Binance Proof-of-Reserves Auditor Mazars Pauses All Work for Crypto Clients
Mazars has deleted Binance’s proof-of-reserves assessment, which found its bitcoin reserves were overcollateralized.
Mazars, the auditing firm working with Binance and other crypto exchanges on proof-of-reserves statements, has paused all work for crypto clients, Binance said in an emailed statement.
“Mazars has indicated that they will temporarily pause their work with all of their crypto clients globally, which include Crypto.com, KuCoin and Binance. Unfortunately, this means that we will not be able to work with Mazars for the moment,” a Binance spokesperson said. The suspension was reported earlier by Bloomberg.
The accounting firm performed a proof-of-reserves assessment of Binance earlier this month, finding its bitcoin reserves were overcollateralized. The link to the report on Mazars’ website no longer works.
The auditor also found that Kucoin’s BTC, ETH, USDT and USDC reserves were all overcollateralized. This report is also no longer available. Mazar’s assessment of Crypto.com’s reserves found them to be fully backed 1:1.
Crypto exchanges came under pressure to provide proof of reserves in the wake of the of collapse of FTX, a once-dominant exchange that went bankrupt last month.Former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is now in custody in the Bahamas on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, among others.
Binance coin (BNB) fell after the announcement. It has lost about 5% in the past 24 hours, CoinDesk data shows. Crypto.com’s CRO has lost 3.9% and KuCoin’s native token KCS around 2.5%.
Mazars was not immediately available to respond to CoinDesk’s request for further comment.
By: Jamie Crawley
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