Mastercard Doubles Down on its Crypto Strategy With New Acquisition

Payments giant Mastercard said it has agreed to acquire crypto intelligence firm CipherTrace as it aims to “extend its capabilities deep into the field of digital assets.”

“The integrated offering will build on CipherTrace’s suite of digital assets and Mastercard’s cyber security solutions to provide businesses with greater transparency to help identify and understand their risks and to help manage their digital asset regulatory and compliance obligations,” the company said.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, and the transaction is anticipated to close before the end of the year, pending certain conditions. 

The payments company said that digital assets “will require new solutions and more powerful intelligence to ensure that the crypto economy is instilled with the same trust and peace of mind that consumers currently experience with more traditional payment methods.”

Mastercard aims to help their clients to “identify and understand their risks and to help manage their digital asset regulatory and compliance obligations.”

“With the rapid growth of the digital asset ecosystem comes the need to ensure it is trusted and safe,” Ajay Bhalla, president, Cyber & Intelligence at Mastercard, was quoted as saying.

CipherTrace says it provides solutions for some “of the largest banks,” exchanges, and other financial institutions.
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Learn more: 
– Mastercard To Use Stablecoins In a Simplified Crypto Payments Card Offering 
– 40% of Surveyed Individuals Plan to Use Crypto Within a Year – Mastercard 

– Mastercard and Gemini to Give ‘Real-Time’ Crypto Rewards 
– Visa Crypto Card Users Spent Over USD 1B Globally This Year
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(Updated at 13:44 UTC with additional details and comments.)