How to Save in Dollars from Turkey

TL;DR: The Turkish lira lost roughly 20% against the dollar in 2024 while inflation ran near 60%, and the slide continued into 2025 past 42 lira per dollar. People in Turkey can save in dollars through a foreign-currency bank account (regulated, but exposed to policy shifts), licensed exchange offices and physical cash (immediate, but you store the bills yourself), or a digital dollar wallet (phone-only setup, 24/7 access, you hold your own keys). Each path has real tradeoffs.

Key Takeaways:

• Turkey’s consumer prices rose roughly 60% on average in 2024, and the lira lost about 20% of its value against the dollar in the same year.
• The lira kept sliding into 2025, trading above 42 per dollar by year-end, so lira savings kept losing dollar value.
• Foreign-currency (doviz) bank accounts are regulated and familiar, but exposed to withdrawal rules and government conversion incentives.
• Exchange offices and physical dollars give immediate access, but you carry spread costs and the burden of storing cash safely.
• Digital dollar wallets need only a phone, have no minimum balance, and let you hold your own keys, but carry issuer and self-custody risk.

According to Trading Economics data on Turkish CPI, inflation in Turkey averaged around 60% during 2024, one of the steepest rates among major economies. For anyone holding savings in lira, that means money sitting in a regular account lost a large share of its purchasing power over a single year, even before you account for the currency sliding against the dollar.

Saving in hard currency isn’t a fringe habit in Turkey. It’s mainstream. Households have leaned on dollars and euros for decades through repeated bouts of currency devaluation, and the recent stretch only reinforced the instinct. The real question has never been whether to hold dollars, but how to do it in a way that fits your access and your risk tolerance.

This guide covers the main ways people in Turkey save in dollars today: foreign-currency bank accounts, the exchange-office and cash market, and digital dollar wallets. With honest costs and tradeoffs for each.

Disclosure: This guide is published by Arca, a digital dollar wallet provider. We compare all available options honestly, including their drawbacks. Where we reference Arca’s product, this reflects our own service.

Why Lira Savings Keep Losing Value

Turkey’s currency story over the last several years is one of persistent erosion. The lira lost about 20% of its value against the dollar in 2024, according to FocusEconomics, and that came on top of much larger losses in the preceding years. The slide didn’t stop. By late 2025 the lira had fallen above 42 per dollar, extending a multi-year decline.

The combination of high inflation and a weakening currency is what makes lira savings so painful to hold. Even if the headline inflation number eases, as it did through 2025 toward the low 30s, prices are still climbing fast and the currency is still losing ground against the dollar. Turkey regularly appears among the countries with the highest inflation right now, and savers have responded the way savers in high-inflation economies usually do: by trying to hold value in something more stable.

For a closer look at the mechanics of why this happens, see our explainers on what currency devaluation is and how inflation affects savings.

Photo by Andy Bhula on Unsplash

The Three Main Ways to Save in Dollars from Turkey

1. Foreign-Currency Bank Account (Doviz Hesabi)

A doviz tevdiat hesabi is a foreign-currency deposit account offered by most Turkish banks. You can hold US dollars, euros, or other currencies in it.

How it works. If you already bank in Turkey, you open a foreign-currency account and convert lira into dollars through the bank, or receive dollars directly into it. The balance stays denominated in dollars.

Costs. Banks apply a spread when you convert lira to dollars, and may charge fees on physical cash withdrawals. The effective rate is usually a bit worse than the open market.

Tradeoffs. Regulated and familiar, with the protection of the formal banking system. But you are exposed to banking hours, withdrawal rules, and shifts in government policy. At various points authorities have promoted FX-protected lira deposits (the KKM scheme) to discourage holding foreign currency, and rules around dollar cash access have tightened and loosened over time.

2. Exchange Offices and Physical Dollars

Turkey has a dense network of licensed exchange offices (doviz buro), and physical dollar bills are a long-standing store of value.

How it works. You walk into a doviz buro, hand over lira, and receive dollar bills at the posted rate. You then store the cash yourself.

Costs. Exchange offices earn on the spread between their buy and sell rates, which widens when the market is volatile. There is no ongoing fee, but the cost is built into the rate.

Tradeoffs. Fast and accessible, with no bank relationship required. But you take on the burden of storing cash safely, the risk of theft, and the fact that physical dollars hold their value without doing anything else for you. Large cash transactions can also draw reporting requirements.

3. Digital Dollars

Digital dollars, specifically dollar-denominated digital assets like USDC and USDT, are the newest path and one that has grown quickly in Turkey.

How it works. You use a digital dollar wallet on your phone to hold dollar-denominated value. Each digital dollar is designed to track the US dollar 1:1, backed by reserves of cash and short-term US government debt. To convert lira, you use a local exchange or peer-to-peer platform. For background, see what digital dollars are and how digital dollars work.

Costs. Wallet fees vary by provider. The conversion rate from lira depends on the on-ramp, but most price close to the open market. Arca-to-Arca dollar sends carry no network fee.

Tradeoffs. No bank account needed, just a phone, which means you can effectively hold dollars without a US bank account. Available around the clock. You hold your own keys, so no institution can freeze the balance, though that also means losing your seed phrase means losing access. Digital dollars are not government-issued money and carry issuer-specific risks. Understanding the difference between custodial and non-custodial wallets matters before you choose a provider, and Turkey’s crypto rules are still evolving.

Comparing the Options

No single method wins on every factor. Each is a different balance of rate, convenience, regulation, and risk.

Photo by Tom Audagna on Unsplash

A Real Scenario: A Freelancer in Izmir

The following scenario is illustrative. It is based on common patterns reported by Turkish freelancers and remote workers, not a specific individual.

A graphic designer in Izmir earns about USD 1,200 a month from clients abroad. For years she converted every payment straight into lira, then watched the balance lose purchasing power as inflation ran near 60% during 2024. Money she set aside in January was worth meaningfully less in real terms by mid-year, and the lira’s roughly 20% slide against the dollar over the year compounded the loss.

In 2024 she started keeping part of her income in digital dollars instead. Her clients pay her in dollars to her wallet, and she converts only what she needs for rent and groceries into lira, when she needs it, at rates close to the open market. The dollars she doesn’t spend stay as dollars.

The difference is straightforward. The portion she held in digital dollars kept its value while the lira slid, and she avoided holding a depreciating currency longer than necessary. The balance is under her control, reachable from her phone at any hour, with no banking-hour delay and no withdrawal rule to navigate.

Getting Started

If you’re considering saving in dollars from Turkey, here’s how to start with a digital dollar wallet:

1. Download Arca on your phone. Setup takes about 30 seconds. No foreign bank account or brokerage required.
2. Convert lira to digital dollars. Use a local exchange or peer-to-peer platform at rates close to the open market.
3. Hold dollars under your control. Your digital dollars sit in your wallet, secured by keys only you hold.
4. Send or save on your terms. Keep your dollars as long as you want, or send them to any compatible wallet in seconds.

What It Comes Down To

Turkey’s recent history has made one thing clear: holding savings in lira during a high-inflation stretch is an active loss, not a neutral choice. With inflation near 60% in 2024 and the lira down roughly 20% against the dollar that year, money left in a regular account quietly shrank.

The good news is that you have more ways to hold dollars than ever. A doviz account suits people already inside the banking system. Exchange offices and cash suit people who want bills in hand. A digital dollar wallet suits people who want phone-based access with no minimum and their own keys. For a look at how the hidden costs of moving money work, see our guide on exchange-rate markup and the blog on why no-fee transfers still cost money. For how protections for digital dollar holders are evolving under US law, see our guide on the GENIUS Act.

Ready to hold your own dollars? Get started with Arca and set up your dollar wallet in 30 seconds.