It’s no secret that Ripple is doing its best to promote the digital currency. In fact, Ripple was able to do it in a creative manner. Just last month, they collaborated with Ashton Kutcher and made a donation to Ellen DeGeneres for her birthday. The donation showcased how fast and how easy it is to use Ripple.
But of Ripple, they aren’t stopping their donation spree on TV. In fact, Ripple is shelling out millions to top universities in order to hasten the adoption of blockchain technology. The company announced that it is going to partner with 17 schools that include MIT, University of North Carolina, and the University of Pennsylvania. But unlike their previous donation that was made in cryptocurrencies, this one was made in dollars.
The donation involves $29 million to an American public school charity and is yet launching another $50 million fund for the mentioned universities. This new initiative is called the University Blockchain Research Initiative. The fund will be meant for academic research as well as initiatives that are related to digital payments, blockchain, and cryptocurrencies.
According to Eric Van Miltenburg, Ripple’s SVP of business operations, “As globalization increases, so does the demand for technical solutions and talent to solve the world’s hardest financial problems, such as retail remittances”.
This move is basically an initiative to meet the increased demand for jobs in the blockchain industry. In fact, there are more than 4,500 job openings. That is a 150{4ede17fdd9b4ce8121d01fc4b54913fe84f8215aace504cc657695cefb5329ff} increase compared from the demand from last year.
Designing Curriculums
One of Ripple’s goals is to develop individuals who are highly specialized in this new field. In fact, the universities will be developing curriculums that are focused in the industry. Ripple’s aim is to get students to pursue research as well as innovation in blockchain technology.
Joshua Lind who works as a researcher for Imperial College London mentioned that “the best results will come from academia, industry, and the existing blockchain (and) crypto communities working together”.
Today, top schools including Stanford already included crypto-related courses into their curriculum. With Ripple’s efforts, this would most likely increase universities that are focused on producing professionals that would be apt for the challenges of the blockchain industry.
Ripple’s Partnership
Ripple is known for promoting fast cross-border transactions. Ripple is also known for partnering with some of the most popular companies ranging from MoneyGram to Western Union and even American Express.
Despite the rocky 2018 for cryptocurrencies, this doesn’t stop Ripple from doing what it can to become a solid contender to Bitcoin. Ripple mentioned that the 17 colleges are only part of the “first wave of university partners”. This means that there will be more funding with the aim to cater to the increasing demand in the blockchain industry.
This is good news for the entire blockchain industry as Ripple is also growing its potential pool of talented and skilled professionals in the near future.
Ripple is now considered a strong contender among altcoins. With its adoption and future developments, it isn’t surprising if it is going to reach a higher spot in the totem pole of digital currencies.
