One major new member is Mastercard, in addition to the card network other new members include the innovation arms of payments start-up Ripple and crypto exchange Binance; and representatives from Neo, KuCoin and Ethereum scaling solution Matic Network.
The new members will be joining the existing thirteen companies including Stellar, TRON and Wanchain who joined the initiative when it was announced in October 2019.
The Blockchain Education Alliance is apart of the university program by MouseBelt. The initiative aims to train the next generation of blockchain developers across the globe in more than eighty student associations. Members of the group offer funding and educational aids to help both students and professors to develop curriculums and stay up to date with industry developments and progress.
Ashlie Meredith, director of MouseBelt University commented:
The members all share our ethos: The best way to invest in the space is to make long-term investments in education,
She added,
The better the education, the better developers and projects we will see.
The Blockchain Education Alliance initially began as an affiliation of more than 13 universities in North America, it has now expanded to include an estimated 70 schools across America, Asia and Europe.
Head of developer relations at Ripple’s Xpring incubator Warren Paul Anderson commented that joining the alliance allowed it to prepare prospective developers with the skills and resources they need. Anderson commented:
“Mousebelt’s mission to promote blockchain technology at the curriculum level within universities is directly aligned with that of Xpring,”
The new companies that have joined the alliance strengthen the cause. Mastercard is one of the worlds largest payment providers, the company handles more than $14 trillion worth of payments every year. Over the past few years, the company has made several forays into the area of blockchain technology. One of the most notable is as one of the founding members of Facebook’s Libra Association.
This alliance comes at a time when demand for blockchain jobs are higher than even with blockchain being the most sought-after skill in 2020. Due to this students continue to call for education in blockchain.