Ripple to sponsor Fintech initiative at Ivy League College

by James · February 16, 2023

Photo by: Brittany Bendabout – Unsplash

According to a press release shared with Bitcoinist, payments company Ripple became the newest sponsor of the “Fintech at Cornell” initiative. Launched by the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, the initiative seeks to “encourage” innovation in the financial technology (FinTech) sector.

Ripple finds partners to support financial innovation

According to the release, the “Fintech at Cornell” initiative is a place for academics, former regulators, industry practitioners, students and others to debate ideas and “facilitate” collaboration. The concepts discussed in this initiative are related to Fintech, business data science and the digital economy, including crypto and blockchain technology.

College of Business Dean Andrew Karolyi stated the following, according to the press release:

I am delighted to welcome Ripple to Fintech at Cornell. Over the past two years, our Fintech initiative has done a lot to elevate the fintech conversation (…). As we approach year three, we hope to build on this success. We want Fintech at Cornell to be well positioned at the intersection between global fintech scholarship and thought leadership in the industry. We are extremely grateful for Ripple’s support and enthusiasm for our initiative, and we look forward to building on this success.

In addition, “Fintech at Cornell” provides industry agents and researchers to educate students about these innovations to prepare them for the “new digital age.” Thus, new generations can learn about these innovations from industry participants, managers, entrepreneurs, researchers and decision makers.

Lauren Weymouth, Ripple’s Head of University Partnerships, stated:

Advancing real-world innovation is at the core of Ripple’s mission, and we are proud to partner with Cornell faculty and students to pioneer a crypto-enabled future through our University Blockchain Research Initiative, which supports academic research, technical development and innovation in blockchain, cryptocurrency and digital payments.

The announcement comes on the heels of a new wave of regulatory scrutiny by US authorities against the crypto industry. Over the past two weeks, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued actions against top crypto exchanges, such as Kraken, targeting critical components of the Binance ecosystem.

Ripple is currently involved in a legal battle with the SEC. The regulator accused the company and two of its top executives of allegedly offering the unregistered security, the XRP token. The SEC seems determined to gain more oversight of the nascent industry.

XRP’s price is moving sideways on the daily chart. Source: **XRPUSDT Tradingview**

For some, this approach is likely to hinder financial innovation in the United States. Ripple seems keen to find a counterbalance by supporting initiatives like Fintech at Cornell and institutions that promote a world where crypto and blockchain technology play a crucial role.

To that effect, Will Cong, tenured professor of finance and founding faculty director of the Fintech At Cornell Initiative, said:

An important component of the Fintech at Cornell Initiative is to foster a global research platform to identify and respond to the key issues in the space. Ripple has not only led the industry in Fintech innovations, but has always devoted itself to supporting fundamental research on the most challenging problems.