Billionaire couple donates $25M in XRP to San Francisco State University

A landmark crypto gift returns to the spotlight

San Francisco State University’s $25 million XRP-linked donation from Chris Larsen, Lyna Lam and the Rippleworks Foundation stands out because it connected three worlds that usually move at different speeds: cryptocurrency markets, university fundraising and long-horizon public education [1]. The gift, announced in April 2019, was directed to the university’s College of Business and was described by recent coverage as one of the largest cryptocurrency contributions to U.S. higher education at the time [1]. Its renewed attention on September 7, 2026, is not about a newly announced grant, but about the continuing significance of a digital-asset donation that helped reshape the profile of SF State’s business school [1].

The donors were not anonymous crypto speculators. Larsen, an SF State alumnus who earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1984, co-founded Ripple and became one of the best-known figures associated with XRP; Lam and the Rippleworks Foundation joined him in making the university gift [1]. Recent reports describe the couple as self-made billionaires and emphasize that the donation was made largely in XRP, rather than through a conventional all-cash transfer [1]. That structure is what made the gift notable beyond its headline dollar value: it showed that a university could receive a major philanthropic commitment tied to a digital asset and direct it toward mainstream academic priorities.

What the donation funded

The $25 million contribution established the Chris Larsen and Lyna Lam Funds for the College of Business, with the stated purpose of strengthening the college’s ability to respond to changes in the business sector and prepare students for careers as innovators and entrepreneurs [1]. That framing matters. The gift was not simply a symbolic crypto handoff; it was tied to institutional capacity, curriculum relevance and student opportunity.

Recent accounts say the gift supported new initiatives focused on innovation, entrepreneurship and financial technology [1]. Coverage also identifies five specific initiatives associated with the donation: the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative, the Emerging and Developing Economies Initiative, the Financial Technology Initiative, the Business and Education Technology Initiative, and the Centre for Workforce of the Future [2]. Together, those areas show how the university sought to turn donor capital into academic infrastructure. The initiatives connected the donation to practical questions: how students learn entrepreneurship, how they understand fintech, how business education adapts to emerging economies and how graduates prepare for the workplace ahead.

The donation also established the Lam-Larsen Fund for Global Innovation, designed to bring students, faculty, alumni and outside experts together across disciplines [1]. Recent reporting describes the fund as a vehicle for idea exchange, entrepreneurship and work on practical problems, while also encouraging global awareness and responsible business leadership [1]. In other words, the gift was framed not only as a financial milestone but as a programmatic intervention in what business education should look like.

Why XRP mattered

The XRP component made the gift distinct. According to recent coverage citing the university’s account, the contribution was SF State’s first digital asset donation and ranked among the largest digital asset gifts made to a U.S. university at the time [1]. That point is central to the story. Universities often receive gifts through cash, appreciated securities, real estate or bequests. A large XRP-denominated gift forced the same philanthropic machinery to engage with a different asset class.

That does not mean the university was turning itself into a crypto project. The funds were directed toward ordinary university goals: business education, innovation programs, student preparation and institutional development [1]. The more important lesson is that digital assets can serve as a bridge between newly created technology wealth and older civic institutions. In this case, XRP was not presented as an end in itself; it was the funding mechanism behind a public university business school’s long-term ambitions.

Recent reports also note that the use of XRP distinguished the contribution from conventional university donations made through traditional assets [1]. This distinction is important for nonprofit finance. A large digital-asset gift can bring visibility and urgency, but it also raises questions about valuation, timing, risk and conversion. The SF State case became a reference point because it showed that such a gift could be translated into named funds, academic initiatives and an institutional renaming.

The Lam Family College of Business

One of the most visible outcomes was the renaming of the College of Business as the Lam Family College of Business [1]. Recent coverage says California State University announced the name in recognition of the Lam-Larsens’ long-term support and generosity [3]. The renaming turned a crypto-linked donation into a permanent campus marker, connecting the family name not only to the size of the gift but also to a broader history of giving.

The couple’s relationship with SF State did not begin with the $25 million contribution. Recent reporting says Larsen and Lam had supported the university since 2001 and had previously contributed more than $800,000 to scholarships, education, science and business initiatives across the institution [1]. Those earlier gifts included support for the Chris Larsen Scholarship Fund in the Graduate College of Education and initiatives in the Biology Department within the College of Science and Engineering [1]. That record makes the XRP donation look less like a one-off publicity event and more like the largest expression of an existing donor relationship.

The naming also carried personal meaning. Recent accounts link the Lam Family College of Business name to Lyna Lam’s family history, including her father Quang Lam’s escape with his family from war and genocide in Cambodia before time in refugee camps in Thailand and the Philippines and eventual immigration to the United States [1]. The university’s account, as summarized in current coverage, says the name honored Lyna’s family at Chris Larsen’s recommendation [1]. That detail gives the donation a layered identity: it was a crypto gift, an alumni gift, a family tribute and an investment in public higher education.

A public university and private technology wealth

The SF State gift is especially notable because it went to a public university. Public universities rely on a blend of state support, tuition, research funding, grants and philanthropy. A $25 million gift can be transformative not only because of its size but because it gives a college room to launch programs that might otherwise be difficult to fund at scale.

Recent coverage describes the contribution as a lead gift for SF State’s BOLD Thinking campaign, which was more than 90 percent funded when the donation was announced [1]. That campaign context matters because large gifts often do more than cover expenses. They can validate a fundraising drive, attract attention from other donors and clarify institutional priorities. In this case, the priority was business education with a strong emphasis on innovation, entrepreneurship, fintech and workforce development [2].

The gift also illustrates how wealth generated in the technology and crypto sectors can return to local institutions. Larsen’s link to SF State as an alumnus gave the donation a geographic and educational anchor [1]. Rather than funding a narrowly crypto-native institution, the gift went to a broad-access university serving students in the Bay Area, including many who may be first-generation, working, commuter or public-university students. That makes the donation’s symbolism larger: digital asset wealth was converted into support for a conventional educational mission.

Philanthropy, adoption and caution

It would be easy to read the donation as a simple endorsement of XRP. The better reading is more nuanced. The gift showed that XRP could be used in a major philanthropic transaction, and recent coverage continues to present it as one of the largest digital-asset gifts to a university in the United States at the time [1]. That is a meaningful adoption signal. But the ultimate measure of the gift is not the token itself; it is whether the capital strengthened teaching, programming and opportunity at SF State.

For universities, crypto-linked gifts require governance. Even when a donation is welcomed, administrators must think about valuation, liquidity, compliance and risk. The SF State story remains relevant because it sits at the intersection of enthusiasm and institutional discipline. A public university cannot treat a digital-asset donation like a social-media event. It must translate the gift into budgets, programs, faculty support, student resources and durable academic outcomes.

The Larsen-Lam gift therefore belongs in a broader conversation about how new forms of wealth enter public institutions. It highlights XRP’s role in a major philanthropic act, but it also shows that the receiving institution’s mission determines the gift’s public value [3]. A token transfer may make headlines; scholarships, initiatives, faculty work and student pathways are what make the donation matter over time.

The bottom line

The $25 million XRP-linked donation to San Francisco State University remains a defining example of crypto philanthropy in U.S. higher education. Recent reports identify Chris Larsen, Lyna Lam and the Rippleworks Foundation as the donors, describe the gift as largely made in XRP, and connect it to the establishment of business-school funds, five new initiatives and the renaming of the College of Business as the Lam Family College of Business [1][2][3].

Its significance is not only that it was large. It was large, public, programmatic and tied to a digital asset whose use in philanthropy still attracts attention. For SF State, the gift helped fund business education and innovation. For XRP, it offered a high-profile example of use beyond trading. For higher education, it remains a case study in how universities can receive emerging forms of wealth while keeping the focus on students, academic programs and public purpose.

Developments

1. Billionaire Couple Donates $25M in XRP to San Francisco State UniversityThe Times of India · Sep 7, 2026, 7:00 AM UTC · 9/10

Sources from the last 72 hours

1. [1]A self-made billionaire couple gave San Francisco State University $25 million in XRP, one of the largest crypto donations to US higher education | World News - The Times of IndiaSep 7, 2026, 7:00 AM UTC
2. [2]$25 Million XRP Donation Boosts San Francisco State University's Business Program | GuavySep 7, 2026, 12:00 AM UTC
3. [3]A self-made billionaire couple gave San Francisco State University: The wider industry impactSep 7, 2026, 12:00 AM UTC

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