{"id":9204,"date":"2022-12-16T13:18:52","date_gmt":"2022-12-16T13:18:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/?p=9204"},"modified":"2022-12-16T13:18:54","modified_gmt":"2022-12-16T13:18:54","slug":"audits-firms-armanino-mazars-ditch-crypto-clients-in-wake-of-pushback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/?p=9204","title":{"rendered":"Audits firms Armanino, Mazars ditch crypto clients in wake of pushback"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\namzn_assoc_placement = \"adunit0\";\r\namzn_assoc_tracking_id = \"totafreearti-20\";\r\namzn_assoc_ad_mode = \"search\";\r\namzn_assoc_ad_type = \"smart\";\r\namzn_assoc_marketplace = \"amazon\";\r\namzn_assoc_region = \"US\";\r\namzn_assoc_default_search_phrase = \"crypto\";\r\namzn_assoc_default_category = \"All\";\r\namzn_assoc_search_bar = \"false\";\r\namzn_assoc_title = \"\";\r\namzn_assoc_rows =\"1\";\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"\/\/z-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/widgets\/onejs?MarketPlace=US\"><\/script><br \/>\n   <\/p>\n<p>Audit firms Armanino and Mazars are set to drop their crypto clients following controversies and community pushback.<\/p>\n<h2>Armanino, Mazars jump ship<\/h2>\n<p>Auditors Armanino and Mazars count several high-profile crypto companies among their collective clients, including Nexo, Gate, FTX, Kraken, Binance, and Crypto.com.<\/p>\n<p>However, the efficacy of crypto audits has been called into question recently, primarily due to the collapse of FTX.<\/p>\n<p>FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Nov. 11 amid a flurry of controversy, including allegations of fraud and misuse of customers\u2019 funds. In a bankruptcy filing last month, newly appointed CEO John Ray commented that he had substantial concerns with the company\u2019s financial records:<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[There was] such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information.\u201c<\/p>\n<p>Prager Metis CPAs sign off on FTX Trading LLC\u2019s financial statements for 2020 and 2021. At the same time, Armanino signed off on FTX U.S.\u2019s financial statements for the same period.<\/p>\n<p>In a lawsuit filed last month, Prager Metis CPAs and Amanino were accused of being \u201cwillfully blind\u201d to the \u201cracketeering\u201d at the disgraced exchange.<\/p>\n<p>Although Armanino has not commented on the situation, sources claim the firm has decided to cease working with crypto clients, according to Forbes.<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, per Bloomberg, Binance\u2019s auditors, Mazars, have also decided to put a hold on working with crypto clients.<\/p>\n<p>Following the FTX collapse, crypto platforms rushed to provide Proof of Reserves (PoR) to calm investors\u2019 fears of insolvency. In Binance\/Mazars\u2019 case, critics said PoR is flawed and does not give the same scrutiny as a full audit.<\/p>\n<p>Binance suffered a run this week, which saw cumulative outflows peak at approximately $7.5 billion. Binance CEO Chanpeng Zhao said it was a \u201cgood idea to \u201cstress test withdrawals.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Crypto accounting standards unclear<\/h2>\n<p>Arca CIO Jeff Dorman pointed out that \u201cauditors are still learning\u201d when it comes to crypto audits, and, in any case, it is difficult to prove access for every token listed as an asset.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPer audit issues above, in a \u201cguilty til proven innocent\u201d environment, it\u2019s virtually impossible for Binance (or any exchange) to actually prove innocence in a timely fashion. <\/p>\n<p>No matter what they do, it won\u2019t be enough in naysayers\u2019 eyes.\u201c<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s more, Dorman\u2019s point touches on the lack of clear guidance from accounting standards on treating digital assets.<\/p>\n<p>While that alone is no excuse for being \u201cwilfully blind,\u201d it still highlights the deficiencies of applying legacy safeguards in their current form on digital assets.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, per BTC_Archive, Mazars has removed access to its PoR assessments.<\/p>\n<h2>Get an Edge on the Crypto Market \ud83d\udc47<\/h2>\n<p>Become a member of CryptoSlate Edge and access our exclusive Discord community, more exclusive content and analysis.<\/p>\n<p>  <strong>On-chain analysis<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>  <strong>Price snapshots<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>  <strong>More context<\/strong><\/p>\n<p> Join now for $19\/month Explore all benefits<br \/>\n<br \/><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\namzn_assoc_placement = \"adunit0\";\r\namzn_assoc_tracking_id = \"totafreearti-20\";\r\namzn_assoc_ad_mode = \"search\";\r\namzn_assoc_ad_type = \"smart\";\r\namzn_assoc_marketplace = \"amazon\";\r\namzn_assoc_region = \"US\";\r\namzn_assoc_default_search_phrase = \"bitcoin\";\r\namzn_assoc_default_category = \"All\";\r\namzn_assoc_search_bar = \"false\";\r\namzn_assoc_title = \"\";\r\namzn_assoc_rows =\"1\";\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"\/\/z-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/widgets\/onejs?MarketPlace=US\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/audits-firms-armanino-mazars-ditch-crypto-clients-in-wake-of-pushback\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Audit firms Armanino and Mazars are set to drop their crypto clients following controversies and community pushback. Armanino, Mazars jump ship Auditors Armanino and Mazars count several high-profile crypto companies among their collective clients, including Nexo, Gate, FTX, Kraken, Binance, and Crypto.com. However, the efficacy of crypto audits has been called into question recently, primarily [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ethereum-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9204"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9206,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9204\/revisions\/9206"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}