Baisakhi MishraMasterCard (NYSE: MA) will expand its capabilities into the area of digital assets with the acquisition of CipherTrace, a leading cryptocurrency intelligence company that has access to more than 900 cryptocurrencies.
As digital assets, including cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), become more integrated with everyday life – such as how people pay and get paid to how they invest – trust and security will be critical to ensuring broad adoption. The crypto economy will require new solutions and more powerful intelligence to ensure the same level of trust and peace of mind as consumers currently enjoy with traditional payment methods.
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According to an announcement made on Thursday, payment services provider Mastercard has purchased blockchain analytics firm CipherTrace to improve its cyber security technologies and better comply with crypto regulatory rules. The purchase price is still being kept under wraps.
Today we announced our agreement to acquire @CipherTrace.
Together, our technology, #AI & #cyber capabilities will allow stakeholders to leverage solutions to protect their customers & comply with regulations as they build their own offerings. https://t.co/Lv6BgykOwM
— Mastercard News (@MastercardNews) September 9, 2021
In a statement, Ajay Bhalla, president of Cyber and Intelligence at Mastercard, stated, “With the rapid rise of the digital asset ecosystem comes the need to guarantee it is trusted and safe.” “Our goal is to do just that by combining Mastercard and CipherTrace’s complementing capabilities.”
CipherTrace not only collects data in the crypto space but also releases yearly studies on the crypto ecosystem’s trends and has developed compliance solutions for decentralized exchanges. CipherTrace, on the other hand, has less clout in the blockchain surveillance space than companies like Chainalysis and Elliptic. In comparison to Chainalysis and Elliptic, CipherTrace receives 0.67 percent and 9.21 percent of federal contract payments, according to data provided by The Block Research.
CipherTrace will also support continuing innovation with a variety of partners, including fintech, crypto-wallet providers, governments, and others, while also allowing the company to adhere to the principles it has established for all blockchain-related activities.
The acquisition is part of Mastercard’s digital assets strategy, which aims to give customers, merchants, and organizations additional options when it comes to moving digital value. It comes after the company made a number of investments, including crypto card partnerships with Uphold, Gemini, and BitPay, new platforms to test and support Central Bank Digital Currencies, programs to support the broader use of blockchain technology and NFTs, and the potential to directly support select stablecoins on its network.
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