Ripple Fuels UC Berkeley’s Bold New Digital Asset Hub

Ripple grants UC Berkeley $1.3M in RLUSD to establish the new center of blockchain and digital twin technologies research.

Ripple has collaborated with UC Berkeley to establish a pioneering Center for Digital Assets (CDA), which is funded by a $1.3 million gift in Ripple USD (RLUSD), the U. S. dollar-backed stablecoin. 

This new program will advance the study of blockchain technology and the digital twin uses, changing the way the physical world can value and digitally exchange physical assets. 

The association is based on the seven-year Berkeley-Ripple partnership in the University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI), which doubles the effort into advancing in the digital asset arena.

Transforming the Asset Value and Exchange.

The CDA is an effort to re-architect digital assets by leveraging blockchain and digital twin technologies to develop trusted means of quantifying and trading digitized assets. 

The digital content economy is soaring; a recent IDC 2025 report shows global data is 175 zettabytes, which gives a picture of the enormous potential of developing digital assets. 

The center will study the digital representations of various physical resources, including semiconductors, vehicles, and farms, and be able to value, test, and trade them digitally with precision never before seen. It is to facilitate new economic systems in which there is verifiable value in digital content.

Academia Industry Bridging.

The center will merge the academic excellence of UC Berkeley and the technical expertise of Ripple. The partnership will develop groundbreaking research, education, and entrepreneurship in digital asset technologies. 

Law Berkeley, through this new center, has been at the forefront in terms of research and influence in the industry of digital assets, as highlighted by Ripple researcher Lauren Weymouth. 

It is the first funding of a standalone research facility on the campus at Berkeley, with Ripple indicating the beginning of an intensification of their strategic partnership. 

The center will also debut the Berkeley Digital Asset Accelerator (BDAX), which helps startups working on the XRPL blockchain, with specific cohorts making their way into digital twin technology.

The investment that Ripple makes will support three pillars: collaborative research using world-class facilities; academic and talent development by combining digital asset education across disciplines; and ecosystem development with a goal of global expansion in digital asset communities. 

UC Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons hailed the project as a radical partnership that leads to innovation in financial and digital technology. 

The center will open new opportunities to own assets digitally, trade, and grow economically in the digital era by bridging digital and physical worlds.