Breaking: Binance Auditor Mazars Suspends Services For Crypto Firms

Crypto exchange Binance on Friday said its auditor Mazars has suspended services for cryptocurrency firms including crypto exchanges, reported Bloomberg.

According to a Binance spokesperson, France-based Mazars will not provide services including proof of reserves for cryptocurrency exchanges. The clients include Binance, KuCoin, Crypto.com, and others. The firm believes the crypto industry hasn’t been reassured by the proof-of-reserves reports.

“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.”

Binance CEO “CZ” earlier mentioned that audit firms are reluctant to work with crypto firms. Binance CEO tweeted that “Blockchains are public, permanent records. It’s the most auditable ledger.” The auditing firm earlier reported Proof of Reserves (PoR) for Binance which found its Bitcoin reserves were overcollateralized. However, the on-chain data by Glassnode reported under-reported Bitcoin in Binance’s self-reported PoR.

On Thursday, FTX.US auditing firm Armanino announced ending its crypto audit practice and dropping clients. Armanino was named in a class-action lawsuit for failing to notice irregularities at FTX.US accounts after performing the exchange’s audit last year. Armanino is the auditor for FTX and OKX, Gate.io.

The news caused massive selling in the crypto market due to the existing Binance FUD. Bitcoin (BTC) price fell over 2%, with the current price trading below $17K. The BTC price plummeted nearly 4% in the last 24 hours. The 24-hour low and high for Bitcoin are $16,993 and $17,725, respectively.

Ethereum price falls nearly 5% in an hour, with the current price trading at $1,212. The ETH price is down over 7% in the last 24 hours. The 24-hour low and high for Ethereum are $1,210 and $1,291, respectively.