Mastercard spearheads new Web3 and crypto community alongside leading industry voices to make emerging tech more accessible to women and non-binary individuals

The Belle Block™ industry group to focus on education, conversation and building for the future

Mastercard, alongside leading industry influencers, today announces the launch of The Belle Block™, a new community focused on educating and empowering women and non-binary individuals to benefit from Web3 technology and crypto. Mastercard believes in the power of technology and its ability to build a better future that includes everyone. The technology company is creating a platform that prioritizes education, listening and learning from a diverse community - bringing more people into the digital ecosystem safely and securely.

“We are energized to collaborate, listen and co-innovate in support of business and consumer needs,” said Jorn Lambert, Chief Digital Officer, Mastercard. “Today marks the start of an exciting and forward-thinking journey to together bring more women and underserved communities to the table in the Web3 and crypto world.”

Today’s crypto climate allows for a joint opportunity to look ahead, inform, and give more people the choice to explore and engage in the crypto ecosystem and better understand the power of blockchain as an underlying technology to build a better future. Today women and men are using crypto for similar reasons - investing, buying, trading and opening wallets. In fact, 75% of women who are familiar with crypto agree they would use it more if they understood it better.*

Powered by Mastercard’s Global Crypto and Blockchain team, this new group focuses on partnering with the Web3 community and those interested in joining to educate more women and focus on delivering on the key building blocks of The Belle Block’s mission: Business Growth, Education, Leadership, Legal & Regulatory Advocacy and Entrepreneurship.

Mastercard recently launched its 2022 New Payments Index, a global survey among 35,000+ consumers in 40 countries, which found those already familiar with the crypto space, women especially, have a heightened interest in expanding their knowledge. Nine out of 10 women have heard of cryptocurrency, but their current understanding of crypto and digital asset terminology is less robust than men, including non-fungible tokens (NFTs) – 58% of women are aware vs. 75% of men, blockchain – 51% of women are aware vs. 71% of men, central bank digital currencies (CBDC) – 59% of women are aware vs. 69% of men, and stablecoins – 51% of women are aware vs. 65% of men.* There is a clear opportunity to engage women by initiating a platform to inform, exchange and educate to help bridge this gender gap.

As part of NFT.NYC Week, Mastercard is excited to bring together four Web3 industry leaders to help kickoff the launch of The Belle Block. Maggie Love of SheFi, Candace Stewart of HerHouse, Cynthia Huang of Blu3 DAO, and Deana Burke of Boys Club will candidly share their stories, industry expertise and insights.

Hear from these leaders and advocates:

Deana Burke, co-Founder of Boys Club said, “Web3 represents a tremendous opportunity to create new avenues for value creation and ownership, especially for women and other historically underserved communities, who have been excluded from the opportunity to do so in past innovation cycles. We have the chance to change that now if we are intentional about bringing new people to the table while Web3 is still in its design phase.”

Cynthia Huang, founder of Blu3DAO said, “It's the perfect moment for DAOs to make their mark. Culturally, people are looking for new models of work and community because of COVID, when people really rethought their ways of living and their priorities. That's why it's been so powerful to launch Blu3 DAO and see our community respond so passionately because they resonate with our vision and mission. It's wonderful to see all these female focused DAOs working together to bring in more diversity to the Web3 space and the launch of The Belle Block is a huge validation of all the work we're doing in this space. I'm really looking forward to what we all accomplish together in the future.”

Maggie Love, founder of SheFi said, “SheFi empowers women to unlock financial freedom through crypto education, experimentation and a global community. We know that financial empowerment is critical in a world where women face systemic inequalities when it comes to rights, economics, access and opportunities. While money is not a silver bullet for solving all problems, we believe that women can start to unlock opportunities across all areas of their lives, including overall health and wellbeing, when they are financially empowered.”

Candace Stewart, co-Founder of HerHouse said, “HerHouse was founded with the intention of breaking down the barriers that prevent women from pursuing meaningful Web3 skill sets. We are entrepreneurs, innovators, and creatives from all over the world who have joined forces in the HerHouse community to create together, leveraging shared tools and resources that promote collaboration and cross-pollination. We are excited to share our vision and be a part of the launch of The Belle Block.”

Mastercard’s Commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI):

Mastercard’s ongoing commitment to financial and social inclusion is at the intersection of innovation and technology. Recent work includes its LGBTQIA+ Pride Month Your True Self is Priceless campaign, new non-binary community research in 16 markets across Europe and North America, and the release of its refreshed Gender Balance initiative on the 50th anniversary of Title IX.

Source:
*Research conducted by The Harris Poll and Mastercard Global Foresights, Insights and Analytics from March 21 to April 21, 2022. Online interviews were conducted among 35,040 global adults (17,071 women, 17,969 men) and includes nationally representative samples from markets across 5 regions.