Mastercard, the leading name in card payments and transactions, is releasing new software to help prevent the risk of cryptocurrency fraud. Dubbed Crypto Secure, the product will help card issuers and banks spot suspicious transactions coming from crypto exchanges and effectively block them. While the concept is nothing novel, it’s the first time that a payments service will be taking the same security measure for major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and not just fiat transactions.
MasterCard’s Crypto Anti-Fraud Tool Backed By AI
The tool is powered by CipherTrace, which Mastercard acquired just last year, and uses advanced AI algorithms to detect suspicious activity. It uses the data available on public blockchains to assess the risk associated with crypto exchanges that are a part of Mastercard’s network. The Crypto Secure platform includes a dashboard to show users the risk of suspicious activity. This is represented through color-coded ratings, with green implying low risk and red, high risk.
Although Crypto Secure gives users vital information about the risk level of a particular crypto merchant, it doesn’t make the final call. Rather, it leaves the decision to restrict the crypto merchant up to the user. According to Ajay Bhalla, the company’s president of cyber and intelligence, the aim is to provide users, merchants, and banks with high levels of security for digital asset transactions. In his opinion, the new tool will help the company’s partners ensure compliance amid rising regulations.
Crypto Secure Launch Hopes To Reduce Illicit Crypto Activity
A recent report by Chainanalysis explains that illicit cryptocurrency activity is down by 15 percent this year. However, the total scam revenue for this year is close to $1.6 billion. Although this is 65 percent lower than values from July last year, there’s a long way to go. The report also states that $1.9 billion worth of cryptocurrencies was stolen in different cybersecurity incidents.
Mastercard Looking To Provide Long-term Solutions For Crypto Stakeholders
Analysts expect that the drop in illegal crypto activities may be because prices of major tokens, such as Bitcoin, are dropping. But despite the current bear market, Mastercard’s digital asset security strategy hasn’t changed. Speaking to CNBC, Bhalla explained that the goal is to focus on coming up with solutions that help stakeholders in the long run.
Elaborating on the current state of the crypto market, he said that the bearish market cycle will eventually come to an end. As of now, the company is taking a broader perspective of the marketplace and evolving accordingly. Considering the number of digital asset investors and high rates of crypto adoption, the industry is likely to become much bigger in the future. And when that happens, Mastercard will be prepared.
James Thompson 
Michael Rafael