Mastercard, the leading fintech company, made an announcement on May 15th that five new startups have joined its Start Path Blockchain and Digital Assets program. This program is an accelerator program that focuses on exploring future use cases and scaling new solutions with startups globally.
The startups that have joined the program include Kulipa, a crypto payment and card issuer, Parfin, a blockchain software firm, peaq, a decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePin) firm, Triangle, a data platform, and Venly, a blockchain developer.
In a press release, Mastercard emphasized that this phase of the program will concentrate on use cases and trials to address specific issues. The company only considers high-potential blockchain, digital assets, and Web3 startups for the program. The selected firms will have the opportunity for collaboration, tailored training, and access to Mastercard’s customers and channels during the four-month program.
Start Path, which was launched in 2014, has reportedly supported over 400 startups in 54 countries. Through initiatives like this, Mastercard has become a prominent player in the fintech and blockchain payments industry.
In a previous report by Cointelegraph on May 14th, Mastercard Lab partnered with Israeli fintech firm Kima to develop a “DeFi credit card.” The concept behind this collaboration seems to be combining decentralized finance protocols with the ability to apply for a line of credit.
Additionally, on May 8th, Mastercard announced an alliance with major U.S. banking giants, including Citigroup, Visa, and JP Morgan, to test distributed ledger technology for banking settlements using tokenization.
In April, Mastercard and 1inch introduced a debit card with cryptocurrency-to-fiat bridge functionality, enabling cryptocurrency users to withdraw cash and make point-of-sale payments at locations where debit cards are accepted.
Related: Vanguard has appointed a Bitcoin-friendly former BlackRock executive as its new CEO.