Cryptocurrency Polygon’s MATIC price on Friday jumped over 10% to $0.70, after surging 21% on Thursday in the wake of Disney’s announcement that Polygon was one of the six companies that have been selected for a business-development accelerator program.

“The implications for Polygon are significant, given that it was the only blockchain provider chosen," Walter Teng, digital-asset strategy associate at Fundstrat, wrote in a note Thursday. Since Disney “hasn’t invested or built an in-house crypto solution, the accelerator marks its foray into the digital-asset space."

The rally in MATIC is a rare bit of good news for cryptocurrencies, which have struggled in recent months amid Federal Reserve rate hikes to quell inflation, a souring of risk appetite and high-profile meltdowns involving the Terra/Luna ecosystem and hedge fund Three Arrows Capital.

MATIC itself, which was co-founded by Sandeep Nailwal and counts billionaire Mark Cuban as a mentor, is about 75% below its record high in December. But such announcements from a blue-chip company like Disney can raise expectations for greater potential backing and adoption.

“As crypto onboards its next 100 million users, it is perhaps apt to consider partnerships and mainstream exposure," Teng said.

"This year’s Disney Accelerator class is focused on building the future of immersive experiences and specializes in technologies such as augmented reality (AR), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and artificial intelligence (AI) characters," Disney said in a statement. The companies selected for the 2022 Disney Accelerator program are Flickplay, Inworld, Lockerverse, Obsess, Polygon, and Red 6.

Polygon, which had hit an all time high of $2.92 on December 27, 2021, has fallen about 72% in