Ripple has expanded access to its U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin RLUSD in Turkey through BiLira, Bitexen and Bitlo, positioning the rollout as an entry into what the reporting describes as the Middle East and North Africa region’s largest crypto market. Ripple said RLUSD, launched globally in late 2024, has reached a $1.7 billion market capitalization and is being targeted primarily at institutional use cases such as payments, tokenization, collateral management and corporate treasury operations rather than retail trading. The expansion comes as Turkey remains one of the world’s largest crypto markets, with Chainalysis estimating nearly $200 billion in annual crypto transactions and TRM Labs reporting $40 billion in Q1 2026 retail crypto volume. Ripple’s move also coincides with tighter Turkish oversight of crypto platforms through 2024 licensing reforms and proposed 2026 tax measures. In parallel, Ripple said Istanbul Technical University joined its University Blockchain Research Initiative with RLUSD-funded support for research, fellowships and an XRPL validator node.