Bitcoin Price Hits ATH vs. EGP on Binance Amid Egypt’s Economic Crisis

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Egypt is yet another country that is currently facing severe financial difficulties and rampant inflation, which have hurt the local currency. Thus, the price of bitcoin against EGP has increased significantly lately, surpassing 1,200,000 EGP on Binance, which is a record high.

It should be mentioned that the valuation is not so high on other cryptocurrency exchanges, such as Coinbase.

The Result of Monetary Disruption

Despite Egypt’s gradual GDP growth in recent years, the country’s standard of living has been on a downward trend, with high inflation diminishing the purchasing power of the national currency.

Some experts say the financial problems began after the bloody revolution of 2011, when an estimated two million people took to the streets to protest President Hosni Mubarak’s rule. Egypt entered a turbulent political period in the following years, unable to maintain a stable government until 2014.

The global COVID-19 pandemic and the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine are other factors that have compounded the problems. Egypt depends on imports of wheat and cereals from the Black Sea region and, logically, these deliveries have been interrupted.

The situation of the Egyptian pound is quite worrying since it has depreciated by nearly 40% against the US dollar over the past year. The drop prompted locals to convert their savings into foreign currencies or seek alternative investment options like cryptocurrencies.

The national currency has declined so much that the price of bitcoin measured in EGP has hit an all-time high on some cryptocurrency exchanges, such as Binance and Changelly.

BTC versus EGP, source: Binance

The previous high was in mid-November 2021, when the major cryptocurrency reached its highest valuation against all fiat currencies, including the greenback, at $69,000.

It should be mentioned that other crypto platforms show different prices. Coinbase, for its part, shows that one BTC is currently worth around 950,336 EGP.

Similar situation in other countries

The trends are similar in Turkey and Argentina, where residents also have to deal with record inflation and monetary chaos. Bitcoin is currently worth around 806,000 TRY on Binance, close to the ATH measured a few days ago.

Turkish residents have shown growing interest in digital assets over the years. Some have converted their funds to USDT stablecoins as protection against the endless depreciation of the lira. University professor Ebru Gven and former banker explained in detail:

Investing in stablecoins allows people to retain the value of their wealth; it’s one of the ways to retain some value when inflation is this high. This is the only motivation for people to buy stablecoins right now.

Some Argentines have also lost faith in the peso. The political calamity that has plagued the South American nation for decades, the marked triple-digit inflation rate earlier this year, and many other issues have sparked a huge appetite for crypto. Like the Turks, the Argentinians focused on the world’s largest USDT stablecoin.

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