The Canadian arm of KPMG has added cryptoassets Bitcoin and Etherium to its corporate treasury, which marks the professional services firm’s initial direct investment in the digital asset and reflects its commitment to emerging technology.
“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,” Benjie Thomas, Canadian managing partner for advisory services at KPMG in Canada, said in a statement published Monday.
KPMG in Canada used Gemini Trust’s execution and custody services to acquire the cryptoassets on its balance sheet.
“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,” said Kareem Sadek, advisory partner, cryptoassets and blockchain services co-leader, KPMG in Canada. “We expect to see a lot of growth in these areas in the years to come.”
The Toronto-based firm formed a governance committee to manage and approve the treasury allocation. The newly established committee conducted a risk assessment process and reviewed the transaction’s accounting and tax implications.
KPMG in Canada became the latest private company to invest in Bitcoin. MicroStrategy, a business intelligence software provider founded and led by Michael Saylor, made its initial purchase in August 2020 and some other large corporations followed suit. Saylor gave his perspective on the global economic impact of cryptocurrencies at a recent fireside chat session with Juan Zarate, global co-managing partner and chief strategy officer at K2 Integrity and an inductee into Executive Mosaic’s Wash100 for 2022, during the Potomac Officers Club’s Digital Currency and National Security Forum. Visit the POC Events page to hear the full discussion on-demand.
