KPMG, a global accounting firm, has entered the cryptocurrency market. On February 7, 2021, the company stated that its Canada office has purchased Ethereum (ETHUSD) and Bitcoin (BTCUSD) for its corporate treasury in a news statement. KPMG did not provide the amount or data associated with their cryptocurrency investment. “We believe that institutional adoption of cryptoassets and blockchain technology will continue to increase and become a regular element of the asset mix,” said KPMG’s Canada managing partner Benjie Thomas.
The company’s decision to buy cryptocurrency in Canada could be tied to the fact that the country’s legislative structure is more favourable of the asset class and related goods than the US. KPMG has recently expanded its operations to embrace new technologies and financial services. It already has a division that deals with cryptoassets and blockchain technology. Its US office is in charge of auditing MicroStrategy Incorporated (MSTR), a software company with the largest cryptocurrency holdings among publicly traded businesses. “Now that we’ve gone through the process ourselves, we’re confident in our ability to help clients and prospective clients through the process of cryptoasset treasury allocation. Through our investment, we will be able to share our path, experiences, and issues with them in order to assist them in navigating the cryptoasset world”, the firm told Bloomberg.
KPMG established its own cryptoasset framework geared to assist clients in a November 2020 report. It is built on five pillars, which include analysing client needs, managing cryptoasset forks, and ensuring the security and safekeeping of their cryptocurrency. “We’ve built a strong cryptoassets practise, and we’ll keep improving and expanding our capabilities in areas like decentralised finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and the metaverse, to mention a few. In the coming years, we expect to see a lot of growth in these areas”, added Kareem Sadek, KPMG’s Cryptoassets and Blockchain Services business co-leader.
