Audit

This is the fifth and final post in a series about SMSF Bitcoin audit evidence. The first post covered what auditors need to verify. The second compared evidence standards. The third covered the regulatory pressure making this urgent. The fourth explained why auditors need the wallet descriptor. You’ve received a CertainKey report in an audit file. Maybe the trustee sent it unprompted. Maybe their accountant attached it. Either way, you’re looking at a document full of terms like “wallet descriptor,” “block height,” and “BIP-322 message signature” — and you need to decide whether it’s sufficient evidence. ...

This is the fourth post in a series about SMSF Bitcoin audit evidence. The first post covered what auditors need to verify. The second post compared evidence standards. The third post covered the regulatory pressure making all of this urgent. This post covers multisig — why it’s best practice for SMSF custody, and why it creates a new audit evidence challenge. If you’re holding Bitcoin in your SMSF with a single key, you have a single point of failure. One lost seed phrase, one compromised device, and the fund’s assets are gone. No insurance, no recovery, no phone number to call. ...

This is the third post in a series about SMSF Bitcoin audit evidence. The first post covered what auditors need to verify. The second post compared evidence standards. This post covers the regulatory pressure that is making all of this urgent. Self-custody is the right call. No counterparty risk, no exchange insolvency exposure, your keys, your coins. Most serious bitcoiners wouldn’t have it any other way. But the Australian government is tightening the screws on how SMSF crypto holdings are audited, and if you can’t prove what you hold, your auditor has no choice but to qualify your audit and report you to the ATO. ...

This is the second post in a series about SMSF Bitcoin audit evidence. The first post, Your SMSF Holds Bitcoin — What Does Your Auditor Actually Need?, covered what auditors need to verify and why most of what trustees currently provide falls short. This post goes deeper into the evidence itself — what makes some forms of evidence stronger than others, and why it matters. Auditing is fundamentally about evidence. An auditor’s job is to assess whether the evidence supporting a claim is sufficient and appropriate. For most financial assets, this is well-trodden ground. Bank statements, share registries, property titles — each comes from a recognised institution with its own governance and reporting obligations. The auditor evaluates the source, assesses the risk, and forms a conclusion. ...