Paribu has released the results of the 2026 Crypto Awareness and Perception Survey, prepared with FutureBright Group. Now in its seventh edition, the survey has been run every year since 2020 to track how people in Türkiye see and use crypto. The 2026 survey was conducted online in July and August 2026 among 1,999 people aged 18 to 55 across 12 regions of Türkiye.
The survey went into the field as crypto markets came out of a difficult first half. The Paribu Fear & Greed Index had spent most of those six months in extreme fear, and Bitcoin hit its lowest level of 2026 on 1 July, the day fieldwork began. Even so, the results show that crypto investors stayed in the market and broadened their portfolios.
AI moves into investment decisions
People researching crypto turn to platforms and social media in equal measure (53% each), and one in three uses AI. AI is also shaping decisions. More than half of traders (53%) use it often or always when deciding on investments, and among daily traders the figure is 87%. 43% of traders would let an AI assistant manage their crypto portfolio, compared with 37% of all respondents.
More people trade crypto, and more of them trust it
Crypto trading has grown every year since the survey began. Just 1% of people traded crypto in 2020. That rose to 25% in 2023, 31% in 2025 and 37% this year. Seven in ten traders (71%) find trading easy, and among daily traders the figure is 94%.
Trust is growing with use. Nearly half of respondents (46%) now see crypto as a trustworthy investment, up from 42%. The figure rises to 76% among traders and 91% among daily traders. Among people who don’t trade, the share who say lack of trust holds them back fell from 47% to 42%.
Crypto investors hold more types of investment
Gold is still the most popular investment in Türkiye at 57%, followed by foreign currency at 36% and crypto at 33%. Among people who trade crypto, crypto comes first at 69%. Crypto investors hold an average of 2.7 types of investment, against 1.5 for investors who don’t trade crypto. Only one in ten keeps everything in crypto. Gold is the most common companion at 57%, followed by foreign currency at 32% and stocks and funds at 27%.
The past year shows the same pattern. More than half of crypto investors (56%) moved money from crypto into another asset, most often gold (26%), stocks (19%) or Turkish lira deposits (9%). Nearly half of them (47%) pointed to the falling market, uncertainty and volatility, and about two in five were taking profits. Crypto still came first for 60% of crypto investors over the year, which suggests it has become a fixture in their portfolios.
Motivations are just as varied. Traders give an average of 2.8 reasons for investing in crypto, and only 7% are in it purely for returns. Fewer traders now describe crypto as a long-term investment, down from 75% to 61%. This points to investors who manage crypto alongside their other holdings and rebalance as the market moves.
Bitcoin is now the first word for crypto
Almost everyone surveyed (99.5%) has heard of Bitcoin. When asked what comes to mind with “cryptocurrency”, 30% now name Bitcoin first, up from 25%. For the first time, Bitcoin comes ahead of “virtual/digital money”. Seven in ten traders trade Bitcoin, and 59% of them hold it as an investment, compared with 48% for Ethereum, 33% for Dogecoin and 28% for Shiba Inu.
Traders’ baskets are getting bigger, with a third (32%) now trading three or more crypto assets. Over the past year, Solana trading rose from 11% to 18%, Shiba Inu from 11% to 16% and USDC from 6% to 13%. Stablecoins are better known too. Awareness of USDT rose from 26% to 31%, and awareness of USDC from 23% to 26%.
For half of respondents, a platform’s home country matters
Half of respondents now say it matters whether a platform is based in Türkiye or abroad, up from 40%. Among traders the figure reaches 69%. Three in four of those who care choose Türkiye-based platforms, rising to 85% among traders. Speed and ease top the list of what people want from a platform at 57%, up from 44%, followed by low fees at 54% and strong security at 53%.
The full 2026 report and every edition since 2020 are available on the survey page.
