Mastercard Makes Big Crypto Move As It Acquires Cryptocurrency Data Firm CipherTrace

Key Takeaways

• MasterCard to acquire cryptocurrency analytics firm CipherTrace before the year runs out.
• The new acquisition furthers MasterCard’s foray into the digital assets space.
• MasterCard is not the only traditional remittance company adopting digital assets.

MasterCard today announced it will acquire cryptocurrency intelligence and analytics firm CipherTrace. The acquisition is for an undisclosed sum and is expected to be completed before the year runs out. 

The payment giant aims to step up its game in the digital assets sector with the acquisition. They see digital assets as having great potential to redefine the way people transact on the internet and aim to be at the helm of affairs with providing safety for users. This was revealed by Ajay Bhalla, President of cyber and intelligence at Mastercard, in a statement as the company’s reason for the acquisition.  

CipherTrace is a leading cryptocurrency intelligence company with insight into more than 900 cryptocurrencies. Their services allow them to help customers – including banks, cryptocurrency exchanges, retailer traders, and other financial institutions – enhance their security and fraud monitoring activities for crypto-related programs.

The company has expressed excitement about bringing its tools to the service of the credit card company to build trust in the cryptocurrency adoption movement.

“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.” 

This acquisition follows several other investments that MasterCard has made in the digital assets space. In July, it announced the addition of 7 new cryptocurrency companies to its global start-up support program, Start Path. 

Among the new participants of the program is Mintable (Singapore), a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace where users can create, buy and sell digital and physical assets backed by the blockchain such as digital collectibles, artwork, and music. 

The others include GK8 (Israel), Taurus (Switzerland), STACS (Singapore), SuperOracles (Switzerland), Uphold (USA), and Domain Money (USA). The companies offer services in the digital asset market that include digital assets custody, blockchain infrastructure, data, and investment management. 

The partnership is highly likely to yield benefits for the start-ups as MasterCard has a global reach. They have a market cap of over $348 billion and over $16 billion in revenue (MRQ). Significantly, the announcement of the acquisition of CipherTrace has also seen MasterCard’s shares surge 0.63% in the last 24 hours.

MasterCard is not the only remittance company diving into the digital assets space. PayPal and Visa, notable competitors of MasterCard, have been involved in the space also. PayPal users in the US can currently buy, sell, hold, and checkout with a limited number of cryptocurrencies. 

The company plans to roll out the support to the international market soon. Visa also began to provide a payment solution that utilizes the second largest stablecoin, USD Coin, in July. In August, Visa joined the NFT craze with their purchase of a CryptoPunk for $150,000.