Bitcoin Miner Bitfury Group Partners ‘Big 4’ Firm EY to Provide Blockchain Services
Ernst & Young (EY), one of the “big four” services firms in the world has entered an agreement with The Bitfury Group, best known for its stature as a major bitcoin mining firm.
A report from CNBC reveals the agreement will see The Bitfury Group provide blockchain software services to EY and its client network. The agreement comes soon after Bitfury made a splash at a recent EY Startup Challenge competition.
Proposing a blockchain solution for digital rights management, The Bitfury Group won the accolade for the “Best Pitch” in the competition, where the bitcoin-centric firm sought to explore multiple use cases with blockchain technology with over 20 EY client firms during the event.
Remarking about the potential to offer blockchain technology to a broad cache of EY clients, Bitfury Group CEO Valery Vavilov stated:
Our partnership will bring blockchain technology to even more companies and countries to help improve their business operations, efficiency and security.
Big on Blockchain
The ‘Big 4’ services firms have all endeavored to explore and develop blockchain solutions at a time when the technology is the most prominent buzzword in the Fintech space.
Earlier this year, Deloitte partnered with the Bank of Ireland to announce the completion of a successful proof-of-concept blockchain trial with trade reporting. Last month, Deloitte released two notable reports focusing on blockchain technology and how it would benefit healthcare and loyalty rewards programs. Deloitte’s Toronto offices also saw a bitcoin ATM installed in its building, among the offices of its Rubix team – which sees a group of employees working exclusively on developing blockchain applications for Deloitte’s clients.
Another ‘Big Four’ firm PwC, released a report that underlined blockchain as a “once in a generation” opportunity for financial services. The firm also partnered a Shanghai-based blockchain startup earlier this year to expedite the technology in China and Hong Kong.
The new deal between EY and the Bitfury Group could potentially see blockchain applications in several sectors beyond finance, including technology, energy and public services.
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