KPMG Launches Crypto Asset Management Tool

KPMG, one of the top auditing and financial services firms globally, has made its move into the crypto space with a suite of asset management tools. 

Yesterday, the Dutch firm published a press release where it announced the KPMG Chain Fusion, a product that will help with asset and data management for institutional investors looking to secure their cryptocurrencies. 

Regulatory-Compliant Data and Asset Organization

According to the press release, the KPMG Chain Fusion will allow regulatory-compliant data and asset storage. KPMG has built it to help provide for the security, financial reporting, and processing needs of customers. The product is compatible with both traditional systems and blockchain databases, so customers will be able to collect and organize data from both sources.

Speaking with industry news source CoinDesk, Sam Wyner, the Director and Co-Lead of KPMG’s Cryptoasset Services team, explained that they had been working on the project for a year. The company reportedly hopes to target traditional, crypto, and FinTech companies, all of which have different needs in terms of connecting their systems.

With Chain Fusion, clients will be able to create a standard data model for running all company transactions. The product allows businesses to run “advanced analytics” on the data, regardless of whether it was collected on or off-chain, or whether it’s blockchain-based or a traditional fiat transaction.

Wyner added that more companies are becoming comfortable with trying their hands at cryptocurrencies. Given that the risk remains significant, KPMG is hoping to lend their expertise in risk control and processing to its clients.

“At least in my career this is one of the first times I’ve really thought of something and carried it all the way to this point with the help of a lot of people on this team, it would never have been possible without the support of our team,” he said.

Wyner didn’t point out if the service has onboarded any users. However, he explained that the company is already speaking to several potential clients. 

The Big Four is Ready for a Crypto Splash

KPMG and its members in the famed Big Four – PwC, Deloitte, and EY – have been making significant moves in the crypto and blockchain space. While most of them have been limited to analysis and auditing, however, it would appear that they are gearing up to take more active roles in the industry.

Currently, estimates show that the enterprise blockchain industry will grow to a market value of $21 billion over the next five years. With cryptocurrencies also experiencing a bounce back, things can only go up from here. Henri Arslanian, the Global Crypto Head at PwC, recently told Cointelegraph that there’s still a significant role for Big Four firms to advance the crypto ecosystem. As he explained, Bitcoin was designed with the ideology of trustlessness. However, there’s still a need for trusted entities to catalyze ecosystem development. 

The crypto professional added that not many people took crypto seriously three years ago, when he joined PwC. However, he’s been able to see fast growth in the space since then – PwC’s Hong Kong branch even started accepting Bitcoin payments in 2018. Since then, the company now has “crypto teams” in 20 countries, all consisting of 200 people that work on crypto-related projects.

While KPMG appears ready for crypto, it’s unclear how the others plan to penetrate the industry.