Ernst & Young Accepts Bitcoin

While some professional services firms are pushing for the development and implementation of private blockchains, Ernst & Young (EY), one of the world’s “Big Four” accounting firms, has chosen to lead the way in bringing the Bitcoin industry into the mainstream.

EY Bitcoin ATM and client employee wallets

In 2016, Ernst & Young had great success in introducing Bitcoin to its clients and employees. With approximately 231,000 employees worldwide, EY provided a secure digital e-wallet application for its employees in Switzerland. The digital wallet will allow users to securely transfer Bitcoin in or out.

EY has also installed Bitcoin ATMs in public offices in Switzerland for users or employees with high cash flow, so that customers and employees can buy and sell Bitcoin.

Most importantly, all of EY's consulting services can be paid for with Bitcoin, which contributed approximately $7.8 billion to the company in 2016. This means that any client in the world can use Bitcoin to pay for services provided by EY.

Marcel Stalder, CEO of EY Switzerland, said:

“We not only talk about digitalization, but we also actively drive this process together with our employees and customers. It is important for us to get everyone on board and ready to revolutionize the business world with blockchain, smart contracts and digital currencies.

Why should we appreciate Ernst & Young's efforts?

The world’s “Big Four” accounting firms are PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Deloitte, Ernst & Young (EY), and KPMG, all of which have revenues of more than $2 billion. However, only EY has invested money and resources in Bitcoin development. The others are focusing on “permissioned blockchains” that have no use cases and commercial applications.

But to fully appreciate EY’s efforts, it’s also crucial to understand the main reasons behind PwC, Deloitte, KPMG and other professional services firms’ support for private blockchains.

Large accounting firms and professional service providers typically serve big-name clients, as well as companies like banks and financial institutions. As a result, only a small percentage of their clients are interested in technologies like Bitcoin that are not used by the traditional financial industry.

Bitcoin is seen as a challenge to the financial dependence and monopoly established by banks and financial institutions, as Bitcoin can provide financial freedom and independence to users. Essentially, Bitcoin eliminates the need for banks, making most banking services irrelevant.

Therefore, in order to compete with this challenging technology and currency, banks will have to do their best to replicate Bitcoin in a private and controlled environment. Since banks have also invested money and resources in Bitcoin development, service providers such as accounting firms and professional service companies have no choice but to follow the banks' wishes.

But EY remains one of the few firms to recognize Bitcoin’s potential and impact in the global financial ecosystem.