Bitcoin price quoted in United States dollars has been suffering from a sharp and sudden downtrend after setting a new all-time high in November. But when quoted in Turkish lira, the top cryptocurrency kept on climbing in November and has never looked back.
The result? A shocking cryptocurrency price chart you simply have to see to believe. We’ll also explain the background behind the devastating downtrend in TRYUSD.
BTCTRY: Bitcoin Makes A Bullish Bet Against Struggling Currencies
All throughout the history of Bitcoin price action, after setting a higher high, the notoriously volatile cryptocurrency would blast off to a cycle climax. But the recent macro concerns around the Federal Reserve’s plans to raise rates put any bullish momentum on pause.
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Instead of new highs in BTCUSD, the top crypto asset by market cap has fallen by 38% or around $20,000 per coin. However, crypto assets don’t only trade against the dollar, much like BTC can trade against altcoins like ETH.
Bitcoin trading against the lira looks a lot different than the dollar | Source: BTCTRY on TradingView.com
Bitcoin can be quoted in the euro, yen, or in the case of the chart above, the Turkish lira. On the BTCTRY trading pair, after the all-time high was breached in early November, the bullish trend has yet to take a breather – let alone the steep correction seen in USD terms.
Behind The Turkish Lira Plunge, An Omen For The Dollar?
The flight to the dollar caused by the mere mention of rate hikes has decimated assets. In Turkey, the opposite is happening. Under president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey’s central bank has cut interest rates by a full percentage point five times since September, sending the nation’s currency into a free fall.
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During this time frame, the lira has fallen 50% against the dollar. Inflation in the country has also increased by 21%. Central banks in Turkey have attempted to intervene several times without success, selling off the country’s reserve of USD.
The lira has been in free fall against USD | Source: TRYUSD on TradingView.com
In response to inflation concerns, Erdoğan has raised the minimum wage by 50%, which Marek Drimal at Société Générale claims “will fuel inflation pressures further, together with the cumulative impact of the lira’s weakness”.
Additional, unspecified measures are also promised. But will they work? The lira is an example of what happens when there are no more levers left to pull. The United States Federal Reserve has a lot more shock and awe left in its war chest, but even it is struggling to balance markets, inflation, and a currency meltdown.
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Featured image from iStockPhoto, Charts from TradingView.com