Our Bitcoin Interview with METU Economics Professor Erkan Erdil

CryptoCoin team met for you!

Recently, we conducted an interview with Professor Erkan Erdil, who is working at METU as the Crypto Coin team, on the future of Bitcoin and its adaptation in Turkey.. Without further ado, here is our interview!

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Who is Erkan Erdil and in which fields does he work?

I have been at METU since 1985, I started as a student and studied political science. I read. Afterwards, I did my master’s degree on labor markets from the department of economics.. Afterwards, I continued my doctorate in the Netherlands with the Royal Netherlands Scholarship.. I also did my PhD on labor markets.. Also, I had a doctorate that I left unfinished in Turkey, and I completed it when I returned.. My second PhD is on agricultural economics.. In 2002, I became the Head of Science and Technology Policy Studies Department at the Science and Technology Policy Research Center.. I was the head of the department until 2014, and the director of the research center until August 2017.

I started to work on the labor market academically, but after 2002 I started working with this center
I started working on science and technology policies together. The studies we have done here are mostly regional innovation systems, clusters, innovation measurement.. Apart from this, we tried to contribute to many national and international projects in this process.. In general, we have collaborated with organizations such as the European Commission, the World Bank, the Ministry of Development, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and TÜBİTAK.

So where are the economic developments in our country and the economy in general you see?

When looking at this, you actually have to look this way from 2001. After 2001, there was an economic policy based on a fiscal discipline and it was preserved for a long time.. However, starting from 2015, there have been serious deteriorations in many indicators of the economy, and of course, we have not been able to solve the structural problems much in this fifteen-year period, which we constantly say.. When we look at these problems in general, we could not solve the human capital problems, this is not a problem that can be solved only by opening a university.. Quality is as important as quantity. Unfortunately, we could not create qualified new universities in Turkey.. We were faced with a serious deterioration at the point where we could not solve all these structural problems and gave up on fiscal discipline.. Of course, global and regional political developments also had an impact on this.. We are not in a very good situation at the moment in terms of many indicators.. When we look at all these indicators, such as employment, inflation, current account deficit, we see a deterioration in the last two or three years.

If we come to the point a little more, do you think our people trust cryptocurrencies?

I would like to share an observation with you, . In fact, we can see this through a lot of data.

For example, in terms of social media usage, Turkey is in the top five in most lists.. The spread of the internet or the use of internet banking can also be given as examples.. In fact, I can easily say that it is possible to see the best examples of internet banking in Turkey, perhaps in the world.. Of course, this also has to do with our social-cultural background and our genes.. The effect of a nomadic life on this type of non-conservatism is great and it is also effective on our openness to innovations, but this conservative attitude continues, especially in protecting well-being.. That’s why I think that if we see good examples of this, cryptocurrencies are explained well, public awareness studies are carried out, our people in Turkey will look at it warmly, but at the moment, our people are distant to this issue.. It is not hard to see that the industrialist, businessman or the average citizen takes a distance because our people see crypto as a risky investment.. Of course, risk-taking behavior in risky investments varies from person to person, society to society, city to city or class.. When we look at the class structure of Turkey, I do not think that the working people are ready to take these risks.. If it does, I think the capital sector will take these risks.. Apart from that, will cryptocurrencies spread in our country?. It can spread in line with a demand from the people who are interested in blockchain, that is, we want to do our shopping online with crypto money
, not with a credit card. If the process can evolve in this direction, it can be expanded by our online
stores.. Only then, there may be money that a person on the street or the working class
can use, but this is not something that will happen in a day, of course, it will develop over time.

Do you think Bitcoin can replace fiat-money?

It is a candidate to buy, but it depends on the elimination of the risk concerns I just mentioned.. Currently, Bitcoin is actually a dollar-denominated coin, that is, we are talking about a coin that is somewhat dependent on the fiat-money feature.. If we continue to evaluate it indexed to the dollar, it will not be easy to replace fiat-money.. Bitcoin itself needs to mean something, and that might require some ultimate global regulation.. In centralized currencies, institutions declare to the public that they print money, and there is a return for it, while Bitcoin does not have such a situation.

Can a decentralized currency be accepted in the long run?

If we are going to continue through the capitalist system, if we are going to talk about Bitcoin, a global value, or if we are going to go through a post-capitalist but capitalist system, if the function of money as a medium of exchange will continue, Bitcoin will continue to be an alternative here. even without authority. But it can never replace a dollar or a centralized currency.. If we are not going through a capitalist world, if we are talking about a more utopian world, the situation may be different there.. It’s just a little bit more of our imagination.. If we talk about a capitalist system in the current situation, Bitcoin will survive, but I don’t think it will completely replace the existing central currencies.

Can a currency with a high deflation rate be used?

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Devaluation is actually related to another function of money.

Seeing it as a storage tool rather than an exchange purpose, and this appreciation event will cause Bitcoin to be used as an important store of value.

Currently, it is considered a gold coin, a storage tool rather than a medium of exchange like stocks on the stock market.. This is the property of being a subject storage unit of money.. In this sense, Bitcoin actually fulfills another basic function of money, being a medium of exchange, a storage unit and an accounting unit.. Of course, this gain in value attracts the attention of people and actually leads to the use of money as a storage tool.. This may become a more important function in the future than as a medium of exchange.

Thank you very much for answering our questions, is there anything you would like to add?

In fact, it is necessary to consider Bitcoin as a public policy tool rather than an object that appreciates or depreciates on a free market economy.. Could it be the instrument of a supranational or national policy, so will it make sense on the blockchain? There are questions such as how these should be regulated, by whom, and how security issues will be resolved.. These are of course situations that require public intervention.. When we look at the American economy today, there is a trade volume of 6.4 trillion dollars, while Bitcoin has a very small volume.. If this share increases, a public intervention will inevitably come.
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