Australia’s fastest growing mid-market accounting and professional services firm, BDO has announced it will provide auditing and assurance services for blockchain and crypto assets in a move that’s likely to attract new institutional investors to the sector.
BDO will provide its services via a partnership with Singapore and Sydney-based Decentralised Capital, a specialist blockchain firm focused on developing institutional grade digital assets and services. Decentralized Capital was founded by Stephen Moss, and received backing in 2018 from Aura Group, an Asia Pacific asset management firm.
BDO’s National Leader for Financial Services Tim Aman said: “One of the biggest barriers holding institutional investors back is the lack of transparency about the quality of digital assets. By providing comprehensive audit and assurance services, our entry into this growing sector will be a game changer for new investment into this asset class.”
The announcement comes amid controversy relating to stablecoin Tether, which was asked by the New York Attorney General’s office to provide evidence that its stablecoins were 100 per cent backed by USD
Tether’s lawyer disclosed in an affidavit that the USDT is actually only 74 per cent
backed by fiat equivalents.* Decentralized Capital Founder Stephen Moss, said that the partnership with BDO is a crucial next step in creating credibility for the blockchain industry, particularly in light of the recent criticism over Tether.
“Investors have historically found it difficult to distinguish whether projects are reputable and adequately asset-backed given the lack of services in audit and assurance from reputable firms,” Moss said.
“Projects seeking to mislead investors have historically relied upon the fact that reputable audits are not offered in the blockchain industry, and we’re about to remove that excuse and bring some real credibility to the sector.”
The partnership between BDO and Decentralised Capital will see BDO provide comprehensive audit and assurance services for blockchain companies and assets including cryptocurrencies, security tokens, stablecoins, trading platforms along with Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and funds.
“BDO will undertake a range of assurance services for this sector including financial statement audits, controls assurance reports, anti-money laundering counter-terrorism and fraud independent reviews, accounting advice, and board governance support,” Mr. Aman said.
Decentralized Capital is the first digital asset firm in Australia to form a partnership with an accounting and auditing firm with the purpose of providing reputable independent oversight and enhancing investor confidence in blockchain assets.
“This is an essential requirement for the blockchain industry to evolve into securities and open the doors for institutional involvement,” said Mr. Moss.
The first project to be audited by BDO will be gold-backed token xbullion, which recently received investment from ASX listed blockchain company DigitalX.
Find out more at www.bdo.com.au/en-au/industries/financial-services/fintech or www.decentralised.capital
Reference : – COUNTY OF NEW YORK
