Currency News: Mongolia’s Tanking Tugrik and Japan’s Jump to Bitcoin
Currency News
Mongolia’s Tanking Tugrik and Japan’s Jump to Bitcoin
Mongolia’s Tugrik has fallen 7.8% this month due Mongolia’s struggling economy. The currency is now trading at 2243.50 per USD which shows how inflated the tugrik really is. Mongolia’s commodity prices have been falling recently. This combined with the economic slowdown in China as well as laws restricting foreign investment all contributed to Mongolia’s current economic crisis.
Mongolia is trying to climb out of its economic rut now. A new prime minister (Erdenebat Jargaltulga) has been elected ousting the former incumbent from the Democratic party who spent about 23% of Mongolia’s foreign currency reserves. The current party plans on making salary cuts, reducing debt, and trying to attract foreign investments in order to save Mongolia’s economy. But as of right now, Mongolia’s economy and currency are in shambles.
Bitcoin trading has been booming in Japan over the last year. 430 billion yen have been traded from January to June of this year which is a 50-fold increase from this period last year. Japan has passed legislation regarding the use of Bitcoin. This helps monitor illegal exchanges, strengthens Japan financially, and helps record-keeping as the exchanges are all digital.
The stagnant yen is what made Bitcoin so attractive for Japan. BitCoin’s exchange rates are erratic, making it easy to make quick profits trading it. The amount being traded is also increasing constantly as it is a relatively new currency. The amount expected to be traded next year is close to 4 billion yen.
