KPMG in Canada made its first direct crypto investment as digital assets further enter the mainstream. A Canadian managing partner said the move shows that cryptocurrency was a maturing asset class whose acceptance was growing in corporate firms in Canada.
Canadian Big Four Firm giant Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler (KPMG) has announced it added Bitcoin and Ether to its corporate treasury. The decision to allocate the two leading cryptocurrencies underscores the firm’s perspective on how emerging technologies like blockchain will eventually become part of the asset mix.
KPMG exploring offering crypto products and services
The multinational is one of the top accounting firms globally alongside Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), and Ernst & Young (EY). The group is known as the “Big Four” due to its relevance and revenue. According to a statement by Benjie Thomas, an advisory services managing partner at KPMG in Canada, KPMG said the following on the firm’s recent Bitcoin and Ethereum bet:
“Crypto assets are a maturing asset class. Investors such as hedge funds and family offices to large insurers and pension funds are increasingly gaining exposure to crypto assets, and traditional financial services such as banks, financial advisors and brokerages are exploring offering products and services involving crypto-assets.”
Reports indicate that the KPMG acquired Bitcoin and Ethereum on its balance sheet through Gemini, with the two companies exchanging a brief interaction on Twitter. According to the statement, the firm stated it was also adding carbon offsets to maintain a net-zero carbon transaction to deliver on their ESG commitments.
Institutions with crypto interest has been trending
KPMG established a governance committee with stakeholders from Finance, Risk Management, Advisory, and Audit and Tax to provide oversight and approve the treasury allocation. Specialists also assessed the tax and accounting implications of the transaction.
KPMG now joins a host of institutional investors. Major corporations worldwide have turned to BTC for its safe-haven capabilities against U.S. dollar inflation and ETH and its ecosystem. Ether also hosts Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), decentralized finances (DeFi), and some experts called the future of the internet or Web 3 applications. Kareem Sadek, KPMG in Canada’s crypto assets and blockchain services co-leader, said:
“We’ve invested in a strong crypto assets 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.”
The number of institutions with crypto interest has been trending in appeal and value as Meta, Microsoft, and other companies attempt to enter one or all the sectors mentioned above on Ethereum. The decision by KPMG to plan to expand their investment to NFTs, metaverse, and Web 3.0 projects will help in the adoption of cryptocurrency and its mainstreaming.
Tom is a freelance writer with over 10-years’ experience in content creation, blog writing, and SEO specializing in the blockchain and cryptocurrency niche. As a philosophical figurehead, he believes that to make our world a better place, we must invest in incorruptible products and procedures, of which Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are leading examples.
