Mastercard Selects Seven Cryptocurrency Startups to Join Start Path Accelerator

International payments giant Mastercard continues to focus on the digital asset industry and has selected a group of major cryptocurrency startups to join its financial technology accelerator.
The company announced a new startup engagement program on Tuesday as part of its fintech startup accelerator program Mastercard Start Path, aimed at supporting companies working in digital assets, cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.
Seven new startups have been added to the program, including digital wallet and exchange platform Uphold, cryptocurrency storage company GK8, US investment platform Domain Money, blockchain oracle startup SupraOracles, blockchain infrastructure provider STACS, digital asset company Taurus, and Mintable, a marketplace for issuing and trading non-forgeable tokens (NFTs).
The company noted that the new additions are in line with Mastercard’s commitment to expand and accelerate innovation in digital asset technology and enable cryptocurrency investors to gain additional security.
As part of the program, each cryptocurrency startup will solve a unique challenge with the support of Mastercard's expertise to further grow and develop its solution. The company said that the newly admitted startups will use the program to connect with Mastercard's ecosystem of banks, merchants, partners and digital players around the world to provide new solutions.
Jess Turner, executive vice president of digital infrastructure and financial technology at Mastercard, stressed that the company has been involved in the digital currency ecosystem since 2015. "We believe we can play a key role in digital assets, helping to shape the industry and provide consumer protection and security. Part of our role is to shape the future of cryptocurrency, and we are doing this by connecting mainstream financial principles with digital asset innovation," she said.
Mastercard's Start Path accelerator, launched in 2014, is a six-month accelerator program that helps startups scale and commercialize their products and services. According to the announcement, more than 250 startups have participated in the program since its launch. Earlier this year, Mastercard Start Path added six other financial technology and digital asset-related startups, including Moeda Seeds.
The news comes shortly after Mastercard revealed plans to update its cryptocurrency card program, enabling traditional banks to offer cryptocurrency-enabled cards within Mastercard’s existing payment network.
In further increasing its push into the digital asset industry, Mastercard echoes the steps of its main rival company Visa. In its latest cryptocurrency update in early July, Visa stated that it will continue to support the development of the cryptocurrency industry as part of its business, reporting that its cryptocurrency-enabled cards processed more than $1 billion in total spending in the first half of 2021.