Blockchain startup Ripple is going to donate $2 million to the McCombs School of Business over the next five years, according to The Daily Texan.
The donation is aimed at funding blockchain research by the school’s Blockchain Initiative. The McCombs School of Business is among the initial university partners for Ripple’s recently announced University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI).
“Academia has traditionally been a critical driver of technical innovation,” said Eric van Miltenburg, Ripple’s senior vice president of global operations, in a press release. “Our support of McCombs is an acknowledgment of the important role the school has the potential to play in advancing our understanding and application of cryptography and blockchain technology.”
McCombs’ Blockchain Initiative is a program aimed at promoting blockchain research and innovation within UT. It commenced after the school hosted its first Blockchain conference in the spring of 2018.
Cesare Fracassi, director of the Blockchain Initiative, said that the funds from Ripple will go toward supporting projects, research and outreach programs.
“We would like the initiative to be the outreach between the University and the companies that are working on blockchain technology,” Fracassi said. “Austin is a pretty large hub (for) blockchain technology companies, so I see the initiative as a way to link faculty and students to those companies.”
Last month, Hollywood actor and venture capitalist Ashton Kutcher announced a $4 million donation in XRP to American talk show host Ellen DeGeneres’s Wildlife Fund on the behalf of Ripple.
