As announced on Twitter by the global operations and partnership of Ripple (XRP), Emi Yoshikawa, the University of Tokyo Todai is now also a validator of the nodes of the related blockchain.
京都大学に引き続き、東京大学でもXRP Ledgerのバリデータの運用が開始されました！
「バリデータ」って何？という方、こちらのFAQをご参照下さい👉https://t.co/KTAtecD5GT pic.twitter.com/sQar0TxdL7
— Emi Yoshikawa (@emy_wng) December 2, 2019
This means that Todai is now part of the broader program that Ripple has set up, the University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI) which aims to collaborate with universities around the world: there are currently over 30 facilities in 14 countries around the world, in order to support and accelerate research on blockchain, crypto and digital payments.
Despite being the most important and famous university in Japan, Todai joins the program after the Kyoto University that had already become a validator of XRP nodes and so now there are 2 facilities in Japan that use this technology.
This collaboration will only further expand the influence of crypto in Japan, considering that the country seems very proactive to embrace the technology with many banks using Ripple for cross-border payments.
The XRP mainnet has now more than 1500 validators scattered in 22 countries, although several are under Ripple’s direct control, which could make many people question the decentralisation. In a recent interview Ripple defended itself against these accusations, reiterating that it is a decentralised blockchain.
Although Ripple’s top management is of the opinion that they are far from centralised, the facts show the opposite, especially because at the beginning of the month 1 billion XRP have been poured into the market, over $200 million, to replenish the coffers of investors and exchanges, despite the decline in the value of the crypto.
In any case, Japan is always moving forward with blockchain and crypto technology, investing ever more in Ripple and moving it forward in the academic world. This will only increase their expertise in the field to introduce new students to the blockchain sector.
