. dollar following the sudden arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, a political rival of Erdogan. The lira plunged to nearly 41 TRY per USD, dropping around 10% in a single day. This volatility triggered a sharp surge in trading volume for the Bitcoin-lira (BTC/TRY) pair on Binance.
Data from TradingView shows that between UTC 7:00 and 8:00, the BTC/TRY trading volume on Binance reached 93 bitcoins, marking the highest hourly volume in at least a year. However, after adjusting for lira depreciation, Bitcoin traded at a significant discount in the Turkish market compared to prices on Coinbase. Analysts suggest traders may have been selling BTC/TRY to shift funds into dollar-pegged assets such as the largest stablecoin, USDT.
