Ripple bids for dominance in Asia with new blockchain fund

Ripple is eyeing further growth in the Asia-Pacific region with a new fund for Japan and Korea.

The company announced on Tuesday that the XRPL Japan and Korea Fund will target blockchain innovation across the region via the XRP Ledger. Ripple’s news in Asia comes after the company partnered with Georgia’s national bank to promote digitization of the country’s economy. The firm also announced it closed its acquisition of Standard Custody.

Ripple launches new Japan and Korea fund

Ripple’s XRP Ledger is a decentralized, public blockchain built for business and powers the XRP cryptocurrency.

XRP and XRPL are integral to Ripple’s cross-border payments and remittances ecosystem and the company’s launch of the Asia-focused fund could spark further adoption. The fund will focus on initiatives such as corporate partnership, grants for developers, startup investments and community growth.

The XRPL Japan and Korea Fund aligns with Ripple’s endeavour to promote crypto and blockchain ecosystems across the globe, and will tap into the company’s 1 billion XRP commitment to this vision.

Japan and Korea are “pivotal regional hubs for blockchain innovation” and key to this goal, Emi Yoshikawa, Ripple VP for strategic initiatives noted in a statement.

XRP boost? Ripple to invest millions in regions

As part of the program, Ripple will provide developers building on XRP Ledger financial, technical and corporate support.

The company plans to use its XRPL Grants and XRPL Accelerator programs to offer these benefits, with a “significant” amount of the 1 billion XRP earmarked for this.

Ripple will thus be investing tens of millions of dollars’ worth of XRP in this initiative, likely bolstering its adoption in countries that are increasingly becoming major crypto hubs.

Among inroads in the region include Ripple’s launch deployment of its XRPL technology to the Japanese supply chain market, achieving this via a partnership with Tokyo-based HashKey DX.

The company has also partnered with financial behemoth SBI Holdings since 2016 when they launched SBI Ripple Asia. Several banks and financial service providers have also penned deals with Ripple, potentially putting XRP on the path to unprecedented adoption.