S&P Acquires OpenZeppelin to Bring Risk Assessment to On-Chain Finance

S&P Global is acquiring blockchain security company OpenZeppelin as it looks to expand its risk assessment business to on-chain financial products, according to a Thursday (Sept. 17) news release.

The transaction complements S&P Global’s risk assessment and ecosystem development capabilities in digital asset markets, enhancing its ability to create the next generation of on-chain security assessments, benchmarks, and deliver essential intelligence as capital markets transition on chain,” the release said.

The acquisition comes days after S&P Global also led a strategic investment in digital asset data company Kaiko , which followed the companies agreeing to combine their cryptocurrency index businesses earlier this month, according to a Monday (Sept. 14) press release.

S&P has already introduced stablecoin stability assessments and produced a credit rating for a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol.

Founded in 2015, OpenZeppelin combines on-chain security assessments and secure development services with an open-source smart contract library. The company’s contracts underpin more than $37 trillion in value transferred, including most of the largest stablecoins and tokenized funds, the release said.

OpenZeppelin’s technology and expertise are used by DeFi and traditional financial institutions “to secure the on-chain infrastructure that increasingly underpins digital assets,” according to the release.

In other blockchain news, the Senate on Tuesday (Sept. 15) failed to pass the crypto-focused Clarity Act , which was designed to answer regulatory questions that have plagued the industry for years.