S&P Global Buys Code Behind World's Largest Stablecoins
S&P Global has announced its second major crypto deal in three days, acquiring OpenZeppelin for an undisclosed price. The company's code sits beneath most of the world's largest stablecoins, with over $37 trillion in value carried by its smart contracts since 2015.
OpenZeppelin has published free smart contract building blocks since its inception and has conducted over 900 security reviews, finding more than 10,000 flaws. Its CEO, Demian Brener, said the company's standards, technology, and expertise already power the infrastructure behind leading stablecoins and DeFi protocols.
The acquisition marks a shift for S&P Global, which has spent a year rating crypto products, including issuing the first credit rating of a DeFi protocol and tokenizing the S&P 500. Buying OpenZeppelin gives the company control over the code holding these assets, a move that carries historical significance given S&P's past settlement with the Justice Department for defrauding investors over mortgage ratings.