Leading global auditing giant PwC has announced an all-new tool for auditing cryptocurrencies. Using the new auditing tool, the company will also provide assurance services to its clients engaged in crypto related activities.
In an official press release, the company stated that the new tool will be an addition to the existing Halo suite of auditing tools. It also said that Halo solutions will help clients determine the true ownership of digital tokens, by providing independent and considerable evidence about the private key and public address pairing. Also, Halo will interrogate the blockchain securely to gather substantive information about the transaction and balances independently.
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It further stated,
Our ability to audit an entity engaged in cryptocurrency activities is very much influenced by our client’s control environment, and at this stage, by the breadth of tokens supported by our Halo software. These considerations will be key when determining whether we are comfortable to accept an audit engagement.
Apart from this, PwC’s new auditing tool will also provide assurance services to its clients engaged in crypto related activities. However, it currently supports only digital assets, which are, Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Bitcoin Gold (BTG), Bitcoin Diamond (BCD), Litecoin (LTC), Ethereum (ETH), OAX token, and Ripple (XRP).
Commenting on their new product, Global Assurance leader at PwC, James Chalmers said,
It is important as companies continue to digitize we, as auditors, keep up with technology changes in the market, continue to develop audit tools that meet the needs of emerging technologies and serve the changing and developing demands of our stakeholders.
PwC’s move in crypto auditing was expected for a while; as its arch-rival, EY has been taking a keen interest in the unexplored niche. EY has been investing heavily in crypto auditing to create a specialized platform for the industry. Paul Brody, EY’s global innovation lead recently said,
My goal is: we’re going to be your first choice for audit. We want to add a tax calculating ability.
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EY currently has over 150 clients from the crypto industry, a number which PwC would like to surpass as soon as possible.
