This spring marked Cohort 3.0 of the XRPL Student Builder Residency (SBR), a program run by Ripple's University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI) that supports the development of the next generation of blockchain developers through global university partnerships.
SBR 3.0 brought together an elite cohort of student builders from universities around the world to imagine, build, and ship new use cases on the XRP Ledger.
The 14 selected students built leveraging Smart Escrows (XLS-100), Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin, interoperability primitives, the new Lending Protocol (XLS-66), and more.
Project Focus
From lending protocols to cross-border payment rails, here's what the cohort shipped:
Atlas (Sankara Wigneswaran, ESILV Paris): An overcollateralized lending protocol built on the XRP Ledger.
Cascrow (Paul Wagner & Jan-Niklas Möller, EBS University): An AI-powered verification and escrow platform on XRPL that automates RLUSD payouts once milestone proof is validated.
ShipSure (Hassene Ezzeddine, ETH Zurich): A trustless cross-chain escrow platform that automatically releases XRP payments to sellers only when real-world FedEx delivery is cryptographically verified on-chain via Flare's Data Connector.
Returnee (Sejal Jain, Cornell Tech): A smart package drop-off box for apartment buildings that gives residents an instant refund the moment the courier verifies their return.
Zipp (Antonio Meneses, IE Madrid): Automates cross-border supplier payments for Latin American importers using AI invoice extraction and XRPL settlement.
TerraSwap (Youssef Jeddi, EPFL-ETHZ): A stablecoin DEX on XRPL where compliance is enforced at the protocol level through credential-gated Permissioned Domains.
Verix (Sumit Shinde, National University of Singapore): A trustless task settlement for AI agents.
Sidiq - صِدِّيق (Madiha Zafar, University of Birmingham): A decentralized interest-free lending protocol on the XRP Ledger, giving underserved communities access to Qard Hasan microloans.
UniPay (Junaid Oozeerally, NYU Abu Dhabi): A blockchain-based payment and escrow platform on XRPL that enables students across the world to securely and instantly access international educational services.
PayTrace (Ranjana K. Kodandaraman, University of Birmingham): A real-time cross-border payment intelligence layer for SMEs that provides end-to-end settlement visibility and invoice matching powered by the XRP Ledger.
DropIn (Aaron Zheng, University of Pittsburgh): A per-article micropayment platform where readers pay cents to unlock individual articles instead of committing to monthly subscriptions. Publishers set their own prices and receive instant payments directly via the XRPL.
SafiPoints (Enock Mecheo, NYU Abu Dhabi): A blockchain-powered loyalty platform where restaurants issue and redeem verifiable loyalty tokens on the XRP Ledger, and customers earn and claim rewards via SMS with no app download and no crypto knowledge required.
Freeway (Irene del Carmen Gracia Perez, IE University): A turnkey API gateway that lets developers monetize their endpoints using XRP prepaid credits.
Beyond the Code: What Four Weeks can Do
Most students came in as XRPL beginners. Four weeks later, nearly all were shipping independently on-chain. According to self-assessments, the students’ developer skills increased by an average of 52% and their knowledge of blockchain technology grew 98%.
Beyond the numbers, the students shared deeper wins and takeaways. In their own words:
"Made my first (and not last) project on XRPL." — Youssef
"Built a much stronger introduction to blockchain through a real end-to-end product." — Sejal
"Met with incredibly successful and driven people. It motivated me to work harder and become a better developer." — Junaid
92% of participants said they were proud of what they accomplished throughout the residency, and almost all are sure they’ll continue building. Nearly every student noted they hope to support the program in the future through peer mentorship as it continues to grow and create new opportunities for others.
Beyond generating creative XRPL projects or new use cases, the Student Builder Residency is about supporting young builders developing cutting-edge technology while paving the paths for others to follow them.
Looking To The Future
Across three cohorts, the Student Builder Residency has produced 40+ high-quality projects built on the XRP Ledger, shipped by students from 28 universities across the globe.
The next generation of developers is already building solutions for the future of financial technology. Between classes and exams, they’ve been hard at work ideating, innovating, and iterating infrastructure for the internet of value.
This program could not have been possible without the dedicated mentors Tushar Pardhe (WellArrive), Modupe Diyaolu (meCash), Ashley Rho (Ripple), Sree Sanakkayala (CoverMax), Dhruv Shah (Flare), Filip Koprivec (Flare), and Satyam Singh.
We are especially grateful for the support of this year’s peer mentors and program alumni Stan Stelcher (SBR 1.0), Alex Salsali (SBR 2.0), and Nischay Rawal (SBR 2.0) who have been integral in shaping the culture and community of the Student Builder Residency across all three cohorts.
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