While some multi-bln professional service firms are pushing the development and implementation of private Blockchains, Ernst & Young (EY), one of the “Big Four” accounting corporations in the world, is leading the Bitcoin industry to the mainstream.In 2016, EY has had tremendous success in introducing Bitcoin to its clients and most importantly, its employees.EY has about 231,000 globally and the firm has already provided EY secure digital wallet applications to all EY employees in Switzerland.The digital wallet allows users to send and receive Bitcoins in a safe and secure ecosystem.For users or employees that are in need of high liquidity, EY also installed a Bitcoin ATM in their public office in Switzerland, enabling its clients and employees to purchase and sell Bitcoins.Most importantly, EY is accepting Bitcoin payments for all of their consulting services, which accounts for around $7.8 bln in 2016.This means that any client can pay globally with Bitcoin to cover services provided by EY.

Marcel Stalder, the CEO of EY Switzerland stated: “We don’t only want to talk about digitalization, but also actively drive this process together with our employees and our clients.It is important to us that everybody gets on board and prepares themselves for the revolution set to take place in the business world through blockchains, two smart contracts and digital currencies.” The world’s “Big Four” accounting corporations are PwC, Deloitte, EY and KPMG, all of which generate revenues of over $20 bln.However, only EY is allocating its resources and capital for the development of Bitcoin.Others are focusing on the so-called “permissioned blockchain,” which is still yet to demonstrate practical and commercial applications.However, to fully appreciate the efforts of EY, it is crucial to understand the major reason behind the support of PwC, Deloitte, KPMG and other professional services companies for private Blockchains.Large scale accounting firms and professional service providers deal with multi-bln dollar clients, high profile customers and corporations like banks and financial institutions.

Thus, only a very small portion of their clientele will be interested in technologies like Bitcoin that are not adopted by the traditional financial industry.Bitcoin is seen as a threat against financial dependence and monopoly established by banks and financial institutions as Bitcoin provides users with financial freedom and independence.Essentially, Bitcoin eliminates the necessity of banks, rendering most, if not all, of banking services irrelevant.Thus, to compete with such a threatening technology or currency, banks have entered a desperation mode in attempting to replicate Bitcoin in a private and controlled environment.Since banks are allocating their capital and resources in the development of Bitcoin, its service providers including accounting firms and professional services companies are forced to follow the vision of banks.EY remains one of the very few large-scale companies to acknowledge the potential of Bitcoin and the impact it already has had on the global financial ecosystem.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the world’s largest professional services firm, has recruited 15 leading technology specialists to explore the application and commercialization of the Bitcoin blockchain technology.khan academy bitcoinThe blockchain research team will collaborate with PwC’s Belfast office and is expected to grow to more than 40 technological specialists throughout 2016.buy bitcoin quoraThe London-based corporation stated that they have decided to look into Bitcoin and its underlying technology, the blockchain technology, due to the growing demand of their clients and investors.bitcoin billionaire pc versionWith the help of the blockchain research team, PwC aims to assist its clients in understanding the Bitcoin blockchain technology and implement it in its services.the armory bitcoin guns

“There’s clear evidence that banks, institutions and even governments are looking at blockchain technology as a secure storage and distribution solution.bitcoin wert 2014Now there is growing interest and a real demand from our clients to help understand the implications of blockchain and how to respond to it.bitcoin mining luckSo as the blockchain juggernaut continues to gather pace, PwC will be well-placed to service our clients’ needs at a global level,” said PwC partner and EMEA Fintech Leader Steve Davis.“PwC is now breaking new ground in developing radical fintech solutions and these appointments represent the first stage of our plans to grow a world-class fintech offering,” Davis said.“We expect the initial core team of 15 experts to grow rapidly, with PwC in Belfast continuing to expand, exploit and deliver technology and digital solutions to global clients.” The team further emphasized that the proposal of U.K.

chief scientific adviser Sir Mark Walpor to embrace blockchain technology in facilitating public services such as passport issuance, real estate ownership verification and tax collection inspired the company to actively explore the potential application of the blockchain technology.PwC firmly believes that the blockchain technology could significantly reduce costs and enhance traditional financial systems in various industries.Through its growing blockchain team, the company plans to continuously explore the application of the technology in the existing banking systems and transaction settlement systems.“Blockchain technology is worrying major players in the financial services industry as they don’t know where it will go or its potential to disrupt business models.However, in document delivery and settlement processing alone, it will offer significant cost reduction and efficiency gains,” said PwC U.K.Executive Board member and U.K.and EMEA consulting leader Ashley Unwin.“We are confident that these disruptive fintech technologies will trigger a huge increase in demand for blockchain expertise, and we intend to be a leader in exploiting these disruptive new technologies,” Unwin said.

One limitation, according to PwC, is the relatively low level of awareness for bitcoin and digital currencies in general.According to the results of PwC’s forthcoming Global Fintech survey, which polled 545 leading asset managers, fund transfer companies, and insurers, 9 percent of the managers were familiar with bitcoin, but more than 30 percent of the managers had never heard of the cryptocurrency.But the firm still feels optimistic in funding a group of blockchain researchers, as the fintech sector in the U.K.is growing at an explosive rate.“The U.K.’s technology sector is increasingly focusing on fintech as offering radical and disruptive solutions to existing business models,” according to the company.“The sector raised a record $3.6 billion of venture capital in 2015, with the fintech sector accounting for almost a quarter of all investment raised by London-based tech companies.” Over the next few months, the PwC team, which consists of more than 208,000, employees, will actively provide in-depth understanding of Bitcoin the system and raise the awareness of bitcoin the currency within their clientele.