On today’s episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, an unexpected appearance from Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary caught the attention of the public. The pair announced that they are donating $4 million USD (over $5 million CAD) to The Ellen DeGeneres Wildlife Fund on behalf of Ripple.

Kutcher and Oseary become Ripple investors

On the program, Kutcher and Oseary spoke briefly about Sound Ventures. Launched in 2015, Sound Ventures is a tech fund that invests in promising projects. The fund’s launch follows the pair’s previous work at A-Grade Investments, where Kutcher and associates previously invested in startups like Uber, Airbnb, and Spotify.

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Kutcher explained that Sound Ventures found the popular digital currency platform Ripple interesting, and announced it is investing the company.

Working with Ripple’s leading figures such as Brad Garlinghouse, Kutcher further announced a $4 million USD donation on behalf of the company to The Ellen DeGeneres Wildlife Fund, a cause that aims to protect and preserve wildlife.

Kutcher also used the opportunity to praise Ripple, offering a simplified explanation about how digital currencies function. Kutcher called digital currencies like XRP a way to get “value from here to there,” praising the security, simplicity, and speed of the platform.

Ripple pursues humanitarianism

The donation to The Ellen DeGeneres Wildlife Fund doubled as a way of demonstrated Ripple’s payments framework, as Kutcher sent the donation live on the air.

DeGeneres’ fund began as a 60th birthday gift from her wife, Portia de Rossi. Since then, DeGeneres continues to express her desire to help critically endangered species.

On the show, Kutcher spoke about how he and Oseary discussed the ‘ethic’ of the Ripple platform with Ripple Labs co-founder Chris Larsen and CEO Brad Garlinghouse. He said Ripple strives to be an ethical company that aims to give back a portion of its wealth.

In March 2018, Stephen Colbert announced that Ripple donated millions of dollars worth of XRP to DonorsChoose.org on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The donation was worth $29 million USD (over $37 million CAD at the time) and aimed to support underfunded teachers and classrooms.

Image credit: Ashton Kutcher

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