PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), one of the largest auditing firms in the world, announced this Wednesday that it has expanded its existing “Halo” suite of auditing tools to now provide assurance services for companies that engage in cryptocurrency transactions.
The auditor has added a new software tool to its mix so that it can now provide audit and other assurance services to clients that both hold or transact in nine digital assets - Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold, Bitcoin Diamond, LiteCoin, Ethereum, ERC20 - OAX token, and Ripple (XRP).
According to the statement, the Halo solution can provide independent and substantive evidence of the “private key and public address pairing” - one of the pieces needed to establish ownership of cryptos, as well as “securely interrogate the Blockchain ” so that it can gather information about blockchain balances and transactions.
James Chalmers, Global Assurance Leader at PwC
Source: LinkedIn
Commenting on the new development, James Chalmers, Global Assurance Leader, said: “It is important as companies continue to digitise 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.”
In addition to helping its own clients, the firm is also working with outside companies to help them address both the challenges and new opportunities of blockchain and cryptocurrency.
“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,” the statement said.
PwC Continues to Support Cryptos
PwC has been open to Cryptocurrencies for years now. As Finance Magnates reported back in 2017, the auditor announced that it would be the second mega professional services company to offer its clients the possibility of settling their invoices in Bitcoin, according to the Wall Street Journal.
