Ripple for Good Supports Education and Financial Inclusion with $100 Million Commitment

Today, we’re thrilled to announce Ripple for Good, a corporate social impact program that will support mission-driven organizations and initiatives with the potential to expand financial inclusion worldwide. The program will also focus on STEM, FinTech education and financial literacy as key drivers of a new and increasingly inclusive global digital economy.

With Ripple for Good, Ripple is formalizing the company’s long-term commitment to mission- and business-driven social impact, starting with an additional allocation of of $25 million in giving. This builds on the momentum of more than $80 million in donations that the company has made this year to date.

In education, we’re partnering with leading universities around the world to support increased research and innovation in blockchain, cryptocurrency and FinTech through the University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI), launched in June.

We recognize the unique role of academia in developing and driving adoption of these new, transformative technologies and we’re excited to support the work already being advanced by faculty and students in the field. We are especially eager to collaborate with universities that are exploring socially impactful use cases for blockchain and cryptocurrency.

We’re also passionate about creating equity and opportunity in education, as demonstrated by our support earlier this year for public school teachers through DonorsChoose.org.

On financial inclusion, we’re fully aware Ripple for Good is the new kid on the block.

Naturally, there are a number of well-known financial services companies, foundations and nonprofit organizations already hard at work to bring more humans into our shared, but starkly tiered—and often inefficient and inequitable—global financial system. Today, more than two billion people do not participate in the formal financial sector.

We’re optimistic that we can help change this.

We think remittances and microtransactions can be faster, cheaper and more secure. Microloans and financing for small- and medium-sized enterprises—especially those led by women—can be more accessible and affordable. More robust financial services for the poor can be offered seamlessly across borders, currencies and banking systems. The global flow of information and capital for social and environmental good can be streamlined.

With Ripple’s innovative technology and growing global reach, our hope is to bring something new and different to the table to help solve persistent challenges. Our goal is to make the benefits of a revolutionized global payments system more broadly accessible and available to everyone. Two billion underbanked people can become full economic citizens. That’s part of the promise of the Internet of Value.

“We have to stop being self-righteous disruptors and instead focus on building things that solve real world problems. If we focus the blockchain movement on that, over two billion underbanked people can become full economic citizens.” – Chris Larsen, Ripple co-founder and executive chairman.

Of course, we’ll encounter a steep learning curve and will look to partners to create and accelerate our impact. One organization we’re fortunate to be able to turn to is RippleWorks, a nonprofit organization co-founded by Chris Larsen and Doug Galen. RippleWorks has a wonderful track record of identifying, funding and rolling up its sleeves to support social ventures across multiple sectors. RippleWorks has a wealth of experience in financial inclusion and we can’t wait to learn from them.

So what’s the bottom line? Simply put, Ripple is a mission-driven company committed to creating positive change across the global economy. Our vision is to enable the Internet of Value, a world where money moves like information does today for as many people as possible. This goal guides everything  we do, from technology development to customer deployments to our workplace culture to Ripple for Good, our newest, and in some ways, boldest, endeavor.

To learn more about Ripple for Good, visit our website.