Ripple announced today that its USD-backed stablecoin RLUSD is now available in Turkey through three local partners — BiLira, Bitexen, and Bitlo. Turkey handles nearly $200 billion in annual crypto transaction volume, according to the Chainalysis 2025 Geography of Crypto Report, making it one of the world's busiest digital asset markets. RLUSD, which has crossed a $1.7 billion market cap since its launch in late 2024, is entering a country where stablecoins already account for a disproportionate share of trading activity.
The three partners and their reach
BiLira is the biggest of the bunch. It handles about $300 million in monthly trading volume and already issues TRYB, a stablecoin pegged to the Turkish lira. Bitexen and Bitlo are established local exchanges with their own user bases. The trio gives RLUSD immediate distribution across Turkey's crypto ecosystem without Ripple having to set up its own on-ramp. BiLira's experience with its own lira-pegged token could make the integration smoother for Turkish traders used to stablecoins.
Why Turkey is a stablecoin stronghold
The Turkish lira has lost most of its value against the US dollar over the past five years. That kind of currency depreciation pushes people toward dollar-pegged assets for savings and transactions. Turkey's Capital Markets Board put a comprehensive licensing framework for crypto in place back in 2024, shifting the market from gray-area trading toward institutional compliance. That regulatory clarity makes it easier for projects like RLUSD to operate openly. In practice, Turkish crypto volume has long been dominated by USDT, not Bitcoin or Ethereum. Ripple is betting that a regulated USD stablecoin can carve out a slice of that flow.
RLUSD's fast start
RLUSD hit the $1.7 billion market cap mark in under a year — a rapid climb for any stablecoin, especially one that launched after the peak of the crypto bull run. Ripple has been expanding its stablecoin beyond the US and Europe, and Turkey is the latest stop. The country's appetite for dollar exposure, combined with the new licensing framework, gives RLUSD a clear entry point. Whether Turkish traders will shift from USDT to RLUSD depends on liquidity, fees, and trust — but the infrastructure is now in place.
The move also signals Ripple's broader strategy: build stablecoin volume in high-inflation, high-crypto-adoption markets. RLUSD's next steps may focus on other countries with similar dynamics, but for now, the focus is on getting Turkish users to actually use it. The three exchange partners are live today, and the clock starts ticking on adoption.
