Another day, another payment giant on the crypto news. Mastercard has announced that it will join forces with five startups as part of the blockchain-focused version of its “Start Path” business accelerator program.
The handful of companies joining the program are Ava Labs, Envel, Kash, LVL, and NiftyKey.
Envel is an AI-focused mobile banking app, Kash is a peer-to-peer savings platform, LVL is a Bitcoin-focused banking app, and NiftyKey is a crypto reward platform.
Most relevant to crypto investors, however, is likely to be Ava Labs, the company that founded and developed one of the most respected Layer 1 smart contract platforms in the industry – Avalanche (AVAX).
Just outside the top 10 by market cap, Avalanche is a strong competitor to Ethereum, Solana, and Cardano and has built a thriving DeFi ecosystem valued at around $ 12.4 billion (TVL) in a relatively short period of time. , according to the DeFi Lama.
Ava Labs was selected to join Mastercard Start Path (@MAstartpath) Crypto, a startup engagement program dedicated to researching and solving ways in which blockchain technology can democratize use cases for people and businesses around the world : //t.co/8iApOz86cY
– Ava Labs 🔺 (@avalabsofficial) December 9, 2021
Mastercard’s Start Path program isn’t new – it’s been around since 2014 with the general goal of helping startups scale and grow in the later stages. However, the focus on crypto and blockchain launch paths is a relatively new initiative aimed at promoting blockchain use cases from the “real world”.
According to Mastercard, the founders of the crypto and blockchain companies participating in the program will aim to address a variety of “pain points” related to asset tokenization, data accuracy, digital security and seamless access between traditional and digital Tackle economy.
“The past year has seen incredible momentum in the world of crypto assets, from the explosion of NFTs to the piloting of central bank digital currencies in countries around the world,” said Jess Turner, Executive Vice President of New Digital Infrastructure & FinTech at Mastercard said. “With a view to the next developments, the aim is to find new use cases and problems that blockchain technology can solve now and in the future.
“Whether it’s improving financial freedom or a new value-added service with stablecoins, we believe that our new cohorts of Start Path crypto and digital asset companies, combined with Mastercard’s expertise in this area, will give them access to new ones Payment options and prioritization of choice will accelerate for consumers and businesses. “
Other current Mastercard crypto movements
The payment giant (and its main rival Visa) have made strong strides in the crypto and blockchain sector this year. Some of his more recent developments include:
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