Binance Proof-of-Reserves Auditor Mazars Temporarily Halts Crypto Client Work: Report

Mazars, the auditing firm working with leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance, has suspended all work for clients in the crypto industry, news outlet Coindesk reported on Friday, citing an emailed statement from Binance.

“Mazars has indicated that it will temporarily suspend work with all of its crypto clients globally, including Crypto.com, KuCoin and Binance. Unfortunately, this means that we will not be able to work with Mazars at this time,” said a Le Binance spokesperson told Coindesk.

Mazars had conducted a so-called proof-of-reserve verification on Binance’s bitcoin holdings earlier this month, finding that its single-day bitcoin reserves in late November were over-collateralized.

The auditing firm removed the web page containing a report on the audit, published on December 7.

Mazars and Binance did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Mazars’ break comes amid scrutiny, sparked by the bankruptcy of the FTX exchange, into how these platforms hold user funds.

Binance was hit this week by an increase in outflows, which Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao called “business as usual.” Binance also suspended withdrawals from a major stablecoin for a period on Monday, blaming the delays of the traditional banking system.

It was reported earlier that Binance has witnessed increased trading activity for Sun Token, Ardor, Osmosis, FUNToken, and Golem. With the staggered trade movement of SUN, ARDR, OSMO, FUN, and GLM, users wondered if some accounts on Binance were compromised with stolen keys.

However, Binance’s official Twitter account revealed that the company had conducted an internal investigation to check if bad actors were targeting the exchange.

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