Mastercard, one of the The world’s largest financial payment providers, is launching a web3-focused incubator to help artists connect with fans through a new medium, the company shared at CES 2023 on Friday.

“The core of this program is to provide emerging artists with the web3 tools and skills they need to excel and advance their music careers in this digital economy,” Raja Rajamannar, Mastercard’s director of marketing and communications, told TechCrunch. “By providing access to experts and innovators in the space, artists will be guided on how to incorporate web3 into their work throughout the program and beyond.”

Mastercard partnered with Polygon, a scalable blockchain built on top of Ethereum, which has made great strides in the Web 2.0 ecosystem of late. Last year, Polygon partnered with several other big brands like Starbucks for its Odyssey digital collectible rewards program and Disney for its accelerator program, while major clothing brands like Prada and Adidas launched NFT projects through their retail chain. blocks.

After joining the incubator, participating artists should know how to coin NFTs, represent themselves in virtual worlds, and establish a community, Rajamannar said. “We see that web3 holds great promise for artists and creators to create, own and monetize their content, but only if they know how to take advantage of it.”

This announcement points to the company’s expansion into the world of digital assets, as it has joined forces with several cryptocurrency-focused companies to launch credit cards and partnered with Coinbase to help expand the NFT ecosystem, among other things.

“Last year was a big one for us, with experimental web3 activations all over the world,” said Rajamannar.

For example, Mastercard hosted the first week of the Grammys with Roblox in the Metaverse, providing immersive activations, in-game branding, artist meet-and-greets, red carpet photo opportunities and more.

In the past, high-level Mastercard employees have expressed their optimistic sentiments towards the crypto space.

“I feel like once you get the momentum to get an institution up and running, it’s hard to get them to turn their heads and spin,” Grace Berkery, Mastercard’s director of startup engagement, said at Benzinga’s Future of Crypto event in December. “So yes [institutions are] They are going to enter, they are going to stay in space.”