Ripple becomes a founding sponsor of the CMU Secure Blockchain Initiative

Ripple, a global payments enterprise blockchain company, has become a founding sponsor of Carnegie Mellon University’s Secure Blockchain Initiative (Blockchain@CMU), a university-wide interdisciplinary research program that aims to rethink blockchain across enterprise ecosystems to tackle big challenges in blockchain.

“As we support Carnegie Mellon faculty and students, Ripple looks forward to working alongside global experts tackling these open research challenges,” says Lauren Weymouth, Director of University Partnerships at Ripple. “We are looking forward to being a part of such a forward-thinking program with the potential to make huge strides in the blockchain industry.”

We are looking forward to being a part of such a forward-thinking program with the potential to make huge strides in the blockchain industry.

Lauren Weymouth, Director of University Partnerships, Ripple

The announcement comes three years after CMU announced a partnership with Ripple’s University Blockchain Research Initiative to support academic research, technical development and innovation in blockchain, cryptocurrency, and digital payments. The partnership has fostered collaboration between the company and CMU researchers on several blockchain-focused projects that have led to publication and presentations, including at UBRI Connect, Ripple’s annual academic meeting featuring UBRI partner research achievements.

“Our mission is to support research and study in blockchain and cryptocurrencies at universities around the world, and it wouldn’t be possible without partners such as CMU,” says Weymouth.

Weymouth says that security and privacy are critical to Ripple’s mission and growth of the industry—that blockchains were built to be secure, transparent, immutable, and globally accessible.

“At Ripple, we want to ensure that institutions, businesses, and their customers are able to access an open and inclusive financial system,” says Weymouth. “It is imperative that security and privacy remain a top priority in these systems in order for us to achieve our goals of helping to create the future of global finance.”

Blockchain@CMU, which will be co-directed by CyLab’s Nicolas Christin, Elaine Shi, and Ariel Zetlin-Jones, aims to take on big research challenges in blockchain technologies, including consensus mechanisms and scalability; cryptocurrencies and markets; cryptography; formal verification; and regulation, policy, and governance.

Sponsoring Blockchain@CMU is a perfect and natural progression of a thriving partnership and collaboration between CMU and Ripple.

Nicolas Christin, professor, Institute for Software Research and Engineering and Public Policy

“Sponsoring Blockchain@CMU is a perfect and natural progression of a thriving partnership and collaboration between CMU and Ripple,” says Christin. “We look forward to Ripple’s support and contributions to our ambitious new initiative.”

Christin is a professor in the Institute for Software Research and the Department of Engineering and Public Policy. Shi is a professor in the Computer Science Department and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Zetlin-Jones is a professor in the Tepper School of Business.

To learn more about partnering with CMU CyLab and the Secure Blockchain Initiative, please contact the CyLab partnerships team.