Leading cryptocurrency exchange Kraken announced the results of a proof-of-reserve audit on Thursday, showing it holds more than $19 billion in Ether (ETH) and Bitcoin (BTC). Nearly $20 Billion Saved on Kraken According to a blog post, the audit was conducted by Armanino LLP, a US consulting and technology firm. The results include no other assets – just BTC and ETH, including the $3.5 billion worth of ETH in Kraken’s staking service, an ETH 2.0 validator. This is the second independent audit conducted on the exchange since 2014. According to Armanino, the audit took several years to reconstruct a Merkle tree – a mathematical data structure that encapsulates hashes of different blocks of data – and to prove that each coin was on site. The audit comes as crypto companies worldwide are being monitored more closely by regulatory authorities. According to Jeremy Welch, Chief Product Officer at Kraken, the exchange plans to conduct annual public evidence reserve audits. Security and transparency for our customers has been at the heart of our culture as a company and the core of our practices and activities from the very beginning. Regular Proof of Reserves audits will demonstrate that the security and safety of our customers is a top priority for Kraken.” — said Welch. Cracking to Allow Clients to Check Their Accounts Now the exchange is implementing auditing standards to enable clients to verify that their BTC and ETH balances are backed by real assets held in the custody of the exchange. Each customer can independently verify their balances by comparing selected pieces of data against the Merkle root. However, the verification only reflects the current state of the supported assets at the time of the audit. “We offer Proof of Reserves because we are passionate about this sector and believe it is the future of the financial and capital markets. With this audit, we are taking historical best practices from certified public accounting firms and applying them in a new way that is incredibly exciting,” said Noah Buxton, blockchain practice lead at Armanino. Kraken is one of the most active crypto companies in the industry as of right now. The veteran US exchange is working on an NFT marketplace with new features, such as allowing customers to use non-replaceable tokens as collateral against which to borrow money. SPECIAL OFFER (Sponsored) Binance Free $100 (Exclusive): Use this link to register and get $100 Free and 10% Off Fees on Binance Futures First Month (Terms and Conditions). PrimeXBT Special Offer: Use this link to register and enter POTATO50 code to get 25% off trading fees.
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