Ripple announced today a significant expansion of its global blockchain education efforts, committing over $5 million in new funding to universities across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. This investment will be channeled through Ripple’s University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI), targeting leading institutions in South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, and Australia. This strategic funding underscores Ripple’s ongoing commitment to cultivating talent and fostering innovation in regions demonstrating a strong appetite for digital finance.

APAC has emerged as a key hub for fintech, characterized by a high concentration of neobanks, forward-thinking regulatory environments, and active developer communities. Ripple believes these factors position the region to lead in blockchain research and adoption. Key beneficiaries include Korea University in South Korea, which will receive $1.1 million over a six-year agreement, and Kyoto University and the University of Tokyo in Japan, with the latter having now received over $1.5 million from UBRI.

In Singapore, more than $3 million will be allocated to two leading institutions, Nanyang Technological University and the National University of Singapore, to expand academic research and blockchain coursework. Professor Yang Liu of Nanyang Technological University highlighted their current grant’s focus on developing an autonomous AI agent network on the XRP Ledger, CryptoSlate reported.

Taiwan joins Ripple’s UBRI network through a new partnership with the National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, focusing on real-world asset tokenization and research into the interoperability of the XRP Ledger with Ethereum and Solana.

In Australia, Ripple is strengthening its ties with the Australian National University and forging a new partnership with Victoria University, with a combined funding of $1.3 million to support legal and policy research on blockchain, digital payments, and decentralized systems. This latest investment reinforces Ripple’s dedication to advancing blockchain knowledge and practical applications in a region poised for significant growth in the digital asset space.