The largest accountancy firm in the state of California has announced that it will now accept payments in cryptocurrency. Armanino LLP will allow clients to pay for its services in any one of more than 1,000 digital assets.
Along with the cryptocurrency payment announcement, the firm has said that it is extending its own blockchain explorer platform. This will allow it to offer an even more extensive set of auditing tools for both its own and its clients’ use.
Armanino to Support Cryptocurrency Firms with Double Announcement
Major US accountancy firm Armaninio has just announced that it will now accept payments for its auditing and consulting services using more than 1,000 different cryptocurrencies.
Armanino begins accepting payment in more than 1,0000 cryptocurrencies. In addition to accepting cryptocurrency payments, the firm is expanding its proprietary block explorer. Read more: https://t.co/n9zA7waAgU pic.twitter.com/Jjj4aDqEjH
— Armanino (@ArmaninoLLP) August 8, 2019
The company has also announced an upgrade to its propriety block explorer, which is moving to a cloud-based system. A press release from Armaninio stated that this will allow for both internal use and use by clients
Armaninio partner and blockchain practice leader, Andries Verschelden, stated the following of today’s double announcement:
“With more fintech companies, banks and brokerages exploring ways to mainstream cryptocurrency, it made sense for Armanino to build the infrastructure necessary to accept cryptocurrency payments for what we expect to be a growing form of payment.”
In the press release, there is no mention of Armaninio using a payment processor like BitPay to offer cryptocurrency payments. The fact that it is expanding its own blockchain explorer to accommodate the move, along with Verschelden’s statement, suggests that the company will be handling crypto assets itself.
This approach is markedly different from that of other high profile cryptocurrency “acceptance” stories. The hype around major US telecoms company AT&T allowing their clients to pay for their services via BitPay, for example, was hardly justified. When companies use a crypto payment processor, they usually never handle the digital asset. In almost all cases (there may be some exceptions), the processing company exchanges the entire payment for the relevant currency and then makes the payment to the firm “accepting” the crypto asset. Even Peter Schiff’s own company allows clients to pay for gold using Bitcoin (via BitPay, of course) and we all know how he feels about cryptocurrency.
In addition to preparing to accept a huge range of digital assets, Armaninio has developed help service for clients wanting to get started in the industry. The press release states that the company recommends best practices on treasury, accounting, reporting, tax, and regulatory compliance issues.
Verschelden also commented:
“As digital asset use and adoption increases and new types of transactions are made, such as security token offerings (STO) on public blockchains, the need for third-party assurance tools continues to grow… That’s where our block explorer and associated tools are already proving value to our internal teams and our clients alike.”
Related Reading: Bitcoin Is Winning Over The Skeptics, Mainstream Acceptance Is A Matter Of Time
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