According to a press release, Canadian giant Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler (KPMG) has added Bitcoin and Ethereum to its balance sheet. The multinational is one of the top accounting firms in the world alongside Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), and Ernst & Young (EY). The group is known as the “Big Four” due to its relevance and revenue.
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Value at $32.1 billion in 2021, the firm made the allocation in Bitcoin and Ethereum via the Gemini Trust Company and will use its custody services. This is the firm’s first direct investment in cryptocurrencies, according to the release.
Benjie Thomas, Canadian Managing Partner, Advisory Services, at KPMG said the following on the firm’s recent Bitcoin and Ethereum bet:
Cryptoassets are a maturing asset class. Investors such as hedge funds and family offices to large insurers and pension funds are increasingly gaining exposure to cryptoassets, and traditional financial services such as banks, financial advisors and brokerages are exploring offering products and services involving cryptoassets.
In that sense, the KPMG representative acknowledged the boom in interest received by Bitcoin and Ethereum since 2020. During these years, many institutional investors and major corporations from around the world have turned to BTC for its safe-haven capabilities against U.S. dollar inflation and to ETH and its ecosystem.
The latter host Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), decentralize finances (DeFi), and what some experts called the future of the internet or Web 3 applications. These have been trending in interest and value as Meta, Microsoft, and other companies attempt to enter one or all the aforementioned sectors on Ethereum. Thomas added:
This investment reflects our belief that institutional adoption of cryptoassets and blockchain technology will continue to grow and become a regular part of the asset mix.
Bitcoin And Ethereum Amongst The Big Four Accounting Firms
The release also claims KPMG has established a governance committee to oversight and approve its treasury allocation in these cryptocurrencies. The committee was composed of stakeholders from different areas, including Finance, Risk Management, Advisory, Audit, and Tax.
The committee undertook a “rigorous assessment process” on the components that enable KPMG to make its allocation, from a regulatory and reputational standpoint to the custodial risks associated with holding cryptocurrencies. Of course, the firm also reviews the tax and accounting implications of its decision, according to the press release.
The firm believes this investment represents their optimism on cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. Kareem Sadek, Advisory Partner, Cryptoassets and Blockchain Services co-leader at KPMG said:
The cryptoasset industry continues to grow and mature and it needs to be considered by financial services and institutional investors. We’ve invested in a strong cryptoassets practice and we will continue to enhance and build on our capabilities across Decentralized Finance (DeFi), Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and the Metaverse, to name a few. We expect to see a lot of growth in these areas in the years to come.
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As of press time, BTC and ETH continue to display strength in lower timeframes and are on their way to recovering previous highs. The first and second crypto by market cap is trading at $43,916 and $3,145, respectively.
