Turkish institutions given access to one of the world’s most trusted and compliant USD-backed stablecoins
ISTANBUL, June 2, 2026 – Ripple, the leading provider of blockchain-based enterprise solutions across traditional and digital finance, today announced that its enterprise-grade, USD-backed stablecoin Ripple USD (RLUSD) is now available to institutions in Türkiye through three new partnerships with BiLira, Bitexen and Bitlo.
RLUSD is an enterprise-grade stablecoin created with trust, liquidity, and the highest regulatory standards in the industry. Since launch in late 2024, RLUSD has experienced strong institutional adoption around the world, reaching $1.7 billion in market capitalization, underlining demand for a compliance-first USD-backed stablecoin.
"RLUSD has rapidly gained traction in financial use cases, serving as a vital bridge for payments, tokenization, and collateral management,” said Jack McDonald, SVP of Stablecoins at Ripple. “As enterprise demand scales globally, launching in Türkiye represents a milestone in our expansion. Türkiye sits at the crossroads of traditional finance and the digital economy, with one of the world's highest rates of crypto adoption. By providing a stable, USD-backed asset that is both transparent and fully regulated, we are empowering Turkish businesses to access global liquidity.”
Türkiye is a global leader in digital asset adoption, and remains the dominant crypto market in the MENA region, facilitating nearly $200 billion in annual transaction volume, outpacing regional peers by nearly fourfold (Chainalysis 2025 Geography of Crypto Report). This surge is driven by a combination of economic necessity and forward-leaning regulation. The implementation of a comprehensive licensing framework by the Capital Markets Board (CMB) in 2024 moved the market from speculative retail trading to a robust institutional ecosystem, providing the legal certainty required for major global players like Ripple to integrate with domestic partners such as BiLira, Bitexen and Bitlo.
“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 rooted in a shared dedication 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. RLUSD is uniquely equipped to accelerate blockchain adoption in Türkiye.”
“We are pleased to introduce RLUSD to our users in Türkiye as the first step in a broader rollout across the Bitexen Global platform,” said Alphan Göğüş, CEO at Bitexen MENA. “At Bitexen, we operate a multi-jurisdiction digital asset infrastructure, connecting local markets to global liquidity across Türkiye, the Middle East, South Africa and Europe through our regulated entities. Supporting RLUSD aligns with our strategy to provide trusted, USD-denominated instruments within a compliant and scalable framework.”
“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 with a direct, secure gateway to global financial markets,” said Mustafa Alpay, CEO at Bitlo. “Our users are looking for secure, digital-native means to manage their wealth and hedge against volatility. By integrating a regulated, enterprise-grade stablecoin like RLUSD, we’re providing our customers with the highest standard of digital dollars for enterprise needs.”
Backed by Ripple’s many years of experience working across crypto and traditional finance, RLUSD sets the global standard for stablecoins, combining innovative functionality with the regulatory rigor and compliance. By leveraging its global portfolio of licenses, Ripple ensures that RLUSD meets all applicable regulations and industry best practices.
Ripple continues to work with top-tier partners to make RLUSD available around the world. In addition to the three new Turkish partners, RLUSD is also available through Binance, Bitso, Bitstamp, ByBit, Gemini, Kraken, LMAX, OKX and others, ensuring access and availability globally.
Building on RLUSD’s momentum in Türkiye, Ripple is also proud to announce Istanbul Technical University (ITU) as the latest partner in its global University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI). Funded via RLUSD, this partnership will support advanced research initiatives and graduate fellowships while establishing an XRP Ledger (XRPL) validator directly on the ITU campus. By integrating academic research with hands-on decentralized infrastructure, Ripple and ITU are ensuring the next generation of Turkish researchers and students are at the forefront of blockchain innovation.
About Ripple
Founded in 2012, Ripple is the leading provider of blockchain-based enterprise solutions across traditional and digital finance. Its solutions span global payments, custody, liquidity, and treasury management, serving as a one-stop shop for moving, storing, exchanging, and managing value. Ripple’s stablecoin, RLUSD, and the cryptocurrency XRP underpinning these solutions allow Ripple and its customers to shape the modern financial system.
About BiLira
BiLira is a Turkish digital asset platform that bridges fiat and crypto markets through three integrated business lines: stablecoin issuance, an exchange, and market-making operations. TRYB, BiLira's stablecoin, is pegged 1:1 to the Turkish Lira and fully backed by reserves held in local Turkish banks, serving as a settlement layer between liquidity providers, market makers, and institutions. BiLira Kripto, the company's exchange, operates the largest local OTC desk in Turkey. BiLira is also one of the largest local market makers in the country, with monthly trading volume of approximately $300 million.
About Bitexen
Bitexen is a digital asset platform offering trading, custody and related services to retail and institutional clients. The company operates across multiple regions including Türkiye, the Middle East, South Africa and Europe, and focuses on expanding access to digital assets through secure and user-centric products. Bitexen continues to develop solutions that connect traditional financial systems with the evolving digital asset ecosystem.
About Bitlo
Bitlo is a cryptocurrency trading platform founded in 2018 by Mustafa Alpay and Hakan Baş. Since its foundation, Bitlo has listed hundreds of crypto assets — including Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Solana — while offering innovative products and services to its users. These products, including Staking, Regular Savings, Social Trading, and Chain Order, are designed to help users diversify their investment Strategies.
Placing customer satisfaction at the core of its operations, Bitlo has been awarded the “Cryptocurrency Platform Delivering Excellent Customer Experience” title five consecutive times at the Şikayetvar A.C.E. Awards.
Bitlo continues its operations in compliance with applicable legal regulations.
Media Contact
Ian Burge