Ripple’s University Blockchain Research Initiative is focusing on how to improve privacy in the Ripple network.
Stefanie Roos, Assistant Professor at Delft University of Technology, leads the university’s work to develop flexible anonymity solutions for blockchain-based business payments. The goal is to let companies pursue innovation without exposing sensitive operational or financial information.
Roos is part of the University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI), a Ripple program that funds and supports universities worldwide in researching blockchain technology, building projects, and developing curricula in fintech and banking.
Ripple provides its partners with financial and technical resources. Institutions are chosen based on the potential impact of their research, along with attention to geographic and disciplinary diversity.
Ripple is examining privacy challenges
Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands is researching privacy challenges inherent to blockchain networks and cryptocurrencies, including the mistaken belief that anonymity is simply a matter of using a pseudonym or wallet address rather than a broader privacy design.
Roos explained, “Think of systems where anonymity is temporal. You get privacy for the time that you need it. If you want to have transparency later on, you can reveal the relevant cryptographic keys to demonstrate that you complied with regulatory requirements, show off your high-quality suppliers or to prove a patent case.”
Many users view cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin as tools for maintaining privacy because wallets generally do not contain personal details. However, the inherent transparency of most blockchain systems becomes a serious problem once a link between an individual and a wallet is discovered by a third party.
Privacy supports safety online
As data breaches increase and users and system designers struggle to keep accounts secure, privacy research is increasingly important to protect individuals and organizations.
Some of Roos’s students are working on research that explores the XRP Ledger’s potential to provide anonymity at scale. Their work examines consensus algorithms and performs vulnerability testing to understand how privacy features hold up in large deployments.
“The two students obviously benefit from the UBRI grant, which will fund their PhDs, but they’re also able to talk with people at Ripple about their ideas and whether they could actually be part of the system,” Roos said.
Through UBRI, Ripple enables students to pursue academic research while helping expand the options for implementing privacy-preserving applications on top of the XRP Ledger.