ISTANBUL – Since its peak in November 2021, Bitcoin’s value has fallen about 70 percent. The leading cryptocurrency’s latest tumble reflects a broader trend with digital tokens, which altogether have lost about $2 trillion in the last 10 months. 

Users call this bear market a “crypto winter,” but the negative trend hasn’t dissuaded many traders in Turkey, who make up one of the world’s most active crypto communities, according to a report published in July by the research company Morning Consult.

The study found 54 percent of crypto users in Turkey continue to buy or sell digital currencies at least once a month, second only to Nigeria. Ismail H. Polat, a new media lecturer at Istanbul’s Kadir Has University who tracks the sector, estimates about 10 million Turkish citizens have purchased cryptocurrencies at least once.

Polat said driving factors were “high inflation, of course … and people in Turkey hear the success stories and through word of mouth become eager to buy crypto” but warned inexperienced traders motivated by quick profits often lose money.