“Big Four” consulting firm PwC’s Luxembourg branch will start accepting Bitcoin payments from Oct. 1.
As per a press release, the latest initiative is in response to the clients’ growing demand, the firm’s willingness to support the burgeoning national crypto ecosystem, and belief in blockchain technology’s “medium to long-term” role in the economy.
PwC Luxembourg expressed confidence in Bitcoin, calling it the “first peer-to-peer payment mechanism that cannot be compromised and is based on a decentralized trust model.”
The company also acknowledge the existing impediments of cryptocurrencies and challenges related to its adoption. It revealed that it partnered with a regulated local exchange to facilitate payments, although it did not name the firm or the other coins it will accept.
“The Firm acknowledges the challenges of this move and has carefully reviewed its internal policies and procedures to meet the standards required by the crypto industry and closely collaborated with a local regulated exchange to provide the best payment experience,” PwC Luxembourg stated.
Accepting cryptocurrencies may help PwC offer a better consumer experience, by providing day-to-day insight into “AML/KYC enhanced due diligence… public/private keys… and risks of custodial solutions,” Thomas Campione, Luxembourg Office’s Director of Blockchain and Crypto-assets, said.
The latest move comes as PwC recently added a new tool to its existing “Halo” suite of auditing tools. The new software tool will reportedly offer “independent and substantive evidence of the private key and public address pairing” and “securely interrogate the blockchain to independently and reliably gather corroborating information about blockchain transactions and balances.”
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