Mastercard to combat crypto fraud with new tool: CNBC

Payments and Banking • October 4, 2022, 3:52AM EDT

Quick Take

Mastercard is set to debut a crypto-related fraud-prevention solution for banks and card issuers.
Crypto Secure visually assesses risk via artificial intelligence and on-chain data, allowing card issuers to decide on necessary actions.
Fraud in the blockchain and digital assets industry remains a priority for regulators in the U.S. and Europe.

Mastercard plans to unveil a fresh software solution to assist banks and card issuers in combating crypto-related fraud, CNBC reported today, citing the company.

Dubbed Crypto Secure, the new software makes use of artificial intelligence algorithms — with a reliance on on-chain data, powered by Mastercard-acquired blockchain-security startup CipherTrace — to assess crypto exchange-related risk on Mastercard's network.

Crypto Secure offers banks and card issuers a dashboard that aims to visually detail whether or not a crypto-related activity is suspicious, and to what degree. Notably, the system itself does not take action — only the card issuer may intervene.

Crypto fraud, in focus

Despite widespread declines in cryptocurrency prices, crypto-related fraud remains common — and regulators continue to scrutinize the industry. Senior U.S. regulators are asking Congress to pass multiple laws strengthening rules for the blockchain and digital asset industry. The European Union, meanwhile, has its own Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) rules in the global spotlight.

In late August, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-III, called on U.S. federal regulators and top cryptocurrency exchanges to take stock and account for their fraud-combating policies.

Fundraising solutions

Authorities' continued focus on crypto-related fraud has helped provoke similar moves from Mastercard's competitors.

Last month, fraud detection platform Sardine closed a $51.5 million Series B round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), with participation from, among others, Visa.

In similar news, web3 firewall provider Blowfish closed an $11.8 million Paradigm-led funding round last week.

About Author

Adam is the managing editor for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He is based in central Europe and was a managing editor and podcast host at the crypto exchange OKX's former research arm, OKX Insights. Before that, he co-founded BeInCrypto.com, which he elevated into one of the leading crypto media brands at its peak as the editor-in-chief. Earlier, he served as the editor-in-chief at Bitcoinist.com. Before joining the blockchain and crypto industry, he worked for Looper.com, Grunge.com and SVG.com. He tweets via @XBT002 and can be emailed at [email protected].