Ripple Made Key Announcements Across Japan and Korea

Ripple has made three significant moves across Japan and Korea. The ultimate goal is to support the utility and adoption of blockchain technology, hence strengthening the foundation of crypto infrastructure. Ripple has made three key announcements: a partnership with Futureverse, the introduction of smart contracts to the XRPL dev ecosystem, and an initiative by the University of Blockchain. Suffice it to say, all of them are likely to impact the price of XRP in one way or another.

For starters, a partnership with Futurverse brings Ripple Custody to the center of the stage. Futureverse is responsible for safeguarding the assets. Futureverse is responsible for facilitating secure and compliant KYC-verified access to DeFi.  Essentially, Ripple Custody will ensure the secure receipt and storage of crypto tokens prior to their minting on the Otto blockchain.

Fiona Murray, Ripple’s Managing Director of APAC, highlighted that the partnership demonstrates Ripple’s dedication to supporting projects and communities from Web3 with secure and stable custody solutions. Fiona added that security and compliance are foundational to the success of the business of digital asset platforms.

According to Jeffery McDonald, the Chief Customer Officer for Futureverse and the founder of Otto Blockchain, the integration is motivated by the industry-leading security capabilities and features of Ripple Custody. Jeffery further stated that Ripple Custody was an ideal choice because of their long-standing relationship and industry-leading features.

Next, Ripple is exploring the possibility of introducing new native capabilities on XRPL Mainnet. This includes introducing smart contracts to the XRPL Dev ecosystem in the upcoming year, 2025. This will occur via the XRPL EVM Sidechain, which is currently under development. Some of the main considerations include seamless customization of native features, permissionless nature, minimal infrastructure cost, and easy learning for new developers.

Ripple is tasked with determining the best solution to meet the majority of the Mainnet’s requirements, following which an XLS proposal will be published for further consideration. EVM compatibility with the XRP community will also be introduced in 2025, allowing developers to use familiar programming languages and tools. The aim is to boost the global appeal of XRP Ledger.

Finally, University Blockchain Research by Ripple has added Yonsei University of Korea, making them the 58th partner across the world of UBRI, which has injected approximately $60 million into the development of the University and its program. UBRI is aiming to fuel the global adoption and interoperability of digital assets by leveraging methods like technical resources, strategic partnerships, and funding grants.

This is a multi-year partnership that will examine innovative blockchain research across disciplines that are shaping the future of blockchain technology.

As for XRP, the token is up by 2.43% in the last 24 hours and is exchanging hands at $0.5689. It also reflects a 0.39% surge in the last 30 days. It is next poised to reach the value of $0.68 in the next 30 days.