- S&P Global closed its acquisition of smart-contract security firm OpenZeppelin on October 26.
- OpenZeppelin’s open-source Contracts library underpins more than $38 trillion in value transferred, up from $37 trillion in September.
- Founder Demian Brener still leads OpenZeppelin and reports to S&P Global Ratings President Yann Le Pallec.
On Oct. 26, S&P Global closed its acquisition of OpenZeppelin.
S&P Global said the smart-contract security firm’s open-source code supports more than $38 trillion in value transferred.
The deal closed under six weeks after being announced on Sept. 17. S&P Global estimated the figure at over $37 trillion at the time.
Security reviews discovered 10,000+ vulnerabilities before production
OpenZeppelin, founded in 2015, is a blockchain code auditor and maintainer of OpenZeppelin Contracts.
S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI) stated that OpenZeppelin’s security team has completed over 900 engagements for protocols and institutions. The reviews detected more than 10,000 vulnerabilities before the code went into production.
The press release depicts OpenZeppelin as the “security standard for onchain finance.” Its Contracts library backs many of the biggest stablecoins and tokenized funds, the statement said.
S&P Global didn’t say how much it paid to acquire OpenZeppelin.
S&P Global said it doesn’t expect the deal to make a material difference to its financial results.
S&P Global received advice from Clifford Chance and Jefferies LLC, while OpenZeppelin received it from FT Partners and Cooley.
The founder of OpenZeppelin, Demian Brener, still operates the company, which keeps its name as a standalone unit. He reports to Yann Le Pallec, head of S&P Global Ratings.
“Today OpenZeppelin begins its next chapter as part of S&P Global,” Brener said. He added that OpenZeppelin Contracts “remain open source, free and publicly maintained.”
S&P Global takes its risk checks on-chain
“Completing this acquisition is an important step for our digital assets strategy,” said Le Pallec.
After making the purchase, S&P Global said it would be able to do more risk assessments on the technology layer of on-chain financial products. In exchange, OpenZeppelin gets the backing of S&P Global’s brand, relationships with institutions and distribution around the world.
“As more of the financial system moves onchain, market participants need a clear view of the technology risk that sits beneath the assets they hold,” said Le Pallec. He added that OpenZeppelin’s expertise “is already foundational to that infrastructure.”
In September, the month it announced the OpenZeppelin deal, S&P Global led Kaiko‘s $110 million Series B round of funding. Kaiko is a crypto data provider.
Nasdaq Ventures, BNP Paribas and Coinbase Ventures all took part in the round. Kaiko was set up in 2014.
When the OpenZeppelin deal was made public in September, S&P Global’s stock was up about 1% before the market opened.
S&P Global stock SPGI closed trading on Monday at $450.65. The stock stayed almost flat for the day, according to Google Finance.
OpenZeppelin will assist S&P Global in developing the next generation of on-chain security assessments and benchmarks, S&P Global said.
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FAQs
How much did S&P Global pay for OpenZeppelin?
S&P Global did not disclose the price. It expects no material impact on its financial results.
Will OpenZeppelin Contracts stay open source?
Yes. Founder Demian Brener said OpenZeppelin Contracts remain open source, free and publicly maintained.
Who leads OpenZeppelin now that the deal has closed?
Founder Demian Brener still leads OpenZeppelin, reporting to Yann Le Pallec, President of S&P Global Ratings.
Disclaimer. The information provided is not trading advice. Cryptopolitan.com holds no liability for any investments made based on the information provided on this page. We strongly recommend independent research and/or consultation with a qualified professional before making any investment decisions.
Randa Moses
Randa Moses is an editor and reporter at Cryptopolitan covering tech, AI, robotics, crypto, scams, and hacks. She has worked in the crypto space since 2017. She held roles at Forward Protocol, AmaZix, and Cryptosomniac. Randa holds a degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the University of Bradford.
