S&P Global Acquires OpenZeppelin as a Major Investment in On-Chain Finance

S&P Global Expands Its Onchain Reach

On Thursday, the 158-year-old company S&P Global announced it has purchased Openzeppelin, a digital security company focused on onchain finance. Openzeppelin, founded in 2015, claims to manage contracts that cover $37 trillion in value transferred, alongside conducting more than 900 security engagements.

S&P Global explains that the deal is aimed at complementing “S&P Global’s risk assessment and ecosystem development capabilities in digital asset markets.” The prominent market intelligence company entered the cryptocurrency and blockchain space in May 2021 when S&P Dow Jones Indices launched its first digital asset benchmarks.

The firm noted on Thursday that the deal will help it judge the risks tied to blockchain technology and “onchain financial products.” At the same time, Openzeppelin gains access to S&P Global’s “trusted brand,” institutional connections, and worldwide reach, giving it a much bigger doorway into traditional finance (TradFi).

S&P Global Bets Onchain Risk Assessment Can Bring TradFi Confidence

The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, so a dollar amount is not mentioned. “Our digital assets strategy centers on bringing trusted data, benchmarks and transparent risk assessment to markets as they move onchain,” Yann Le Pallec, President of S&P Global Ratings, remarked on Thursday.

The S&P Global executive added:

“As digital assets and tokenized markets continue to mature, Openzeppelin’s technology and expertise will complement our smart contract and onchain technology risk assessment capabilities, giving traditional financial institutions and DeFi-native companies alike the confidence to build and transact in this new environment.”