• Binance’s Asia-Pacific president Leon Foong said on Wednesday that the exchange’s complete audit of its cryptocurrency holdings and liabilities would take longer than first anticipated.
• The cryptocurrency trading platform has not yet found a suitable auditing company to do a full audit of its financials.
• Following the demise of rival cryptocurrency exchange FTX, there have been demands for more openness, and a comprehensive audit of Binance is still outstanding.

Binance Audit Delayed

Binance’s Asia-Pacific president Leon Foong announced on Wednesday that the exchange’s complete audit of its crypto holdings and liabilities would take longer than initially expected. This announcement follows the recent demands for more transparency after rival crypto exchange FTX ceased operations. As such, a comprehensive audit of Binance is still pending.

Auditing Firms Hesitant

Due to heightened scrutiny from authorities, large auditing firms are only just learning about the crypto business while other auditing firms are hesitant to engage with crypto enterprises. Binance previously had an agreement with Mazars Group but they discontinued providing services to cryptocurrency companies due to increased oversight and removed their proof-of-reserves report as well.

CEO „CZ“ Zhao Comments

Changpeng Zhao (“CZ”), CEO of Binance, stated that conducting audits for cryptocurrencies is difficult given their nature as digital assets. Glassnode reported in December that Binance underreported its crypto holdings in its PoR (proof-of-reserves). Additionally, it was acknowledged that some tokens were misplaced by the exchange and put in the same wallet as client cash; however this issue is currently being addressed by them.

FTX Crisis

The collapse of FTX has sparked calls for greater transparency within the industry which has led many exchanges to be held accountable for their operations. This demand has pushed exchanges like Binance towards obtaining an independent third party audit in order to prove they are maintaining proper reserves and preventing any mismanagement or fraud within their systems.

Conclusion

Overall, despite difficulty in finding an external auditor due to varying levels of government scrutiny; Binance continues to work towards providing a thorough audit which will further boost confidence among customers who use their services and become more transparent when it comes to their financials moving forward.