One of the United States’ largest accounting and consulting firms, Armanino LLP, has announced that it will begin accepting cryptocurrency payments for its services.
Armanino Is Opening Future Crypto Doors
Since the inception of bitcoin roughly ten years ago, the ideal goal of all cryptocurrency has been to be utilized for the payment of goods and services. In many developing countries, financial institutions are often interceded by corrupt government control or weak infrastructures. This can get in the way of the countries’ people getting their hands on the credit and other financial tools they need to survive and provide for their families.
Unfortunately, one thing has often prevented cryptocurrency from realizing its dream to replace cash, checks and credit cards… Its volatility. Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and EOS, are typically prone to heavy price swings that have caused the values of these currencies to fall at a moment’s notice.
In 2018, for example, bitcoin entered a very bearish period after reaching its all-time high of roughly $20,000 in December of the previous year. Roughly 11 months later, the currency was trading in the mid-$3,000 range, having lost more than 70 percent of its overall value.
These price swings have prevented businesses and enterprises from seeing cryptocurrencies as legitimate. Many, in the end, have refused to accept crypto as a valid form of payment, but Armanino sees the situation very differently.
The company has stated that it will accept payments in roughly 1,000 different cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, Ripple’s XRP, Ethereum and Litecoin. It is now one of the few businesses of its kind to implement these new obligations.
Andries Verschelden, a partner at the firm, spoke positively of the transition to crypto acceptance, explaining:
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.
The firm has also incited plans to grow its “proprietary block explorer.” This division of Armanino works with several blockchain ventures throughout the United States to obtain wallet details and analyze crypto transactions. It also seeks to design and build “digital signature validation tools” to perform necessary payment audits and ensure the maximum level of trust among its customers.
A New Way of Seeking Customers
Verschelden states:
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.
Armanino seeks to offer both business development strategies and tax advice to all its clients from the time they begin their operations.
