Polygon and Mercy Corps Join Forces to Support Marginalized Communities

Polygon Blockchain Network has partnered with Mercy Corps’ investment arm, Mercy Corps Ventures, to offer blockchain solutions to marginalized and low-income communities in developing regions.

Partnership to build blockchain solutions for the marginalized

Polygon announced the new alliance, which aims to bring blockchain and Web3 solutions to “traditionally excluded and marginalized regions,” in a blog post on March 2.

According to the announcement, the partnership will focus on several goals, including providing funds for blockchain pilots to open up the financial system to the unbanked population.

The partnership will also fund hackathons for technology developers serving clients in emerging markets and create promotions for blockchain camps in places where Mercy Corps is active.

The new partnership comes just weeks after Mercy Corps Ventures unveiled Crypto for Good Fund II. The organization has created a fund to create blockchain-based projects to advance global financial inclusion and increase resilience in the face of climate change.

The fund’s initial run began in 2022 and has had about 200 applicants.

Cryptography comes to the aid of disaster victims

Mercy Corps has also participated in several fundraising initiatives from the crypto community to provide assistance following the recent earthquake that devastated areas in Turkey and Syria.

The organization announced that it had received a 50/50 split of the total donations Binance made at the time of around $60,000.

The World Bank estimates that more than 1.6 billion people globally lack checking, savings, or mobile money accounts. In addition, they need help accessing financial services such as insurance, loans, or mortgages.

The cost of financial exclusion is prohibitive. It affects people’s quality of life, prevents them from saving for the future, gives them little protection if they fall ill or lose their livelihood, and leaves them open to usurious and unscrupulous lenders.

Seven of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) cite financial inclusion as a critical component to improving the lives of marginalized people.

Leverage Web3 for financial inclusion

According to Polygon and Mercy Corps, blockchain solutions and Web3 have created a lot of noise, but the underbanked population has yet to feel their impact.

Although there are some actual use cases, most need more quantifiable results to make a business case for the technologies. For this reason, Mercy Corps says it is piloting Web 3 solutions to test and develop the evidence base for promising blockchain innovations that can build financial resilience in disadvantaged people and communities.