Mastercard Acquires Blockchain Security Outfit, CipherTrace

American payments services provider, Mastercard has announced the acquisition of blockchain intelligence and security services provider, CipherTrace. According to the official announcement, the terms of the deal were not made public, however, the acquisition will come off as a mutually beneficial move for both Mastercard and CipherTrace.

CipherTrace provides crypto intelligence tools that help in tracking transactions that are on-chain easy. With the company’s solutions, digital currency transactions are no longer invincible and bad actors can easily be fished out for prosecution. The CipherTrace model helps numerous stakeholders in the cryptocurrency ecosystem including cryptocurrency exchanges, banks, and regulators to keep track of events in the space in a bid to guarantee adherence to regulations.

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

While the deal reinforces Mastercard’s reach to create a diverse alternation of moving value around the world, CipherTrace is positioned to benefit from the deep stretch of funding and industry reach that Mastercard will have to offer.

Building Trust in a Trustless World

The digital currency ecosystem is a trustless world, and the partnership between Mastercard is aimed at promoting trust in this nascent industry.  

“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,” said Ajay Bhalla, president, Cyber & Intelligence at Mastercard. “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.”

The mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies will continue to see a drawback when regulators or market watchdogs are unable to keep track of events in the space. The Mastercard and CipherTrace combo will attempt to allay the fears of authorities while helping to recreate standards upon which transparency in the digital currency ecosystem can be built.

The deal is expected to close by the end of the year.

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