Key partnership supports new research, academics in fintech
What’s new: A partnership between Ripple, a blockchain-based global digital payments company, and the Wharton School is enabling faculty and student research to unlock the full potential of blockchain.
The joint effort is part of a $50 million venture launched by Ripple that supports academic research, technical development, and innovation in blockchain, cryptocurrency, and distributed ledger technology.
Why this matters: Because funding from Ripple’s University Blockchain Research Initiative, a program that comprises 17 initial university partners from around the world, will help shape the workforce of the future.
- As the demand for professionals with an understanding of the technology and its applications grows, The Ripple Project at Penn will support MBA-MS candidates each year in a newly established Wharton-Penn Engineering dual-degree program for students engaging with blockchain or cryptocurrency.
- Student interest in blockchain and cryptocurrencies has exploded in the last couple of years. Of the nearly 400 members of the Penn Blockchain Club, many are from Wharton.
“Blockchain is a major point of intersection between business and engineering,” according to Kevin Werbach, associate professor of legal studies and business ethics at the Wharton School. “This funding allows us to research a broad range of topics ranging from privacy to smart contract design to regulatory questions to creating trust in decentralized environments.”
Dig deeper:
Poets & Quants: Wharton Bets Big on Blockchain
Technically: Penn Joins $50M Blockchain Research Push Launched by Ripple
BusinessWire: Ripple Announces $50M University Blockchain Research Initiative