Big Four Auditing Firm Deloitte Lets Staff Pay for Lunch in Bitcoin

"Big Four" auditing firm Deloitte is now allowing its staff to pay for food in the canteen using a mobile Bitcoin (BTC) wallet.

The English-language Luxembourg Times reported on Sept. 17 that Deloitte is testing Bitcoin among its employees to “see how the audit giant could use the cryptocurrency.” 

Laurent Collet, a partner at Deloitte's advisory arm, said:

“We think it's good to have our employees assess this new technology.”

Only an internal test

Collet stressed there are no plans to allow clients to pay in Bitcoin in the near future. PwC Luxembourg, another Big Four firm, will start accepting Bitcoin payments from Oct. 1.

Blockchain not Bitcoin

Collet explained that Deloitte’s priority is to use blockchain in its fund management activities to process transactions, rather than make payments in Bitcoin. This is because it would speed up the process of moving funds, make audits easier, and remove middlemen. He concluded:

“This is where we focus our attention right now in linking this new technology with the needs of the Luxembourg industry.”

As Cointelegraph reported on Sept. 16, an economist from the Bank for International Settlements has also proposed new ways of supervising financial risks through distributed ledger technology.