Ahmet Kenan Tanrikulu, a Turkish lawmaker affiliated with a political party partnering with the country’s ruling party, recently argued for a national cryptocurrency named ‘Turkcoin’, reasoning that the world is “advancing toward a new digital system,” and that Turkey should create its own cryptocurrency and digital system “before it’s too late.”
Tanrikulu, Turkey’s former industry minister and deputy chair of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), according to local news outlet Al Monitor, drafted a 22-page report calling for the government-controlled cryptocurrency.
Details on the report are scarce, as it wasn’t yet released to the public. It reveals that Turkey’s national cryptocurrency, the Turkcoin, would resemble asset-backed securities from Turkey’s Wealth Fund. By using large public assets such as Turkish Airlines, the Istanbul Stock Exchange, and the Ziraat bank, among others, the politician argued the cryptocurrency would have a type of “insurance policy” and would appreciate along with the country’s wealth fund.
Moreover, being backed by these assets would ensure the cryptocurrency isn’t extremely volatile, or too risky of an investment. This would make Turkcoin a low-risk investment with higher returns than sovereign bonds, which would make the cryptocurrency attractive to investors.
The report has an overview of the current cryptocurrency industry in the country, in Turkey, trading and mining cryptocurrencies isn’t illegal, Tanrikulu noted. Yet, the lawmaker called for regulations as “many enterprises accept payments in cryptocurrencies and the number of customers using those currencies is rapidly increasing.”
The report reads:
“The introduction of encouraging regulations after assessing all kinds of risks would enable us to generate revenues from the cryptocurrency market, especially from bitcoin. In this context, the country needs a bitcoin bourse and legislation to regulate this realm.”
Tanrikulu’s report is notable, as not long ago Turkey’s ruling party likened cryptocurrencies to pyramid schemes. The country’s religious leader declared bitcoin “un-Islamic,” although the Turkish Penal Code doesn’t prohibit citizens from using the cryptocurrency.
Turkey isn’t the only country looking to get in on the cryptocurrency space. Iran, as reported, recently rejected bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, while revealing it may soon issue its own cryptocurrency. Venezuela, a country facing one of the deepest recessions ever, also launched an oil-backed token dubbed the “Petro.”
