BITCOIN: IS IT AN ALTERNATIVE FOR THE STOCK EXCHANGES? A COMPARATIVE PANEL DATA ANALYSIS FOR THE FAR EAST ASIAN COUNTRIES AND TURKEY UNDER THE CROSS-SECTIONAL DEPENDENCE

In this study, we investigated whether bitcoin crypto money is an alternative to the stock exchange as an investment tool. For this purpose, the relationship between bitcoin and the stock market was examined in terms of the returns and liquidity. In the analysis, daily returns of the 9 Far East countries and Turkey's stock markets and daily returns of the bitcoin were used for the period of 22.02.2012-15.08.2018. According to the results of the model, an increase of the Bitcoin's returns has reduced the return on the stock market in Turkey and Far East countries. From point of this, it can be seen that the as an investment tool, bitcoin cryptocurrency has been becoming the substitute for the country stock exchanges included in the sample. The highest impact of bitcoin on the stock exchange was observed in Turkey and Indonesia while the least effect was seen on the Malaysia, Singapore and Korea respectively