Financial technology research and education at U-M will get a boost with $1 million from Ripple’s University Blockchain Research Initiative. The funding will support academic research, technical development, and innovation in blockchain, cryptocurrency, and digital payments. Ripple enables global money transfers using blockchain.
With the funds, U-M will establish the FinTech Collaboratory to build curricula in the booming area, as well use cases for cryptocurrencies in new applications. The collaboratory, housed in the Center for Smart Infrastructure Finance, will be an interdisciplinary forum that includes engineering, business, public policy, and economics.
“The most important thing this funding allows us to do is integrate the engineering and data science with finance and policy to craft financial models to fund infrastructure, developing models to close the infrastructure finance gap,” said Peter Adriaens, director of the Center for Smart Infrastructure Finance and professor of civil and environmental engineering and finance. “These solutions will democratize access to infrastructure and level the playing field between the rich and poor.”
