Ripple, the California-based company, has made a significant investment of $1 million in the National Fintech Center at Morgan State University. This partnership is part of Ripple’s University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI), which aims to promote blockchain research and development at leading universities worldwide. With this funding, Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland, will continue to be at the forefront of fintech education and research.
This is not the first time that Ripple has invested in Morgan State. In 2019, the company announced a multi-year fintech program at the university, which included the development of new curricula and the expansion of existing tech and finance courses to include blockchain. Additionally, Morgan State serves as the headquarters for Ripple’s funding efforts for other Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
Ali Emdad, the founding director of the university’s fintech program, sees this partnership as a catalyst for innovation and collaboration, preparing students to be leaders in the fintech revolution. Lauren Weymouth, who leads university partnerships at Ripple, emphasizes the company’s commitment to supporting Morgan State and other universities, driven by their belief that blockchain technology can positively impact the world.
Ripple’s UBRI initiative, launched six years ago, has already funded over 50 universities in 26 countries. This has resulted in the creation or expansion of more than 600 courses and the financing of over 1,500 blockchain research projects. Ripple not only provides financial support but also offers other forms of assistance to partner universities. For example, at Morgan State, Ripple sponsored a student-led hackathon that focused on the XRP Ledger and included a workshop.
Eric van Miltenburg, the senior vice president for strategic initiatives at Ripple, acknowledges the increasing interest in crypto and blockchain among the younger generation. He praises the HBCUs in the UBRI network for supporting this interest and looks forward to seeing how Morgan State will continue to empower its students and contribute to the XRP Ledger ecosystem.
With the new funding, Morgan State University will integrate blockchain with AI and machine learning, allowing students to explore and innovate with these cutting-edge technologies. Despite recent developments in the SEC case, XRP, Ripple’s cryptocurrency, remains above the critical $0.5 level, trading at $0.5099.