MasterCard acquires crypto intelligence firm CipherTrace

MasterCard has continued expanding its presence in the cryptocurrency sector, with the latest reports detailing it has completed the acquisition of CipherTrace

Yesterday, MasterCard disclosed that it had reached an agreement to acquire crypto tracing firm CipherTrace. The financial services giant plans to adopt CipherTrace's services into its platform to improve cybersecurity around its digital asset offerings. CipherTrace has earned a reputation as one of the most reliable crypto intelligence firms with resources to monitor the majority of the cryptocurrencies in the market.

The company's scheduled integration with MasterCard will be instrumental in improving the latter’s card payment architecture. Going forward, the New York-based payment solutions firm will be better equipped to manage its clients' adoption of crypto assets.

Speaking on the acquisition, the president of Cyber & Intelligence at MasterCard, Ajay Bhalla, acknowledged the significant role digital assets could play in reshaping various aspects of commerce.

"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," he said.

CipherTrace's suite of services encompasses data collection and publishing of annual reports about the trends of activities in the crypto space. The firm has, in the past, provided compliance and anti-money laundering solutions. It has also worked with several crypto firms to uproot fraud where digital currencies are concerned.

"We help companies – whether they are banks or cryptocurrency exchanges, government regulators or law enforcement to keep the crypto economy safe," CipherTrace CEO Dave Jevans said.

Jevans lauded the collaboration as one that would enhance safety and trust across the crypto space.

"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."

MasterCard has, on its end, been active in the crypto space in recent months, having collaborated with blockchain companies such as Uphold, Gemini and BitPay to provide crypto debit and credit card services to its users. The financial services company has been involved in the development of a platform for testing central bank digital currencies. It also offers programmes to back the adoption of blockchain and its products.

In February, MasterCard acknowledged the increasing user demand for crypto tokens within the market. At the time, the value of the digital assets in the market was rising to new heights. The company added that it was considering offering support for stablecoins, primarily because they provided reliability and security. It went on to adopt the USD coin managed by Circle to smooth out transactions between buyers and merchants.

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