Ripple is broadening its crypto services across Turkey as the country's digital asset market, estimated at roughly $200 billion, enters a new regulatory phase. The company is supporting Turkish bank Garanti BBVA with crypto custody while increasing the availability of its RLUSD stablecoin on local exchanges. The expansion follows ongoing pressure on the Turkish lira and rising interest among the country's users and institutions in dollar-backed assets. It also reflects a broader shift underway in the market: crypto services are moving into the formal financial system, with an established bank and local trading platforms at the center of the rollout.

Turkey's Crypto Market Expands Under New Regulations

As consumers seek alternatives amid sustained currency pressure, Turkey has emerged as a key digital asset market, and Ripple has been steadily building out its local infrastructure by working with banks and domestic crypto exchanges. According to estimates from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, total crypto transaction volume in Turkey now amounts to almost $200 billion per year, while the country's cumulative crypto inflows were put at approximately $878 billion between 2021 and mid-2025. Retail investors have been the driving force behind much of this adoption, but businesses and financial institutions are now broadening their presence across the market.

Reece Merrick, Ripple's managing director for the Middle East and Africa, highlighted Turkey's growing digital asset activity in a post shared on X on October 5, 2026:

Ripple is at @istfintechweek this week, right at the heart of one of the world's fastest-growing digital asset markets. Türkiye's crypto growth didn’t occur by accident. Retail investors led the way, turning to crypto as a practical hedge against currency pressure. Now…

— Reece Merrick (@reece_merrick) October 5, 2026

He noted that retail investors were the first to turn to crypto during the currency crisis, with institutions now following the retail users who led the way. Turkish regulations, he added, are also becoming more sophisticated as the country's crypto sector grows.

Early in 2026, retail crypto trading volume in Turkey increased by 7% year-over-year to $40 billion, helping the country jump from seventh to fifth position in TRM Labs' global adoption index — a rise that places Turkey among the leading crypto markets worldwide. The country's broader crypto growth has been fueled by ongoing pressure on the Turkish lira, and dollar-backed stablecoins have emerged as an alternative means for local users to manage currency exposure.

Ripple Expands Custody and RLUSD Access in Turkey

Turkey put a formal crypto regulatory regime in place in July 2024 with Law No. 7518, which empowered the Capital Markets Board to regulate crypto asset activities. Secondary rules subsequently introduced licensing requirements, capital requirements, and anti-money laundering obligations, and new custody regulations came into effect in June 2026. Together, these developments produced a clearer set of requirements for Crypto Asset Service Providers, and Ripple has expanded its local infrastructure as the framework has taken shape. For the industry, that clarity is a practical turning point: banks and service providers can now build digital asset offerings on defined licensing, capital, and custody rules instead of operating without a formal framework.

Garanti BBVA Kripto, the bank's crypto service, is secured by Ripple Custody. Customers can deposit, withdraw, and swap leading cryptocurrencies through the service, with supported assets including Bitcoin, Ether, and XRP. The service followed a successful pilot conducted in 2023, after which Garanti BBVA extended the offering to all of its customers. The bank is also deploying IBM infrastructure alongside Ripple's custody technology, a combination that reinforces the security measures protecting customer assets and private keys. The setup illustrates how traditional banks are entering the digital asset sector under the new rules, extending crypto access to their existing customer base while relying on specialized providers for custody and security infrastructure.

Ripple has also increased the availability of RLUSD, its dollar-backed stablecoin, on platforms. BiLira and Bitlo are among the exchanges offering the token to local users, and Bitexen has been supporting RLUSD distribution in the country as well. Local trading platforms can therefore provide users and institutions with access to dollar-denominated liquidity.

Stablecoins are a class of cryptocurrencies engineered to maintain a stable value by pegging to another asset. In RLUSD's case, the token is pegged to the US dollar at a 1:1 ratio. This design makes stablecoins an alternative option for users who are concerned about the volatility of their local currencies. Even so, users still face risks relating to reserves, regulation, liquidity, and redemption arrangements.

Ripple's expansion highlights the growing roster of banks and exchanges developing crypto services under Turkey's new regulatory framework. At the same time, increasing institutional involvement may lend further support to the country's digital asset ecosystem as it moves into this new phase. With custody rules in force since June 2026 and the Capital Markets Board's requirements applying to Crypto Asset Service Providers, how additional banks and platforms position themselves under the framework will be a development to watch as the market's institutional phase takes hold.