Ripple, one of the best know blockchain startups, announced on Wednesday plans to invest $25 million of its own XRP currency into Blockchain Capital, a firm wholly dedicated to the blockchain environment.
Ripple Puts $25 Million in Fund to Develop Blockchain Startups
Blockchain Capital Parallel IV, LP is the first fund to take capital in the form of cryptocurrency as well as one of the first dedicated solely to the development of blockchain based startups.
Currently, Ripple’s technology is mostly being used to allow real-time transaction settlements for banks. The company has announced partnerships with many of the major money transfer companies in the US, including MoneyGram and Western Union.
Fund to Drive Blockchain Entrepreneurship
Johnson has compared the future of Blockchain technology to what was built off of the iPhone’s software, which has become the base for some of the most successful startups in the world.
“When I got my iPhone I did not think the killer app would be Uber, the most valuable private company in the world … I don’t know what the best use of XRP is going to be, and I hope it’s something we can’t even think of.”
Ripple is aiming at seeing that same kind of relationship happening between their established technology and entrepreneurs who can use it to build companies with funding from the Blockchain Capital fund.
Johnson concedes in the CNBC interview that if the next breakthrough startup is using XRP that it’s going to boost the company valuation. “If somebody starts the next Uber, or Instagram or Salesforce using XRP, that would be great for us,” Johnson said.
“As pioneers in the blockchain sector, we have been on the frontlines and in the trenches with our portfolio companies, like Ripple, building a new crypto ecosystem. There are entire verticals — such as healthcare or identity management — that could benefit from blockchain or distributed ledger technology.”
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