Ripple’s commitment to pushing the boundaries of Academia’s blockchain innovation has marked a new milestone that Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse is excited about.
The Ripple’s University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI) promotes research and innovation across fields such as finance, law, engineering, and the arts. At the University of Kansas (KU), UBRI funding by Ripple has created an interdisciplinary collaboration that combines blockchain, community storytelling and contemporary art.
In collaboration with the Spencer Museum, the project explores how blockchain can regain ownership of space, memory and digital representation in communities.
In an X post, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse responded to this milestone. This coincides with the reason why UBRI was founded in the first place.
It’s always exciting to see my alma mater @univofkansas lead the way in pushing the boundaries of Ontine use cases.
This is precisely why Ripple launched the university’s blockchain research initiative. To support new utilities in Crypto and academic research that will promote long-term impact. …https://t.co/yl49t70jbk
– Blood Girlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) July 11, 2025
“This is precisely why Ripple launched the university’s Blockchain Research Initiative to support academic research that promotes the new utility and long-term impact of cryptography,” says Garlinghouse.
Through UBRI, Ripple provided funding for blockchain research at the University of Kansas, including experimental collaborations such as the Spencer Museum’s Decentralized Countermapping Initiative.
Recent developments
Ripple announced this week that New York bank Melon Bank will become the main manager of Ripple’s US dollar-grown Stablecoin (RLUSD) reserve.
The partnership is expected to improve Ripple’s regulatory compliance, as well as the institutional trust of both the company and the rapidly growing, ridiculous market. BNY is the oldest bank in the United States and mainly serves institutions and businesses.
Over the past few weeks, Ripple has applied for the US National Bank Charter and the Master Account of the Federal Reserve System.
