Ripple is making a significant push to foster blockchain innovation across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, announcing an additional $5 million in funding through its University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI). This latest investment underscores the company’s long-term commitment to nurturing academic research and empowering the next generation of blockchain talent.
The funding will extend across six countries, reinforcing existing partnerships in South Korea, Japan, and Singapore while introducing new collaborations in Taiwan and Australia. Ripple has emphasized that its goal is to equip universities with the resources, strategic guidance, and financial backing needed to drive meaningful advancements in blockchain technology.
One of the key partnerships being renewed is with Korea University, where Ripple has pledged $1.1 million over six years to strengthen its foothold in South Korea. This builds on last year’s collaboration with Yonsei University, signaling Ripple’s deepening ties with the country’s academic institutions. Meanwhile, in Japan, grants to Kyoto University and the University of Tokyo have now exceeded $1.5 million, fueling cutting-edge research in blockchain applications.
At Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, Professor Yang Liu shared how UBRI’s support is enabling groundbreaking work. *“With our current grant, we are developing an autonomous AI agent network on the XRP Ledger to create a transparent, modular, and collaborative AI platform,”* Liu explained. *“This innovation could redefine how AI integrates with blockchain, and we’re involving students directly in building these solutions.”*
Taiwan is also entering the fold with a new partnership at the National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST), led by Dr. Echo Huang. The focus? Real-world asset (RWA) tokenization—a rapidly growing field with implications for cross-chain functionality. Researchers will examine how the XRP Ledger interacts with networks like Ethereum and Solana, as well as the role of on- and off-ramp providers in institutional adoption. NKUST will also launch an XRPL Student Builders Club and operate its own validator, further embedding blockchain education in Taiwan’s academic landscape.
Australia is another focal point, with UBRI renewing its partnership with the Australian National University (ANU) and forging a new alliance with Victoria University. ANU will use the funding to expand its blockchain law curriculum and support research on Evernode, a proposed Layer 2 solution for the XRPL. The university will continue publishing student findings through the *ANU Journal of Law and Technology*, ensuring that research translates into real-world discourse.
Since its inception, UBRI has channeled over $11 million into APAC alone, backing projects that range from enhancing blockchain sharding efficiency to improving privacy via zero-knowledge proofs. In South Korea, Professors IK Rae Jong and Dong Hoon Lee are exploring ways to merge blockchain shards with Layer 2 solutions, while Professor Hyunok Oh at Hanyang University is refining zk-SNARKs for greater scalability.
Ripple’s latest investment reflects a broader vision: to bridge academia and industry, ensuring that theoretical breakthroughs evolve into practical innovations. By embedding blockchain research within universities, the company isn’t just funding education—it’s shaping the future of the ecosystem itself.
