S&P Global to Acquire OpenZeppelin in Crypto Infrastructure Expanding Effort

Key Takeaways:

• S&P Global has agreed to acquire OpenZeppelin to boost its crypto and onchain risk capabilities.
• Over $37 trillion of value is being transacted via OpenZeppelin’s Contracts library.
• The company has resolved 900+ security lapses and found 10,000+ vulnerabilities prior production.

S&P Global is expanding further into crypto infrastructure through an agreement to acquire blockchain security firm OpenZeppelin. The transaction brings smart contract security into S&P Global’s growing digital asset business as financial products and market infrastructure increasingly move onchain.

S&P Global Adds Smart Contract Security to Crypto Strategy

Founded in 2015, OpenZeppelin has become a major security provider for blockchain developers, DeFi protocols and financial institutions. It leverages open source smart contract libraries, expert security evaluations, and developer services.

The OpenZeppelin Contracts library has been used by infrastructure that has facilitated over $37 trillion in value transferred, the companies said. The library is utilized in a variety of blockchain apps, including behind many major stablecoins and tokenized funds.

Aside from that OpenZeppelin has been able to manage over 900 security engagements for protocols and institutions involving digital assets. These encounters have uncovered over 10,000 vulnerabilities preproduction, showcasing its magnitude in catching risks before blockchain applications enter production.

Read More: $5.87M Ethereum Exploit Hits TrustedVolumes as 1inch Denies Any Protocol Breach

Security Moves Closer to the Center of Onchain Finance

The purchase puts S&P Global under a technology-risk layer directly under the financial products with crypto or tokenization.

OpenZeppelin’s deeper skill and expertise will augment S&P’s existing reference points on risk assessment of smart contracts and onchain technology, S&P Global said. The combined capabilities can address risks to the blockchain infrastructure and the code of that asset in addition to the financial traits of the asset.

This happens especially with stablecoins, tokenized funds, and DeFi applications, where asset transfers, ownership, and other essential capabilities are managed by smart contracts.

While markets move onto blockchain infrastructure, S&P Global Ratings’ digital asset strategy is centered on trusted data, benchmarks and transparent risk assessment, said Yann Le Pallec, the firm’s president.

The partnership makes sense for crypto markets: combining OpenZeppelin’s onchain risk assessment and security background with S&P Global’s extensive experience with financial-market risk assessment.

OpenZeppelin Will Continue Under Its Own Name

OpenZeppelin will operate as a standalone business under the umbrella of S&P Global, and be known as OpenZeppelin. Brener is awaiting instructions from Le Pallec as his CEO.

The parties have not been specifying price figures of the deal. Closing is subject to customary conditions, and S&P Global indicated that the deal will not materially affect the companies’ finances.

The transaction also does not affect OpenZeppelin’s key position in the crypto space. Its security skills are already in use by blockchain networks, DeFi protocols, institutions and enterprises.

OpenZeppelin’s standards and technology already allows for infrastructure behind the stablecoins, tokenized funds, DeFi protocols, and other on-chain markets, Brener said. It would further this foundation to more organisations entering digital assets, he added, while speaking with S&P Global.

The acquisition also gives OpenZeppelin access to S&P Global’s institutional relationships and global distribution, potentially bringing its security services and technology to a broader financial-market audience.

Read More: Bitmine, SharpLink Back EthSystems to Unlock Ethereum’s $100T Institutional Privacy Market

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