Mastercard’s ‘Next-Gen’ Blockchain Payment Startup

The program by Mastercard for the Next Generation Blockchain Payment Startup has onboarded five startups to conduct trials across a spectrum of payment technologies, spanning from blockchain to Web3

Mastercard, a leader in financial technology, announced the addition of five new startups to its Start Path Blockchain and Digital Assets program on May 15. 

The fintech accelerator program, Start Path Blockchain, and Digital Assets is dedicated to “exploring future use cases to scale new solutions with startups from around the world.”

Blockchain software firm Parfin, decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePin) firm Peaq, data platform Triangle, and blockchain developer Venly have all enrolled in the program. Kulipa is a crypto payment and card issuer.

Mastercard emphasized in a press release that this phase of the initiative would concentrate on use cases and trials to address particular challenges:

According to a Mastercard press release, only “high-potential blockchain, digital assets, and Web3 startups” are considered for the program.

The chosen firms will be granted access to Mastercard’s customers and channels, collaborative opportunities, and customized training throughout a four-month program.

Start Path, allegedly established in 2014, has assisted over 400 enterprises in 54 countries. Mastercard has progressively ascended to the vanguard of the fintech and blockchain payments forum using initiatives such as this.

On May 14, it was reported that Mastercard Lab and the Israeli fintech company Kima collaborated on developing a “DeFi credit card.”

Although not explicitly stated, the fundamental concept involves integrating decentralized financial protocols with the capability to request a line of credit.

Mastercard, Citigroup, Visa, and JP Morgan, among others, announced on May 8 the formation of an alliance with these U.S. banking titans to test distributed ledger technology for banking settlements utilizing tokenization.

A debit card featuring cryptocurrency-to-fiat bridge functionality was introduced in April by Mastercard and 1inch.

This feature enables cryptocurrency users to conduct cash withdrawals and point-of-sale transactions at establishments that accept debit cards.