The main takeaway:
- Mastercard Acquisition of CypherTrace Shows Commitment of Cryptocurrency Payment Company
- CipherTrace analyzes blockchain data to find evidence of fraud, money laundering and other suspicious activities
- Many technology companies and financial institutions have recently announced crypto products and services
Mastercard, an international financial services company, is seeking to improve its inventory of products and services in order to expand its presence in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. The company hopes that the acquisition of CipherTrace, a cryptocurrency intelligence firm that aims to combine crypto services with traditional financial services, will aid in its mission to bring greater transparency and security to the industry.
MasterCard is betting on the success of cryptocurrency
It is clear that MasterCard, one of the largest payment companies in the world, is hedging its bets and adopting cryptocurrencies as one of the main pillars of the company’s long-term vision. The growing popularity of digital currencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) is changing the way many people and companies invest their money and driving value in the increasingly digital world.
MasterCard believes that ensuring trust and security are vital components that will help the industry thrive and society grow. Earlier this year, MasterCard announced that it would begin supporting digital assets directly on its network. In recent months, the company has partnered with notable crypto companies, such as Gemini, Uphold and BitPay, pointing to the fact that Mastercard is very serious about its future in the crypto sector.
Ajay Bhalla, Head of Internet and Intelligence at Mastercard, acknowledges the staying power and potential of crypto assets:
“Digital assets have the potential to reimagine commerce, from day-to-day business like paying and getting paid to transformative economies, making it more inclusive and efficient. With the rapid growth of the digital asset ecosystem, comes the need to ensure that it is reliable and secure. Our goal is to build on The complementary capabilities of Mastercard and CipherTrace to do just that.”
Cybersecurity startup CipherTrace offers anti-fraud and anti-money laundering solutions
CipherTrace is a crypto analytics company that specializes in tracking transactions in the public ledger in order to find potential criminal activities, particularly evidence of money laundering and fraud. The cybersecurity startup’s expertise will help ensure that customers, merchants and businesses feel safe when making crypto payments and transactions on Mastercard’s payment network.
Dave Jeffans, CEO of CipherTrace:
“We help businesses – whether they are banks, crypto exchanges, government regulators, or law enforcement – to keep the crypto economy safe.”
Mastercard joins the growing list of multinational giants that have recently made the leap into cryptocurrency in one way or another. For example, we talked about new investment services in the cryptocurrency exposure space from investment giants JPMorgan and Wells Fargo. In August, Square’s Cash app mentioned that it considers Bitcoin a key driver behind the payment platform’s growth. Facebook and Twitter have also made their plans very clear as the two tech giants recently announced a deep integration of cryptocurrencies with their existing products.
Exact details of the agreement between Mastercard and CipherTrace have not been disclosed.
David is a cryptocurrency enthusiast and an expert in personal finance. He has authored several publications for different platforms. He loves to explore new things, and this is how he discovered blockchain in the first place.