Yesterday, Mastercard officially announced the acquisition of CipherTrace.
CipherTrace is one of the leading intelligence companies in the cryptocurrency industry, collecting information on over 900 cryptocurrencies.
Summary
Mastercard acquires crypto firm CypherTrace
In the official press release, Mastercard said that this will extend its capabilities deep into the area of digital assets.
In particular, it is interested in detecting and combating fraud, in order to provide its users with more transparency and support.
Furthermore, Mastercard explicitly states:
“Latest investment helps company accelerate and expand crypto-related strategy”.
Details of the deal have not yet been disclosed, and the transaction is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
The company admits that digital assets, including cryptocurrencies and NFTs, are becoming increasingly popular in everyday use, both for payments and investments. As such, trust and security will be key enablers to ensure wide adoption.
However, Mastercard believes that in order to achieve this, new technological solutions are needed to bring the assurance levels of the crypto ecosystem closer to the levels of trust and confidence that consumers are currently accustomed to.
CipherTrace activities
These solutions are provided by CipherTrace, for example, and will be integrated into Mastercard’s existing cybersecurity solutions to provide greater transparency, help identify and understand risks, and help manage the regulatory and compliance obligations of digital assets.
CipherTrace’s platform helps improve security and fraud monitoring activities, providing solutions to banks, exchanges and other financial institutions.
Mastercard and the interest in the crypto sector
In the press release, Mastercard also recalls some of its other previous initiatives in the crypto sector, such as partnerships with Uphold, Gemini and BitPay, or the creation of new platforms to test and support Central Bank Digital Currencies, programmes to support wider use of blockchain technology and NFTs, and support for stablecoins.
Mastercard’s president of Cyber & Intelligence, Ajay Bhalla, said:
“Digital assets have the potential to reimagine commerce, from everyday acts like paying and getting paid to transforming economies, making them more inclusive and efficient. With the rapid growth of the digital asset ecosystem comes the need to ensure it is trusted and safe. Our aim is to build upon the complementary capabilities of Mastercard and CipherTrace to do just this”.
CipherTrace CEO Dave Jevans added:
“We help companies – whether they are banks or cryptocurrency exchanges, government regulators or law enforcement to keep the crypto economy safe. Our two companies share this vision to provide security and trust throughout the ecosystem. We are thrilled to join the Mastercard family to scale CipherTrace’s reach across the globe”.
