• Mastercard builds its new Web3 program designed to help underground artists in Polygon.
• Polygon, one step ahead of Solana, pays $3 million to two Solana NFT projects to move to its platform.

Leading payment network processor Mastercard is diving into the Web3 industry with an innovative new program aimed at empowering artists. To help execute his plan and bring his vision to life, Mastercard is turning to the Polygon blockchain for support.

The program, called the Mastercard Artist Accelerator, was created specifically to bring emerging studios to the fore. Built on the polygon blockchain, the program will use Web3 and Blockchain to help artists with branding.

According to a recent blog post on the official Polygon website, the Photon will go live in the spring of this year. It will usher in five artists, ranging from DJs to musicians to music producers, and arm them with the tools and skills needed to pivot into the digital economy.

“Artists will get exclusive access to special events, music releases and more. A one-of-a-kind curriculum will teach artists how to build (and own) their brand through Web3 experiences like coining NFTs, representing themselves in virtual worlds, and establishing an engaged community.” Polygon revealed in blog post.

Fans of the artists will also have access to join the past and learn with the artists. Ryan Watts, the CEO of Polygon Studios spoke about the impact Web3 could have on artists’ careers.

“Web3 has the potential to empower a new type of artist who can grow a fan base, earn a living, and introduce novel means of self-expression and connection on their own terms,” said Ryan Wyatt.

Polygon’s involvement with Mastercard certainly brings a lot of publicity to the blockchain. It further reinforces recent statements by Ryan Watts, who called Polygon studios a funnel for consumer brands looking to jump into the Web3 market.

“We’ve created this great funnel for partners to come through and make Polygon onboarding really seamless.” added Watts.

Polígono overthrows Solana to welcome two new migrants into its chain

Polygon has been making the rounds in the NFT community after two major NFT projects in the Solana NFT marketplace branched out to the Polygon network.

Overthrowing its blockchain rival Solana, Polygon will soon welcome the arrival of both projects.

The DeGods and Yoots digital art collections, both built by DeLabs, revealed in December last year that they would both move from Solana to Polygon in the first quarter of 2023.

Read more: Solana Takes a Big Hit When DeGods and Y00ts Plan to Switch to Ethereum and Polygon

Revealing more details behind his decision, project lead Rohun Vora, known on Twitter as @frankdegods, noted that Polygon wired him $3 million to migrate.

Here’s a screenshot of our last @y00tsNFT Discord announcement. pic.twitter.com/qWxjBsexv6

—Frank III (@frankdegods) January 6, 2023

The payment is expected to fund the growth of the DeLabs team, while helping it launch larger projects and dominate the market.