Financial payment giant Mastercard launched the Financial Technology Accelerator Program "Start Path Blockchain and Digital Assets" in July 2021 to expand innovative solutions and accelerate blockchain innovation. Therefore, Mastercard announced today that it plans to add five new startups for this purpose.
The new companies joining the plan include cryptocurrency payment and card issuer Kulipa, blockchain software company Parafin, decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePin) company Peaq, data platform Triangle, and blockchain developer Venly.
Mastercard stated that the focus of this planning phase will be on application cases and experiments to address specific issues: each currency form, from regulated currencies to bank deposits, to stablecoins and CBDCs, has a specific purpose. Mastercard is collaborating with industry experts and fintech companies to explore differentiated use cases that can help solve real-world problems.
According to the press release, The Start Path Blockchain and Digital Assets program collaborates with highly potential blockchain, digital assets, and Web3 startups. The selected companies have the opportunity to collaborate with Mastercard, provide customized training, and engage with Mastercard customers and channels in a four month program.
The Start Path program began in 2014 and has reportedly provided support to over 400 startups in 54 countries/regions. Through such programs, Mastercard has steadily advanced to the forefront of fintech and blockchain payments.
Frequent layout in the blockchain payment field
Mastercard has been frequently expanding into the blockchain payment field recently. For example, this month Mastercard Lab and Israeli fintech company Kima announced a partnership to develop DeFi credit cards. Although it was not explicitly stated, the main concept seems to be to combine the DeFi protocol with applying for credit limits.
Mastercard also announced on the 8th that it will collaborate with Citibank American banking giants, including Visa and JPMorgan Chase, have formed an alliance to explore centralized settlement of multiple types of assets on a single platform using decentralized ledger technology.
In April of this year, the decentralized aggregation trading platform 1 inch Network collaborated with cryptocurrency payment companies Baanx and Mastercard to launch a Web3 signing financial card 1 inch Card, allowing users to instantly exchange cryptocurrency for fiat currency payments.