The accounting firm that issued the Proof of Reserves report for Binance is discontinuing service for all crypto clients
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Mazars, the accounting firm that released evidence of the reserves report published by cryptocurrency giant Binance last week, has pulled the report from its website and is no longer offering the service to its crypto clients.
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, tweeted a link to the report on Dec. 7, as it seeks to reassure customers of its reserves following the collapse of rival FTX last month.
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is having difficulty finding an accounting firm to perform proof of reserves report. (Jakob Borzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)
According to the Wall Street Journal, Mazars removed the report from its site on Friday.
“Mazars has ceased its activity related to providing Proof of Reserves reports to entities in the cryptocurrency sector due to concerns about the way the public perceives these reports,” the accounting group said in a statement emailed to FOX Business.
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A Binance spokesperson said that Mazars “has indicated that they will be pausing work with all of their crypto clients globally, including Crypto.com, KuCoin, and Binance. Unfortunately, this means that we will not be able to work with Mazars at this time.”
“Ultimately, our users want to know that their funds are safe and that our business is financially sound,” the Binance statement continued. “To this end, Binance’s capital structure is debt-free, and over the past week, Binance has passed a stress test that should give the community extraordinary relief that their funds are safe. Despite the large number of withdrawals from December 12-14, the $6 billion in net withdrawals over three days, which we were able to achieve without breaking our stride.”
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Binance said it has reached out to several major accounting firms, including the Big Four, looking for one willing to provide proof of the reserves report. The cryptocurrency exchange said the big four — Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG, and Pricewaterhouse Coopers — are all “currently unwilling to conduct a PoR for a private crypto company.”
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The cryptocurrency industry has been affected by the fall of FTX, leaving investors very concerned after a run on the bank showed that the exchange – worth about $40 billion at one point – did not have enough reserves to honor withdrawals. The company declared bankruptcy last month, resulting in billions of dollars in losses for an estimated one million customers worldwide.
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fred was arrested Monday on numerous charges linked to his company’s collapse, leading to calls for more regulation of the crypto industry by jurisdictions around the world — including a requirement for proof of reserves.
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao speaks at the Delta Summit, Malta’s official blockchain and digital innovation event to promote cryptocurrency, in St. Julian’s, Malta, on October 4, 2018. (Reuters/Darren Zmmit Luby/Reuters Photo)
Binance founder and CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” this week that “a well-managed cryptocurrency exchange should hold users’ assets one-to-one.”
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“People can withdraw 100% of the assets they hold on Binance,” Zhao said. “We won’t have a problem, on any given day.”
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