Mastercard, the American multinational financial services corporation, announced the company is dipping further into the digital asset ecosystem by acquiring the blockchain intelligence firm Ciphertrace. The partnership announcement says the firm will help bolster Ciphertrace’s and Mastercard’s cyber security solutions.
Mastercard Purchased Ciphertrace for Undisclosed Sum
On Thursday, the financial payments giant Mastercard (NYSE: MA) has revealed the company has acquired the blockchain surveillance firm Ciphertrace. The blockchain company is a Menlo Park, California-based cyber security firm that specializes in tracking “more than 900 cryptocurrencies.” Ciphertrace was founded by Stephen Ryan on May 31, 2016, and it has filed a number of patents throughout the years. In mid-May, Ciphertrace reported on cryptocurrency crime moving toward decentralized finance (defi), and during the first week of August, Ciphertrace claimed it had enhanced monero (XMR) tracing capabilities.
In the acquisition announcement Ajay Bhalla, president of Cyber and Intelligence at Mastercard, discussed the benefits of digital assets but the payments giant wants to make sure the ecosystem is “trusted and safe.” “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,” Bhalla said in a statement on Thursday. Bhalla added:
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