KPMG International is the third-largest accounting firm in the world. Headquartered in the Netherlands, KPMG provides accounting, consulting, tax and legal, financial advisory, and assurance services from more than 820 locations. The accounting giant pleased crypto followers with the latest news. KPMG makes investments in Bitcoin and Ethereum. The firm revealed in a press release on the 7th of February that its Canadian division made a purchase of Bitcoin and Ethereum for its corporate treasure.
The company does not announce the numbers concerning the volume of the purchase. Benjie Thomas, managing partner at KPMG’s Canada office, expressed his concerns about the positive prospects in crypto worlds, “This investment reflects our belief that institutional adoption of crypto assets and blockchain technology will continue to grow and become a regular part of the asset mix.”
In comparison with regulations of the United States related to the crypto currencies, Canadian government is more supportive. Under the Bank of Canada Act, cryptocurrency is not considered legal tender in Canada though. Therefore, from a tax perspective, the asset is treated as a commodity, rather than “money”. Under securities laws, Canadian crypto exchanges or “tokens” are classified as securities and are subject to securities requirements.
This is not the first step of KPMG towards digital technologies. Recently the company has expanded its business to engage new technology and finance practices. Among its services there’s already a section focused on providing assistance in blockchain issues and services related to crypto assets. The U.S. office of KRMG is in charge of auditing software firm MicroStrategy Incorporated. The last one possesses the biggest holding of cryptocurrencies among publicly listed companies.
“Having gone through this process ourselves now, we’re confident we can guide clients and prospective clients through the process of cryptoasset treasury allocation,” the firm told Bloomberg. “Our investment allows us to share our journey, our experiences, our challenges with them so that we can help them navigate the cryptoasset world.”
Looking back at November 2020, it’s said in the report that KPMG designed its own crypto asset framework to serve clients and includes five fundamental principles. The company defines client requirements, assists in managing forks in client crypto assets and provides security and storage of their cryptocurrencies.
Kareem Sadek, co-leader of KPMG’s Cryptoassets and Blockchain Services division said, “We’ve invested in a strong cryptoassets practice, and we will continue to enhance and build on our capabilities across decentralized finance, non-fungible tokens, and the metaverse, to name a few. We expect to see a lot of growth in these areas in the years to come.”
As of February 2022, the largest holder of Bitcoin among public companies is the software developer MicroStrategy. The company has accumulated 125 thousand BTC worth more than $5.4 billion according to Bitcoin Treasuries. The last time MicroStrategy bought cryptocurrency was in January of this year. The company leaders state they will never sell Bitcoin.
In second place among Bitcoin holders is electric car manufacturer Tesla. The company owns $43.2K BTC, which is worth more than $1.8 billion. Third place is Jack Dorsey’s payments company Square, which owns 8k BTC, worth about $356 million.