Netagio ISAE 3000 Audit Shows Bitcoin Gravitas in Finance Industry

UK Bitcoin and gold exchange Netagio has confirmed its successful ISAE 3000 audit, becoming the first Bitcoin entity in the industry to achieve the distinction.

The audit, which was conducted May 26 by professional services firm BDO LLP, means that Netagio is officially in compliance with standards set out by International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) “to ensure the quality of assurance work, including report verification as well as assurance on corporate governance, internal compliance, and other areas central to corporate responsibility,” a statement released today reads.

The only UK registered exchange offering trading in Bitcoin, gold and GBP, Netagio appears to have brushed off recent setbacks in UK financial support for the Bitcoin industry. A major player in the Isle Of Man Bitcoin scene, the company now spearheading progress for continued innovation in the area, CEO Simon Hamblin said. He also added:

“This latest recognition reinforces our commitment to growing our secure, peer-to-peer exchange platform on which to trade Bitcoin, gold and sterling, and is a stepping stone towards maturity in the community of companies operating in the Bitcoin space.”

- Simon Hamblin 

BDO partner George Quigley said that it was “good to see Netagio leading the way for the industry by commissioning an external assurance review.”

Netagio already adheres to the European Payment Services Directive, which involves “stringent anti-money laundering (AML) rules, diligent customer on-boarding ‘Know Your Customer’ (KYC) checks and continuous exchange and trade monitoring surveillance,” the company says.

The subject of auditing Bitcoin entities has been hotly debated recently, with buoyant results issued by several Chinese exchanges coming in for criticism from various parties.

Zane Tackett, head of international operations at one of the exchanges which took part, OKCoin, told Cointelegraph that Netagio’s news could not be easily compared to China.

“Saying that our proof-of-reserves is an audit is a little bit of a misnomer,” he said. “What Stefan Thomas [who carried out the work in China] did for us was confirm that we did indeed have the amount of bitcoin stored on our exchange in reserves. An audit is more comprehensive and takes more factors into account.”

Asked whether either system had the potential to become an industry standard, Tackett was doubtful.

“At this point, I don't believe so,” he commented.

“The technology around bitcoin and the industry itself is growing so fast I believe what is being used today might very well be outdated in a year, so it's hard to have a standard when the tools are constantly being upgraded. But, I do believe that it should be a mix of old and new; a traditional audit on the fiat reserves and a Merkle Tree-like proof-of-reserves on the crypto reserves”

Nonetheless, ISAE 3000 involvement is a poignant demonstration of Bitcoin’s growing legitimacy, and that this is a fact which institutions themselves no longer have an interest in ignoring.

“Britain is making claims about its commitment to innovation, not least in the area of FinTech, and yet, regrettably, the banking industry does not seem to share this commitment,” Hamblin previously said upon the announcement of Capital Treasury Group’s suspension of support for Bitcoin companies.

With solutions meanwhile having been tabled by third parties using foreign banking connections, namely UK payment processor Counting House and US company Instabill, the resilience of the industry is strikingly plain to see.  

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