Ripple has signed strategic agreements with three Turkey-based cryptocurrency platforms to increase adoption and use of its USD-pegged stablecoin, RLUSD.
Additionally, the company has added Istanbul Technical University (ITU) to its global University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI) as its latest academic partner.
Expansion to Turkey
Ripple, the firm behind the XRP cryptocurrency, announced that RLUSD is now available to institutions in Turkey through partnerships with BiLira, Bitexen, and Bitlo. Jack McDonald, Ripple’s Senior Vice President of Stablecoins, noted that Turkey sits “at the crossroads of traditional financial and digital economy” and ranks among the countries with the highest crypto adoption rates worldwide.
“By providing a stable, USD-backed asset that is both transparent and fully regulated, we are empowering Turkish businesses to access global liquidity,” McDonald said.
Alphan Göğüş, CEO of Bitexen MENA, described the collaboration as the first phase of a broader rollout across the Bitexen Global platform. He emphasized that supporting RLUSD fits Bitexen’s strategy to deliver trusted, USD-denominated instruments within a compliant and scalable framework.
“Supporting RLUSD aligns with our strategy to provide trusted, USD-denominated instruments within a compliant and scalable framework,” Göğüş said.
Sinan Koç, co-founder of BiLira, said RLUSD is well positioned to accelerate blockchain adoption in Turkey. The country has become a significant player in the global crypto market; a 2025 Chainalysis report indicated Turkey handles roughly $200 billion in annual crypto transaction volume, outpacing many competitors in the MENA region.
Mustafa Aplay, CEO of Bitlo, said the partnership offers the Turkish crypto ecosystem a secure, direct gateway to global financial markets. Integrating a regulated, enterprise-grade stablecoin like RLUSD, he said, provides customers with a high standard of USD-denominated digital assets suitable for enterprise needs.
“By integrating a regulated, enterprise-grade stablecoin like RLUSD, we’re providing our customers with the highest standard of digital dollars for enterprise needs,” Aplay said.
RLUSD officially launched late in 2024 and has seen rapid uptake since. Major firms and exchanges, including Binance, OKX, and the venerable U.S. bank BNY Mellon, have integrated or supported the stablecoin. RLUSD’s market capitalization has grown and currently sits at around $1.81 billion, ranking it among the top digital assets.
Academic Collaboration with ITU
Alongside its commercial partnerships, Ripple has formed a collaboration with Istanbul Technical University. Funded through RLUSD, the partnership will support advanced research projects and graduate fellowships, and will establish an XRP Ledger (XRPL) validator on ITU’s 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,” the announcement stated.
The combined commercial and academic initiatives are intended to strengthen Turkey’s blockchain ecosystem by providing regulated USD-denominated digital assets for institutions while fostering research, education, and on-campus infrastructure that can accelerate practical development and adoption of distributed ledger technologies.