According to a CNBC report, payments giant MasterCard on Tuesday launched a software product called Crypto Secure, which is designed to help banks and other card issuers identify and block suspicious transactions from crypto exchanges.
How this will work
Crypto Secure would incorporate insights and technology of CipherTrace, a blockchain security firm which Mastercard acquired last year, to help card issuers assess the risk profile of crypto exchanges.
The novel initiative will present issuers with a dashboard that accurately identifies exchanges, measures transaction approval and decline rates and provides a benchmark rating for comparison to a peer group of financial institutions. It will make the process of buying crypto easier for users because it will mean card issuers do not have to apply a blanket approach to approving or declining transactions.
According to Ajay Bhalla, president of MasterCard Cyber and Intelligence:
“At Mastercard trust is our business and with cryptocurrency more intertwined in our daily lives this is an exciting next step in our journey. Crypto Secure will provide card issuers with a platform that allows them access to insights which will improve the safety of crypto purchases, increasing consumer confidence and creating the same trust they expect when paying with Mastercard,”
Crypto Secure is just an element of Mastercard’s wider digital assets strategy, which is committed to connect traditional finance and cryptocurrencies.
Notably, Mastercard also launched its Crypto & Digital Currencies Consulting Practice to support banks, governments and others around the world to safely manage crypto-asset investments.
Why Crypto Secure is important
The crypto space is awash with all forms of frauds and scams in different guises. According to a recent report from Chainalysis, total scam revenue in the crypto space as of July 2022 was a whopping $1.9 billion.
Also, the amount of crypto entering wallets with known criminal connections surged to a record $14 billion in 2021, according to data from the same blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis.
The proliferation of these vices have elicited a wide call for check and regulation. In view of these unpalatable occurrences, it’s safe to say Mastercard is launching Crypto Secure at the back of the growing crime in the budding digital asset space.
And, this new initiative by MasterCard is applaudable because it basically addresses this mammoth problem of fraud. On the other hand, it is also designed to help further the integration of digital assets into mainstream financial services, allowing crypto holders to utilise their holdings in their daily lives.
