TLDR
- S&P Global agreed to acquire OpenZeppelin, a smart contract security firm founded in 2015
- OpenZeppelin’s open-source libraries have supported over $37 trillion in digital asset transfers
- The firm has completed more than 900 security audits, finding over 10,000 vulnerabilities
- OpenZeppelin will operate as a standalone unit, with CEO Demian Brener staying on
- The deal follows S&P’s recent $110 million investment in crypto data firm Kaiko
S&P Global is pushing deeper into digital assets with the acquisition of OpenZeppelin, a firm that helps secure the code behind stablecoins, tokenized funds, and decentralized finance protocols. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Today we are announcing that S&P Global has entered an agreement to acquire OpenZeppelin.
Onchain finance is growing from an emerging market into core financial infrastructure, and the standards and rails our team and community built are becoming the rails of global finance.… pic.twitter.com/iADnpWzQ8F
— OpenZeppelin (@OpenZeppelin) September 17, 2026
OpenZeppelin was founded in 2015 and provides smart contract security audits and open-source development libraries. Its code underpins some of the largest stablecoins and tokenized funds in the market today.
The firm’s libraries have processed over $37 trillion in cumulative digital asset transfers. That figure reflects value moved through contracts built using OpenZeppelin’s code, not assets the company holds.
OpenZeppelin has also completed more than 900 security engagements, identifying over 10,000 vulnerabilities before code reached live networks. That track record is a core part of what S&P is buying.
Why S&P Is Making This Move
S&P’s existing ratings business covers credit risk and financial health of companies. But as more financial activity moves onto blockchain networks, a new layer of risk has emerged: the code itself.
A tokenized fund can have solid reserves and still fail due to a flaw in its smart contracts. S&P is betting that banks and asset managers will need standardized ways to assess that technology risk.
“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,” said S&P Global Ratings President Yann Le Pallec.
The deal extends S&P’s work from rating financial entities to rating the code those entities run on.
Part of a Broader Digital Asset Push
This acquisition is not S&P’s first move in the crypto space this week. On Monday, S&P led a funding round that extended crypto data firm Kaiko’s Series B to $110 million, alongside BNP Paribas, Nasdaq Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, and Royal Bank of Canada.
Earlier in September, S&P Dow Jones Indices and Kaiko launched a co-branded digital asset index suite. In March, the two tokenized the iBoxx U.S. Treasuries Index.
S&P has also published stablecoin stability assessments and issued the first credit rating of a DeFi protocol, Sky.
OpenZeppelin CEO Demian Brener will stay on to lead the business as its own unit under the OpenZeppelin name. He will report directly to Le Pallec.
S&P said the transaction is subject to standard closing conditions and is not expected to have a material impact on its financial results.
The deal positions S&P Global as one of the first major traditional financial ratings firms to build out onchain code risk assessment at scale.
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