Mastercard sees the virtual worlds of the metaverse as a way to be more inclusive with financial services.
"We want to engage with people in different ways and give them experiences in these new spaces, from a diversity and inclusion point of view," said Raja Rajamannar, chief marketing and communications officer at Mastercard and its president of health care.
Mastercard is partnering with Decentraland, a virtual world platform that supports a
"It's important to us on two levels," Rajamannar said. "We want the LGTBQ community to be supported. And the second part is the whole idea of Web 3.0, crypto, the metaverse, blockchain and other innovations. It's an exploding area and the opportunities are huge."
Decentraland users buy plots in the platform as nonfungible tokens, or NFTs. NFTs are digital representations of an asset, typically an image or artwork, that resides on and is sold through a blockchain (Decentraland uses the Ethereum blockchain). Decentraland became available to the public in 2020 and is managed by the Decentraland Foundation.
Decentraland launched a permanent digital space for the LGTBQ community in May, and this month is hosting Metaverse Pride, which will feature curated content, entertainment and other digital experiences.
This includes a Metaverse Pride Parade beginning June 11. The parade will be live through the end of June, allowing anyone a chance to witness it when visiting Decentraland. The singer Thalia, the fashion brand Original Penguin and HUG (a community of Web 3.0 creators and collectors) will be part of the parade.
"It takes a lot of courage to go to a pride parade, and some areas aren't allowed to have a parade at all," said Iara Dias, head of Metaverse Pride and senior producer at Decentraland.
The Decentraland Pride event will feature a Mastercard Pride Plaza, hosting conversations with LGBTQ thought leaders, a showcase of NFT wearables from LGBTQ artists and venues to connect with other members of the community. Mastercard Pride Plaza events will also provide a portal for people to send letters to their younger selves, and experience virtual travel.
Other participants in Metaverse Pride include Web 3.0 communities MyBFF, Unicor DAO and Queer Capita, which will support content production and sharing through a decentralzied platform.
Definitions of Web 3.0 vary, but it generally refers to applications powered by distributed ledgers such as blockchain, the technology that underpins Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Blockchains also support financial activities such as cross-border payments and security by using the decentralized model to streamline the transaction flow and vet users.
For Decentraland, the concept allows content to be created and curated in a public venue that it says is well suited for the LGTBQ community.
"It's a different environment, and it represents identity and the ability to meet people all over the world in a safe space," said Martin Shibuya, art director at Decentraland.
The closing gap between the physical and virtual worlds creates an opportunity for brands and communities to ensure that the new space is inclusive, diverse and accepting, Rajamanner said.
"The goal is to provide a safe space for people to participate in this new technology," Rajamannar said.
Mastercard's LGTBQ inclusion efforts include the True Name program, which allows transgender and nonbinary people to use their preferred name on cards. Mastercard found that people often face a negative experience when the name on their card doesn't match their appearance. Mastercard in early 2021
Mastercard has also sponsored and participated in Pride events in New York and other cities, and was part of the
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Mastercard has partnered with football clubs in Europe to offer NFTs and has sponsored digital asset events tied to the Australian Open and the Grammy awards. Mastercard also has a partnership with Coinbase to simplify the buying and selling of NFTs.
Decentraland Pride will provide a chance for Mastercard to view engagement around digital creativity, virtual worlds and other digital assets.
"We don't know how this new technology will shape up and what kind of time frame there is, but it is going to be huge," Rajamannar said.
