10-6-2025 – Ripple is intensifying its commitment to blockchain innovation across the Asia-Pacific region, injecting over $5 million into its global University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI) to nurture the next wave of blockchain expertise. This substantial investment, building on $25 million previously allocated to fuel cryptocurrency advancements in the U.S., underscores Ripple’s dedication to fostering academic research and empowering students in this transformative field.
Empowering blockchain education across APAC universities
Spanning six countries, the initiative strengthens existing partnerships in South Korea, Japan, and Singapore while forging new collaborations in Taiwan and Australia, cementing the region’s role as a hub for blockchain innovation.
In South Korea, Ripple is deepening its ties with academic institutions, notably through a renewed six-year, $1.1 million partnership with Korea University, alongside an ongoing collaboration with Yonsei University. These efforts aim to provide students with cutting-edge tools, funding, and strategic guidance to drive blockchain development. Similarly, in Japan, UBRI’s support for Kyoto University and the University of Tokyo, exceeding $1.5 million, is advancing groundbreaking research.
At Kyoto, projects are exploring the integration of autonomous AI agent networks with the XRP Ledger, aiming to create a transparent, collaborative AI platform powered by blockchain technology. Yang Liu, a professor at Nanyang Technological University’s College of Computing & Data Science, emphasised that this support is enabling a new generation of researchers to contribute to the XRP Ledger’s growth, fostering a vibrant ecosystem of innovation.
Taiwan and Australia: New frontiers for blockchain innovation
In Taiwan, Ripple is expanding its footprint through a new partnership with the National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST), its 60th UBRI collaborator. Led by Dr. Echo Huang, this initiative will delve into the tokenisation of real-world assets (RWA), examining technical and policy implications across the XRP Ledger, Ethereum, and Solana. NKUST’s establishment of an XRPL Student Builders Club and its own XRPL validator will immerse students in hands-on blockchain exploration, aligning with Taiwan’s growing momentum in asset tokenisation, bolstered by recent initiatives from the Financial Supervisory Commission and major financial institutions.
Australia, too, is a focal point for Ripple’s ambitions, with UBRI’s investment in the region surpassing $11 million to promote blockchain education and adoption. A renewed partnership with the Australian National University (ANU) and a fresh collaboration with Victoria University, totalling $1.3 million, are driving advanced research and coursework. At ANU, funding supports legal studies on blockchain, virtual assets, and digital payments, alongside research into Evernode, a proposed Layer 2 smart contract platform for the XRP Ledger. The university’s XRPL validator and its Journal of Law and Technology continue to amplify student contributions to the field.
Across the region, UBRI-backed projects are tackling cutting-edge challenges.
Cutting-edge research driving blockchain’s future
In South Korea, researchers at Korea University, led by Professors IK Rae Jong and Dong Hoon Lee, are enhancing blockchain sharding efficiency, integrating Layer 2 solutions, and exploring NFT privacy through Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) and zk-SNARKs. At Hanyang University, Professor Hyunok Oh is advancing the security and efficiency of zk-SNARKs, critical for blockchain scalability, while Professor Junghee Lee is developing a crypto finance device and a transaction-mixing tool that balances privacy with auditability.
