S&P Global agrees to acquire blockchain security firm OpenZeppelin

S&P Global has agreed to acquire blockchain security company OpenZeppelin as the financial data and ratings provider expands its digital asset business into smart contract and onchain technology risk assessment. Summary S&P Global has agreed to acquire OpenZeppelin to expand its smart contract security and onchain risk assessment capabilities. OpenZeppelin has completed more than 900 security engagements, while its smart contracts have supported over $37 trillion in value transferred. OpenZeppelin will operate as a separate S&P Global business unit and keep its open source contracts library free and publicly maintained. The deal follows S&P Global’s $110 million strategic investment round in crypto market data provider Kaiko earlier this week. According to S&P Global’s Sept. 17 announcement, the transaction is expected to complement its existing risk assessment and digital asset capabilities. Financial terms were not disclosed, and the acquisition remains subject to closing conditions. OpenZeppelin will continue operating under its existing name as a separate S&P Global business unit. CEO Demian Brener will remain in charge of the company and report to S&P Global Ratings President Yann Le Pallec. S&P Global said the transaction is not expected to have a material effect on its financial results. S&P Global acquisition adds smart contract security capabilities Founded in 2015, OpenZeppelin develops open source smart contract software and provides security assessments and development services for blockchain protocols and financial institutions. Its OpenZeppelin Contracts library has been used in infrastructure that has handled more than $37 trillion in transferred value, including systems supporting major stablecoins and tokenized funds. The company has completed more than 900 security engagements and said its work has identified over 10,000 vulnerabilities before projects reached production. OpenZeppelin’s security work extends across blockchain networks, decentralized finance protocols and traditional financial institutions. An OpenZeppelin review of TxFlow’s bridge infrastructure recently found no critical or high severity issues, while one medium severity issue was resolved during the audit process. You might also like: Kaiko raises Series B to $110 million as S&P Global leads investment The acquisition would give S&P Global direct access to that smart contract security expertise as the company builds products for financial markets moving onto blockchain infrastructure. “Our digital assets strategy centers on bringing trusted data, benchmarks and transparent risk assessment to markets as they move onchain,” Le Pallec said. He said OpenZeppelin’s technology and expertise would complement S&P Global’s smart contract and onchain technology risk assessment capabilities as digital assets and tokenized markets develop. Brener said OpenZeppelin’s technology already supports infrastructure behind stablecoins, tokenized funds, DeFi protocols and other onchain markets. Joining S&P Global would bring that work to more organizations entering digital asset markets, according to the CEO.