BTSE, a financial technology exchange, announced this Monday that it has added the digital Lira, the Turkish BiLira (TRYB), at a time when Turkey’s economy is struggling, sending its currency to its lowest level against the United States dollar earlier this month.
The TRYB is backed by the Turkish Lira (TRY), which, on the 7th of May, fell to a record low against the USD, reaching 7.49 to the dollar, which is lower than its previous record low of 7.236.
On BTSE, a British Virgin Islands-based crypto exchange, the TRYB is the 19th currency available via the exchange, joining a mix of instant fiats, Cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. The digital Lira was introduced to try and support Turkey respond to times of financial crisis.
Jonathan Leong, CEO of BTSE
Commenting on the announcement, Jonathan Leong, CEO and Co-Founder of BTSE said in the statement: “Listing the TRYB stablecoin enables Turkish users to facilitate lower fees via remittances, as well as instantaneous settlement times for TRYB users. We are excited that through this collaboration with BiLira, we are able to increase the overall accessibility of global assets and trading options for users in Turkey.”
Struggles of the Turkish Lira
As Finance Magnates reported, Turkey’s currency has been struggling as rising inflation, slow economic growth, and growing unemployment have been weighing heavily on the country, in addition to extra pressures from the COVID-19 global pandemic.
Since Turkey’s BDDK bank regulator lifted the trading ban imposed earlier in the month on UBS, Citigroup, and BNP Paribas, the TRY has made up some ground against the USD. Nonetheless, analysts expect that the currency will weaken further.
“Turkish citizens are curious to analyse new ways to innovate within the Blockchain space – with existing applications in trading, education, remittances, online gaming, sports and more. Turkey is the epicentre of change, with regulators, public and private organizations experimenting with cryptocurrencies,” added Vidal Artditi, COO of BiLira in the statement.
