30s Summary

A recent poll by Paribu reveals that Turkish investors are increasingly choosing cryptocurrencies over traditional assets like real estate and stocks. According to the “2024 Cryptocurrency Awareness and Perception Survey” most participants indicated a preference for gold, but cryptocurrencies have overtaken real estate as the preferred investment option. Furthermore, despite a notable increase in crypto awareness, knowledge about blockchain technology remains relatively low. Draw to digital currencies is attributed to quick transactions, easy access, and high potential for returns. Also, growing attention from big companies is supporting this trend.

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According to a recent poll conducted by crypto exchange Paribu, more Turkish investors are ditching traditional investments like houses or stocks for cryptocurrencies. The aim of the survey, “2024 Cryptocurrency Awareness and Perception Survey”, was to provide insights into Turkey’s evolving crypto scene by interviewing 2,002 people familiar with digital currencies and 541 active crypto traders.

The survey looked at how much Turkey knew and thought about digital currencies while also pinpointing what they expected from these digital assets, what motivated them to get involved, and their concerns regarding crypto.

When the survey asked participants what they preferred to invest in, most (56%) said gold was their go-to investment option for earning or saving money. Foreign currencies came in second, with crypto in third place. Meaning, 3 out of 10 investors preferred digital currencies.

A notable finding from the survey was that in 2023, people preferred investing in property instead of digital currencies. However, by 2024, preference for real estate dipped slightly from 30% to 26%, putting digital currencies ahead. Meanwhile, interest in stock exchanges and mutual funds rose from 13% in 2023 to 18% in 2024, but it still wasn’t as popular as real estate.

According to Paribu’s research content manager, Nergis Nurcan Karababa, things that really draw users to digital currencies are quick transactions, easy access, and their high potential for returns. She explained that compared to traditional financial products, digital currencies might see a much higher rate of use, driving more people to take the plunge now in anticipation of more use in the future. Moreover, growing interest from big businesses is supporting this trend.

Interestingly, the survey also found that although pretty much everyone (99% of respondents) had heard about digital currencies, a significant increase from 16% in 2020, knowledge of blockchain technology, the backbone of digital currencies, wasn’t as prevalent. About 72% of respondents weren’t familiar with blockchain. That said, recognition of blockchain tech is on the up; 25% of survey-takers knew about it in 2023, 3% more than in 2022. And of those who did know about it, 67% knew it was used for digital currencies.

Karababa says the reason for this difference in awareness is probably due to how cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology are presented in the public eye, with many seeing cryptocurrencies as an investment opportunity and blockchain as some intricate background tech. She also added that as blockchain use cases outside of digital currencies are still not very common, it makes sense for people to get involved with digital currencies without fully understanding the tech behind it.