Uphold Acquires Mobile Payments Platform Cortex MCP

In a move to strengthen its digital money platform with secure payment applications, Uphold has acquired Cortex MCP. Cortex’s CEO and Founder, Shaunt Sarkissian, will head up Uphold’s payments team, according to an announcement from Uphold.

“Cortex’s mobile-centric, closed-loop payment and secure tokenization solutions provide industry-leading technologies and security to our platform,” Uphold COO William Dennings said in the announcement. “It additionally brings new commercial offerings and opportunities to our enterprise division, Uphold Solutions.”

Through the deal, Uphold will acquire Cortex MCP’s patent portfolio. It will also start work on new IP solutions with an emphasis on authentication, tokenization and the blockchain.

The acquisition allows Uphold to offer new payments capabilities that leverage both cryptocurrency and fiat assets. In addition, the deal will allow for a new closed-loop payment platform expansion, building on Uphold’s remittance capabilities in Mexico, Latin America and other countries. The deal enables Uphold to offer new digital ID/authentication capabilities and additional security solutions for Uphold members’ accounts.

“Integrating the Cortex platform, IP and solutions into Uphold’s platform is a big leap forward for the payments industry,” Cortex’s Sarkissian said. “Many more merchants and service providers will now be able to safely accept cryptos, giving businesses and consumers the widest possible choice. We are thrilled to be part of the Uphold team and journey and look forward to the great things we will accomplish together.”

The acquisition follows Uphold’s announcement of a $57.5 million partnership with former Ripple executive, Greg Kidd, to increase the company’s connectivity to financial systems.

Uphold is the creator of a digital money platform that allows users to instantly access traditional currencies, cryptocurrencies and other investments in one place. It has powered nearly $3 billion in transactions across 184 countries in more than 30 supported currencies and four commodities.