Bitcoin (BTC) took more than just a beating in the markets. The orange coin got the cold shoulder as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan welcomed his Salvadoran peer Nayib Bukele in the capital of Turkey to talk about a number of topics. While Bitcoin failed to be a talking point, it did not stop the Twitter rumor mill from going into overdrive.
As part of the state visit, Bukele and Erdoğan kicked off with an official ceremony. Shortly afterward, they inaugurated the new Salvadoran embassy before agreeing on six deals covering the economy, trade, defense, diplomacy and education.
The deals seek to increase trade volume between the two countries to $500 million in five years. Trade volumes for 2020 and 2021 were $27 million and almost $50 million, respectively.
Mainstream media outlets watched closely to see whether Bukele would attempt to orange-pill Erdoğan. However, there was no mention of Bitcoin or cryptocurrency during Thursday proceedings.
That did not stop Twitter from speculating and deceiving audiences about the nature of the encounter. A coordinated news burst made by fake Twitter accounts imitating popular accounts Deltaone, Zerohedge and a Bukele parody account LaDictatore simultaneously announced that Turkey would announce Bitcoin as legal tender by February 2022.
The announcement was false. LaDictatore’s account has since been suspended, but the screenshot of their announcement lives on:
In the hours following the fake news, Bitcoin bulls regrouped to pump the price to within touching distance of $43,000 before falling off a cliff to $38,000 this morning.
Related: El Salvador explores low-interest loans backed by Bitcoin
As the Turkish lira continues to struggle, analysts expected Bukele to make the case for Bitcoin. Given that the Turkish ruling party recently held a meeting in the metaverse, the tide may be turning. And if any discussion did happen Thursday, it happened behind closed doors.