The University of Kansas has become one of the 29 research institutions to receive funding from Ripple. The University is receiving $2 million—over five years—to support research related to cryptocurrency, blockchain, and digital payments.

Ripple—known for its push for cross-banking digital payments, as well as its XRP token—instituted the University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI) in June of last year to accelerate academic research, technical development, and innovation in the blockchain, cryptocurrency, and digital payments space.

It pledged $50 Million to 17 universities globally before expanding that list with 11 more institutions, including the University of Kansas.

The donation from Ripple will provide $400,000 each year for five years. It will go to the Information and Telecommunication Technology Center at the Kansas School of Engineering, as reported by a local paper the DECCAN Chronicle.

The University will determine its own research topics, and Ripple will collaborate with students and faculty to provide technical resources and expertise. The donation will also support the KU Blockchain Institute, a student-led organization that promotes the use of blockchain technology, added the DECCAN Chronicle.

“We launched UBRI back in June of 2018 to provide support for 17 different universities around the world to help progress their study of blockchain technology, cryptography, digital assets and fintech,” said Eric van Miltenburg, SVP of Global Operations at Ripple.

Van Miltenburg went on to state the importance of funding blockchain education:

“Blockchain is an incredibly transformational technology and helping advance the best minds in the world, who are already showing interest in this field, is sure to benefit the entire ecosystem.”

Funding universities and research institutions has the potential to accelerate the development of the technology, as well as provide a pipeline of better-qualified employees to enter these organizations after graduation.

“We’ve added 11 new universities this time around and now have 29 schools involved with the program. Expanding the ecosystem to a more global, diversified network of UBRI partners will only continue to enrich these projects.”

It has already been shown that university student and millennials are more interested and have greater belief in blockchain and cryptocurrency technology. Now, it appears that it’s a matter of giving these students the tools needed to build the next generation of projects.