S&P Global Gobbles Up OpenZeppelin for Onchain Risk Assessment Push

Financial data and ratings company S&P Global has acquired smart contract security firm OpenZeppelin in a move to expand its risk assessment capabilities into onchain technology. The deal, announced Thursday, will allow OpenZeppelin to tap into S&P Global's reach in traditional markets.

OpenZeppelin CEO Demian Brener said the company's standards and expertise power the infrastructure behind leading stablecoins, tokenized funds, DeFi protocols, and onchain markets. With S&P Global, this foundation reaches a broader set of organizations entering these markets and blockchain networks gaining institutional adoption.

The acquisition will continue to be led by Brener, operating as its own business unit under the OpenZeppelin name. He will report to S&P Global Ratings President Yann Le Pallec, who said the digital assets strategy centers on bringing trusted data, benchmarks, and transparent risk assessment to markets as they move onchain.

OpenZeppelin's open-source smart contract libraries underpin over $37 trillion in value transferred, including the majority of the largest stablecoins and tokenized funds. The firm has conducted more than 900 security engagements for digital asset protocols and institutions.