Ripple, UC Berkeley Launch UDAX to Scale XRP Startups

2026-01-17 15:41:06

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Ripple and UC Berkeley’s UDAX bridges academic blockchain research with enterprise-grade XRP Ledger deployment.
Ripple engineers worked hands-on with startups to scale compliant, market-ready XRP solutions beyond theory.
Demo Day showed traction as startups launched on XRPL, raised capital, and expanded payments, cards, and tokenization.

Ripple and UC Berkeley launched the University Digital Asset Xcelerator to move academic blockchain work into institutional XRP use. The pilot began in fall 2025 at UC Berkeley and ran six weeks. Ripple engineers, university faculty, and nine startups joined to scale enterprise solutions on the XRP Ledger.

From Academic Research to Market Readiness

The program emerged from Ripple’s University Blockchain Research Initiative, known as UBRI. According to Ripple, UDAX targets gaps between early ideas and deployable products.

Notably, the Berkeley cohort opened with a launch summit on campus. It then continued with weekly development sessions, coaching, and fundraising workshops. However, the structure emphasized execution over theory. Ripple engineers worked directly with founders on XRPL integration.

Faculty and industry experts supported design, compliance, and business modeling. As a result, teams focused on scaling enterprise-grade XRP applications rather than experimental prototypes.

Demo Day Results and Startup Progress

The cohort concluded with a demo day at Ripple’s San Francisco headquarters. Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen and CTO Emeritus David Schwartz addressed founders and investors. Thirteen venture capital firms attended, alongside XRPL core developers and Ripple leadership.

During the program, several teams reported measurable progress. WaveTip migrated to XRPL Mainnet and launched a Chrome extension for Twitch tipping. X-Card onboarded over $1.5 million in collectible inventory. It also secured merchant partnerships representing thousands of collectors.

Expanding Use Cases Across Markets

Beyond payments, teams applied XRP infrastructure to insurance, capital markets, and data platforms. BlockBima tripled active users while refining its fundraising narrative with mentor Andrea Barrica.

CRX Digital Assets increased tokenized volume from $39 million to $58 million. It also tested Brazilian credit exports using Ripple’s payments network. Elsewhere, Blockroll launched stablecoin-backed virtual cards for African freelancers, citing RLUSD momentum.

CEO Sadiq Isiaka said the model supports remittances and global card access. Meanwhile, Spout, EXFIL, Mintara Labs, and WellArrive refined architectures, user growth strategies, and go-to-market plans through targeted mentorship.

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