Ripple has expanded its USD-backed RLUSD stablecoin to Türkiye through novel partnerships with BiLira, Bitexen and Bitlo, giving local institutions access to assets in one of the most dynamic cryptocurrency markets in the MENA region.

Launching, announced The June 2 release marks the next step in Ripple’s push to position RLUSD as an enterprise-grade stablecoin for payments, tokenization, and security applications. The company said the market capitalization of RLUSD, which launched in tardy 2024, has reached $1.7 billion, citing growing institutional demand for a compliance-oriented digital dollar.

“RLUSD has quickly gained popularity in financial use cases, serving as a vital bridge for payments, tokenization and collateral management,” said Jack McDonald, vice president of Stablecoins at Ripple. “As enterprise demand grows around the world, the launch on Türkiye marks a milestone in our expansion. Türkiye sits at the intersection of traditional finance and the digital economy, with one of the world’s highest cryptocurrency adoption rates.”

McDonald added that Ripple is positioning RLUSD as a regulated dollar asset for businesses seeking access to liquidity outside of local markets. “By providing stable USD-backed assets that are both transparent and fully regulated, we enable Turkish businesses to access global liquidity,” he said.

Ripple brings RLUSD to a high adoption market

Türkiye’s Ripple implementation is based on three local digital asset platforms with different roles in the domestic market. BiLira is engaged in stablecoin issuance, exchange services and market making, while Bitexen offers trading, depository and related services in Turkey, the Middle East, South Africa and Europe. Founded in 2018 by Mustafa Alpay and Hakan Baş, Bitlo operates a cryptocurrency trading platform that lists major assets including Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Solana.

The choice of Türkiye is noteworthy. Ripple cited Chainalytic’s 2025 Geography of Crypto Report, stating that the country remains the dominant cryptocurrency market in the MENA region, enabling nearly $200 billion in transactions annually and outperforming regional peers by almost four times.

Ripple found this adoption noteworthy. Ripple cited the Chainalytic Geography of Crypto Report 2025, stating that the country remains the dominant cryptocurrency market in the MENA region, supporting an annual transaction volume of almost $200 billion and outperforming other regional competitors by almost four times its response to economic conditions and the effect of regulatory developments.

According to the company, the Capital Markets Board’s implementation of the licensing framework in 2024 has helped move the market away from speculative retail activity towards a more structured institutional ecosystem. This legal certainty, Ripple said, created a clearer path for global companies to collaborate with domestic partners.

In the case of BiLira, the partnership is presented as an extension of the current role between fiat and cryptocurrencies. “BiLira exists to bridge the gap between traditional finance and the digital future,” said Sinan Koç, co-founder of BiLira. “Our partnership with Ripple is built on a shared commitment to regulatory integrity. By prioritizing the availability of RLUSD, we are providing our clients with a gold-standard asset designed for the next era of finance.”

Local partners present RLUSD as an institutional digital dollar

Bitexen described the launch of RLUSD as the beginning of a broader rollout on its global platform. “We are pleased to introduce RLUSD to our users in Turkey as the first step in a broader implementation on the Bitexen Global platform,” said Alphan Göğüş, CEO of Bitexen MENA. “At Bitexen, we operate a multi-jurisdictional digital asset infrastructure, connecting local markets with global liquidity in Turkey, the Middle East, South Africa and Europe through our regulated entities. Supporting RLUSD is in line with our strategy of providing trusted USD-denominated instruments in a compliant and scalable framework.”

Bitlo CEO Mustafa Alpay positioned the integration around access to dollar-denominated digital finance and volatility management. “Bitlo is proud to be the gateway where global excellence meets local ambition, so by bringing RLUSD to our platform, we are excited to offer the Turkish crypto ecosystem a direct, secure gateway to global financial markets,” Alpay said.

“Our users are looking for secure, digitally native ways to manage their wealth and hedge against volatility. By integrating a regulated, enterprise-grade stablecoin like RLUSD, we provide our customers with the highest standard of digital dollars for enterprise needs.”

Ripple said RLUSD is now available globally through a broader list of partners that includes Binance, Bitso, Bitstamp, ByBit, Gemini, Kraken, LMAX and OKX, as well as novel Turkish platforms.

The company also used Türkiye’s announcement to expand its academic footprint, naming Istanbul Technical University as the newest partner of its university blockchain research initiative. The partnership, funded through RLUSD, will support research initiatives, graduate fellowships and the establishment of an XRP ledger validator on the ITU campus.

At the time of publication, XRP was trading at $1.26.

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