KPMG Canada adds Bitcoin and Ethereum to balance sheet
KPMG’s Canadian arm has added Bitcoin and Ethereum to its corporate treasury, marking the accounting giant’s first direct investment in crypto.
KPMG in Canada acquired the crypt assets on its balance sheet with the help of crypto custodian Gemini Trust Company, according to a statement. The accounting power house said it has established a governance committee to provide oversight and approve the treasury allocation which undertook a rigorous risk assessment before approving the purchase.
“Cryptoassets are a maturing asset class,” said Benjie Thomas, the Managing Partner of advisory services at KPMG in Canada. Thomas explained that investors including hedge funds, family offices, large insurers and even pension funds are increasingly interested in digital assets while banks, financial advisers and brokerages are offering crypto related products and services.
“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,” Thomas said.
The investment illustrates that an explosion of investor interest in crypto and blockchain technologies has become too pronounced for financial heavyweights to ignore.
“The cryptoasset industry continues to grow and mature and it needs to be considered by financial services and institutional investors,” says Kareem Sadek, the co-leader of crypto services for KPMG’s Canadian arm.
“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,” he added.
With the allocation, KPMG joins major companies such as MicroStrategy, Tesla and Square, which now holding crypto on their balance sheets.
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