In addition to buying CipherTrace, Mastercard has initiatives like the prepaid card for CBDC Bahamas. Photo: Alina Kuptsova.
Mastercard announced this Thursday (9) the purchase of CipherTrace, a crypto-active transaction intelligence company. It is another step for the payments company in the world of digital assets, as well as others in its segment, including Visa and PayPal. These companies are preparing to serve a cryptoactive market that tends to grow and change the world of commerce.
CipherTrace has already received funds from the United States Department of Homeland Security (US), which raised doubts in the market about its independence. The company claims to be able to monitor 900 cryptocurrencies. Its client group includes, for example, major banks, exchanges around the world.
Mastercard is working on different cryptoactive fronts. Among them are partnerships with Uphold, Gemini and BitPay to create cryptocurrency cards. It also has a platform for testing central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), which it has made available to governments.
Mastercard purchase CipherTrace to ensure more crypto usage
In addition, it created a prepaid card for CBDC Bahamas. Other than that, it has innovation programs that involve the use of blockchain in payment processes, non-fungible tokens and stable cryptocurrencies.
According to Mastercard, this time, the purchase of CipherTrace is related to the increased use of cryptos and NFTs, therefore, with the guarantee of security. “Trust and security are critical to enable greater use and scale (of cryptoactives),” the company said. This is because the more new technological solutions are developed, the more security is needed.
“Digital assets have the potential to reframe commerce. From day-to-day payments activities to transforming the economy,” said Ajay Bhalla, President of Cyber ​​Security and Intelligence at Mastercard.