Ripple has pledged $50 million to a blockchain research initiative at 17 universities around the world, including University College London, the University of Pennsylvania and Korea University.

The money will support academic research, technical development and innovation in blockchain, cryptocurrency and digital payments.

Ripple stated that each university will determine its own research topics and areas of focus, with the firm contributing not only funds, but subject matter expertise and technical resources.

Eric van Miltenburg, senior vice president for global operations at Ripple, said the University Blockchain Research Initiative “is an acknowledgment of the vital importance of the unique role universities will play in advancing our understanding and application of cryptography and blockchain technology”.

Speaking to FStech at the Money 20/20 Europe conference, Ripple’s chief cryptographer David Schwartz said the initiative was to make sure there continues to be a stream of talented people coming into the space, regardless of whether they go on to work at Ripple, or a competitor.

“As well as generally getting more talented people coming into digital currencies, we’re interested in funding specific research on things like zero knowledge proofs and quantum computing, where there’s real potential to change this space in a big way,” he added.

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