Payments giant Mastercard today is launching Crypto Secure, a new software product designed to help banks and other card issuers identify and block suspicious transactions from crypto exchanges, according to aCNBCreport.
A similar system is already in place for Mastercardâs fiat transactions, with the technology now expanding toBitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies.
Powered by CipherTrace, the crypto sleuth company Mastercardacquiredlast year, the tool uses âsophisticatedâ artificial intelligence algorithms and data from public blockchains to determine the risk of crime associated with crypto exchanges connected to the payments network.
The platform offers a dashboard with color-coded ratings representing the risk of suspicious activity, with the severity of risk ranging from red for âhighâ to green for âlow,â per the report.
Crypto Secure itself, however, doesnât make decisions on whether a specific crypto merchant should be restrictedâthe final judgment is down to the card issuers.
âThe idea is that the kind of trust we provide for digital commerce transactions, we want to be able to provide the same kind of trust to digital asset transactions for consumers, banks, and merchants,â Mastercardâs president of cyber and intelligence business Ajay Bhalla toldCNBC.
According to Bhalla, Crypto Secure will ensure Mastercardâs partners can âstay compliant with the complex regulatory landscape.â
Mastercard looking at the bigger picture
While illicit activity involving cryptocurrency is down 15% in volume so far this year, total scam revenue for 2022âdespite being 65% lower compared to the end of July 2021âis still sitting at a whopping $1.6 billion, according to arecent reportfrom Chainalysis.
Moreover, as of July 2022, $1.9 billion in crypto was still stolen in various hacking incidents, per the report.
While the decline in illicit crypto activity may be due to the slumping prices of Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies, the ongoing bear market hasnât impacted Mastercardâs general digital asset strategy.
According to Bhalla, the company is âfocused on providing solutions to the stakeholders for the long term.â
âThese are market cycles, they will come, and they will go,â Bhalla toldCNBC. âI think youâve got to take the longer view that this is a big marketplace now and evolving and is probably going to be much, much bigger in the future.â
