The auditing giant Deloitte is now going to allow its staff to pay for food using a mobile Bitcoin wallet. This is a significant development, seeing as Deloitte is one of the “Big Four” auditing firms. Consequently, Deloitte has deep ties to the traditional banking sector.
Deloitte will allow for food purchases using Bitcoin
This news comes from a recent report from the Luxembourg Times. On September 17th, the news outlet broke the news that Deloitte will let employees pay for their food in cryptocurrency. Specifically, this test will allow them to use Bitcoin for their payments in the company canteen.
According to the report, Deloitte’s reasoning is that it wants to examine how the auditing giant “could use the cryptocurrency”. On its own, this is not all too surprising. Bitcoin has quickly become a veritable goldmine for the auditing firms ready to delve into the cryptosphere.
Moreover, Deloitte’s first steps toward Bitcoin is, therefore, seemingly being taken by its own employees. As such, the auditing giant can test the potential of Bitcoin – without any of the associated adverse effects.
According to Laurent Collet, who is a partner at Deloitte’s advisory arm, this is on purpose. “We think it’s good to have our employees assess this new technology,” he said, according to the Luxembourg Times piece.
Is this in preparation for client Bitcoin payments?
Nevertheless, Collet went on to stress that this does not entail any specific commitment to crypto. Rather, he argued, there are “no plans” to allow Deloitte’s clients to pay in Bitcoin – at least not in the near future.
This is in stark comparison, however, to PwC Luxembourg – yet another Big Four auditing company – who will soon start accepting Bitcoin payments. It was recently reported that PwC Luxembourg will commence client payments in Bitcoin on October 1st.
Expanding on this, Collet went on to explain Deloitte’s intentions with blockchain technology. According to him, Deloitte seeks to employ blockchain in the company’s fund management activities – mainly in order to process transactions.
If this is indeed the only use of blockchain technology within Deloitte, it would mean that clients will not be able to use the premier cryptocurrency to make Bitcoin payments. Nonetheless, mere blockchain transactions could dramatically speed up the process of transferring funds.
In addition, it would remove middlemen from the transactions themselves. As Collet puts it, “this is where we focus our attention right now in linking this new technology with the needs of the Luxembourg industry.”
Rasmus Pihl is a writer for Toshi Times by day and an avid follower of the blockchain industry by night. Rasmus holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing from the Gothenburg School of Business, Economics, and Law and runs a Swedish marketing consulting firm. Moreover, when he isn’t writing for Toshi Times, traveling, working or changing the world in some other capacity, Rasmus is more than likely caught up in postgraduate studies.
