Ripple Labs has pledged to donate an extra $5 million to improve crypto research in the APAC region.
Ripple Labs XRP $3.00 24h volatility: 0.8% Market cap: $178.69 B Vol. 24h: $4.23 B has pledged to invest an additional $5 million to improve blockchain talent and academic research in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.
The blockchain payments company made it known through a blog post that it intended to improve innovations through its University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI).
Ripple’s investment will include six countries in the APAC region, including new grants for universities in Taiwan and Australia, while renewing collaborations in South Korea, Japan, and Singapore.
In the blog post, Ripple, the company behind XRP, one of the best cryptos to buy right now, noted that the APAC region is renowned for digital finance innovation, which influenced their decision to invest in this region.
The University Blockchain Research Initiative
Ripple’s University Blockchain Research Initiative has been operating for over seven years, initially launched to enhance academic research and has since evolved to “equip the next generation of builders, researchers, and entrepreneurs.”
Academic research is the engine behind blockchain breakthroughs: https://t.co/RnzZiqUB6f
Ripple has been investing in the next generation of blockchain talent for over seven years, and we’re deepening that commitment in Asia-Pacific with new UBRI partnerships, including our…
— Ripple (@Ripple) June 10, 2025
The UBRI offers universities access to hands-on blockchain experience, research, and experimentation. As part of its initiative, the UBRI has pledged $1.1 million to Korea University for a six-year collaboration. This builds upon the partnership that the initiative established with Yonsei University last fall.
Kyoto University and the University of Tokyo have both benefited from this initiative, collectively receiving $1.5 million to advance blockchain research. Meanwhile, in Singapore, funding has exceeded $3 million, supporting initiatives at both Nanyang Technological University and the National University of Singapore.
For the first time since its inception, the UBRI is expanding into Taiwan’s academic landscape. The initiative is partnering with the National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST).
This partnership is overseen by Dr. Echo Huang, Director of the International MBA Program, and represents a new initiative focused on advancing real-world asset (RWA) tokenization.
Through this project, the university will analyze the technical and policy aspects of RWA issuance across different networks, and explore ways that the technology can be adopted by institutions.
Recently, Ripple Labs announced the launch of a new initiative to promote Web3 development in Japan. The payment infrastructure company is offering Japanese Web3 startups grants of up to $200,000.
Meanwhile, Ripple’s ongoing legal battle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is approaching a critical June 16 deadline, when the SEC’s 60-day window expires to update the US Court of Appeals.
Legal experts remain divided on the case’s outcome, with some speculating a potential settlement before the appeal progresses.
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