Ripple to sponsor blockchain research at top Beijing university

Ripple • January 24, 2019, 5:35AM EST
UPDATED: January 24, 2019, 9:40AM EST
The Block

Ripple, the blockchain financial services firm closely linked to the $XRP cryptocurrency, will support a blockchain research scholarship at Tsinghua University, one of China's top institutions. The announcement last week outlines that the program aims to give selected graduate students "a comprehensive view" of global blockchain regulation and to give them access to "cutting-edge research" on blockchain development.

The funding will come from Ripple's University Blockchain Research Initiative, into which it invested over $50 million last year to fund academic research into blockchain. Coindesk reported that in June 2018 it had already "partnered with 17 universities from across the globe," from India, South Korea and Europe. 

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Blockchain research has taken off in recent years, with dedicated centres at the likes of Oxford and Stanford. Meanwhile, government grants from South Africa to the US are also increasingly geared towards better understanding the technology.

Tsinghua University's Institute for Fintech Research in Beijing will launch the Ripple scholarship this year.

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Isabel is The Block's London and European reporter. She previously reported for Reuters in Madrid and London, following on from her time as a freelance journalist for the Guardian and the New York Times. She has a Bachelors in War Studies from King’s College London and a Master of Philosophy from the University of Oxford. Conflict of Interest: Edward Woodford, the CEO of SeedCX, is Isabel's brother. She does not report on any issues related to Seed or advise other authors in any regard.

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