The financial services company announced the Crypto Secure tool, aimed at helping banks and card issuers detect and curb crypto fraud attempts on Mastercard merchant platforms.
Earlier today, CNBC reported that Mastercard had launched a new feature to help banks fight crypto-related crimes. Named Crypto Secure, the new feature is powered by artificial intelligence and powered by CipherTrace, a blockchain security firm that Mastercard acquired last year.
Crypto Secure will provide banks and other card issuers with a visual dashboard showcasing the risk-ratings of different crypto merchants on the Mastercard network. The security feature is quite similar to an existing one for fiat transactions on the network.
The new tool will not take any action against flagged merchants. Instead, it is a purely advisory tool and will require the card issuers to take action.
Feature launch comes amidst increasing crypto crimes
Despite the plummeting markets, crypto usage has increased rapidly. An earlier forecast report placed the expected number of crypto users at about 1 billion by the end of 2022.
Mastercard unveiled the new feature at a crucial time, when crypto-related crimes have been on the rise. A 2022 report by Chainalysis showed that crypto crimes hit a new all-time-high of $14 billion in 2021.
Even as governments and regulatory bodies across the world tighten their stance on crypto crimes, fraudsters are getting new ideas by the day. As such, it’s crucial for companies such as Mastercard to onboard security features that protect their clients.
The payments platform has over 2400 crypto exchanges operating on the network, thus the huge demand for enhanced security features.
Mastercard is in crypto for the long run
Most cryptocurrencies have had a terrible run in 2022, with a $2 trillion plunge in market value since the bear market peak in November 2021.
Many projects have opted to retreat in the ongoing bear market. Others, like Mastercard, have taken this time to keep building crypto solutions in anticipation of better times ahead.
When asked about building in such turbulent times, Ajay Bhalla– the president of cyber and intelligence business- said that Mastercard was in it for the long haul and is building solutions that cater to the stakeholders for the long term. He dismissed the current turbulent crypto prices as market cycles and insisted the marketplace would see a bunch of evolutions going into the future.
Bhalla added that the new feature would help banks and other card issuers remain compliant with fraud-curbing regulations.
The global crypto regulatory scene has undergone tremendous change, especially in the last few months. The US administration recently announced a new framework for regulating cryptocurrency firms and reduce fraud in the country. Earlier in June, EU lawmakers passed a new law, Markets in Crypto Assets, the first comprehensive framework for digital assets.
The reinforced regulator measures makes Crypto Secure a welcome feature for merchants and buyers on the Mastercard network.
Traditional payment platforms are slowly migrating to crypto
The recent addition by Mastercard is only one of the company’s efforts to keep up with the fast-paced crypto world. The company had earlier announced an NFT marketplace was in the works in June.
As global adoption slowly comes into reality, big industry names in the traditional financial industry have taken the bold step to include crypto payment support.
Mastercard seems to be trying to keep up with its largest competitor, Visa, which announced a $2.5 billion crypto transaction volume for the first quarter of 2022. Earlier on, the payments platform launched a crypto advisory service for its clients.
While it’s unclear how much Mastercard is raking in from its network of crypto exchanges, Bhalla remains optimistic that the numbers will keep growing, now that they are in the thousands.
