Mastercard continues to expand its presence in the crypto industry, announcing a recent acquisition of CipherTrace
Mastercard revealed yesterday that it has reached an agreement to acquire crypto-tracing firm CipherTrace. The company plans to integrate CipherTrace’s services into its platform to strengthen cybersecurity for its digital asset-related offerings. CipherTrace has earned a reputation as one of the most trusted intelligence providers in the crypto sector, with capabilities to monitor most major cryptocurrencies on the market.
The planned integration of the two companies will be critical to the architecture of Mastercard’s payment services. With this acquisition, Mastercard will be better positioned to support its clients as they adopt digital assets.
Ajay Bhalla, head of Mastercard’s Cyber & Intelligence division, acknowledged the significant impact digital assets can have across commerce.
“As the digital asset industry grows rapidly, there is a parallel need to ensure the ecosystem is secure and trustworthy. Our goal is to build on the complementary strengths of Mastercard and CipherTrace to achieve precisely that,” he said.
CipherTrace’s services include data collection and the publication of annual reports on trends and activity within the crypto industry. The company has previously offered compliance solutions such as AML tools and has partnered with a range of crypto firms to fight fraud involving digital currencies.
“We help organizations—whether banks, crypto exchanges, or regulatory authorities—keep the crypto economy safe,” said CipherTrace CEO Dave Jevans.
Jevans praised the partnership and said it will enhance security and trust across the crypto industry.
“Both of our companies share a common vision of promoting security and trust across the industry. We’re excited to join the Mastercard family so we can scale CipherTrace’s reach globally.”
Mastercard has been active in the crypto space in recent months, working with blockchain companies such as Uphold, Gemini, and BitPay to offer crypto-based credit and debit card products to customers. The company has also contributed to the development of a platform to pilot central bank digital currencies and supports programs aimed at fostering blockchain adoption and related products.
In February, Mastercard acknowledged growing market demand for cryptocurrencies amid a broad market rally that pushed many digital assets to record highs. At that time, the company indicated it was exploring support for stablecoins because of their perceived stability and reliability. Subsequently, Mastercard added support for USD Coin, managed by Circle, to improve transactions between buyers and merchants.