Attendees at a San Francisco State University (SFSU) celebration, Thursday witnessed the announcement made by Ripple co-founder, Chris Larsen, who made a donation of $25 million in ripple (XRP) to the University.
In what the university regarded as the “largest cryptocurrency donation” ever received by any American university, the donation was said to have been a continuation of Ripple’s University Blockchain Research, an initiative announced mid last year. The University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI) had dedicated resources to institutions around the world, equivalence of around $50 million in the form of technical resources, funding and subject matter expertise.
Meeting high student demand for learning about blockchain
According to Ripple, the initiative was set up to:
Collaborate on research and technical development that will stimulate widespread understanding and innovation in the blockchain. Create a new curriculum to meet high student demand for learning about blockchain, cryptocurrency, and other FinTech topics. Stimulate ideas and dialog among students, faculty, technologists and business leaders on topics of shared interest.
Cryptocurrency, A New Method Of Giving
According to a survey by WeTrust, almost 8 of every 10 crypto holders are interested in giving donations (in cryptocurrencies) to charity. This was made evident in the overwhelming support received during the 2018 Japanese flooding crisis. Fidelity Charitable also asserts that: Nearly half of cryptocurrency owners donated $1,000 or more to charity in 2020, compared to one-third of all investors.
$1 million from Binance
At the height of the crisis, leading cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, having donated $1 million to the cause. The company also opened a donation address, a call to which partners responded. The wallet had accumulated $1.4 million in donations just after two weeks.
In a report published by Fidelity Charitable last year, there have been a significant increase in donations made in cryptocurrencies since 2016. The report stated:
“donations generated dollars for a charity that potentially would not otherwise be available to give.”
