Turkey tech chief no longer negative towards ‘risky’ digital currencies

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Turkey could soon have a regulatory framework for the digital currency industry, one of the country’s top leaders has revealed. The minister further stated that he has warmed up to digital currencies, describing them as “effective for world trade.”

Mustafa Varank, the Minister for Industry and Technology, spoke in a recent interview with Bloomberg HT. He revealed that he has been anti-Bitcoin for years now, viewing it as just a tool for criminals. However, in recent months, this stance has changed.

“I was much more negative about cryptocurrencies. I did not believe that this business could be very involved in world trade. I see that they are very active today,” he told the outlet.

The minister disclosed that the Turkish government is endeavoring to introduce regulations to the nascent industry. He believes that if left unsupervised, the digital currency industry “is a very suitable area for fraud.”

He added, “We will not leave the risky cryptocurrency space unsupervised. At the point we have reached today, we are talking about an area that is very uncontrolled, has great risks, and where fraud is a possibility.”

Varank’s remarks come barely a week since Turkey’s Ministry of Treasury and Finance revealed it’s working towards regulating the industry. The ministry is working with the central bank and the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency on the regulations.

Varank believes that all developed economies will eventually regulate digital currencies. Currently, some have already started formulating these regulations, even though they are in the very early stages. “In the coming days, both western countries and other world states will definitely start to introduce regulations regarding this area.”

The minister observed that Turkish investors “love risk.” This has been one of the biggest appeals of digital currencies, he believes. While it has its upsides, this appetite for risky high-yield investments also has its drawbacks. One of them is the rise of scams targeting Turkish investors.

A few years back, two scammers launched Turcoin, a token they claimed was the Turkey’s national digital currency. As CoinGeek reported at the time, the scammers managed to raise 1 billion Turkish lira ($133 million). The project was a pyramid scheme in which existing investors earned more money when they brought in new investors. It also promised a guaranteed monthly income of $52 for a minimum investment of $315. The scammers fled the country when their scam got exposed.

Varank, however, is still warning people about dealing with digital currencies. He observed that the market is still subject to manipulation by a few high-ranking individuals. He singled out Elon Musk as one of those with great influence over the markets.

“With one tweet, Elon Musk can suddenly turn the market upside down,” Varank stated.

Musk, the world’s second-richest man, has become notorious for his market-moving tweets. He usually targets the meme token Dogecoin as well as BTC. His company Tesla bought $1.5 billion worth of BTC recently as well. The SpaceX founder would, however, hate Bitcoin SV.

See also: CoinGeek Live panel, Digital Currency & Global Compliance: Tools & Tips for Exchanges, Wallets & Other Service Providers