DCARPE Alliance, a consortium of members of the accounting, audit, financial reporting and related technology community, welcomes Pepper Hamilton LLP as a premier member. Pepper Hamilton, founded in 1890, provides a wide spectrum of legal services relevant to the digital marketplace and assurance industries. Pepper has more than 425 lawyers across the United States.

Joseph C. Guagliardo, a Pepper Hamilton partner and one of the practice leaders of the firm’s Blockchain Technology initiative, noted that, “Pepper’s Technology Group is rooted in a rich history, from representing clients in the technology space from the early days of mainframe technologies through today’s emerging blockchain platforms and digital assets.”

Michael K. Jones, also a Pepper Hamilton partner in the firm’s Intellectual Property Department, pointed out the importance of tackling not only the blockchain use cases, but also protecting the intellectual property created in the process. “We believe it is important to start thinking about protecting the concepts and technology while in its infancy, so the protections grow with the ever-evolving technology. Becoming involved in the DCARPE Alliance gives us the platform to sensitize the marketplace to these concerns.”

DCAPRE Alliance and its members are cooperating to provide thought leadership and education to investors, enterprises, assurance providers, and regulators about continuous assurance and real-time financial reporting using the DCARPE Assurance and Disclosure platform, the world’s first decentralized continuous audit and reporting protocol ecosystem for digital asset and enterprise assurance and disclosure.

Auditchain, the founding member of DCARPE Alliance along with members in the technical category of the DCARPE Alliance, are leading the development of the DCARPE Assurance and Disclosure platform.

Auditchain Founder Jason Meyers said, “The entire crypto and blockchain space are now working with regulators and governments to apply technical matters of existing law where none currently exist. Auditchain and DCARPE Alliance members are on a critical path to develop and deliver an assurance and disclosure framework where it’s desperately needed. Having Pepper as a member and a contributing thought leader will make our path a lot easier to navigate.”

The DCARPE Assurance and Disclosure platform will enable continuous external validation and financial statement reporting in real time for digital assets and enterprises. The DCARPE Explorer will offer subscriptions to audit analytics and financial detail, as well as tools that allow users to build dynamically updating thesis-based enterprise, sector and macroeconomic reports that ultimately have the potential to mechanize the foresight of oncoming risk, and the ability to transform sell-side and buy-side research.

Gregory J. Nowak, a partner in Pepper Hamilton’s Financial Services Practice Group and a practice leader for Hedge Funds and of the Blockchain Technology initiative, said, “Real-time assurance and reporting is an issue whose time has come. It is especially useful in the digital asset space, and where investment funds and management overlap with digital assets. Current regulatory frameworks need to address the issue of suitable assurance and disclosure for digital assets. We are happy to be a part of DCAPRE Alliance and its efforts.”

The consortium’s regulatory category membership includes members of the legal, regulatory, and academic community. Membership in the technical category consists of providers of blockchain development, enterprise software, systems integration and XBRL-based financial reporting systems. Membership in the accounting and assurance category consists of CPAs and Chartered Accountants. The DCAPRE Alliance is now forming study and working groups in each category.

Those who have an interest in making contributions in any of the three categories are encouraged to apply for membership by visiting https://dcarpe.org/join or emailing membership@dcarpe.org.

About DCARPE Alliance

DCARPE™ Alliance is comprised of members of the accounting, audit, financial reporting and blockchain community. The DCARPE™ Alliance was formed to collaborate with its members and invite thought leadership on matters such as regulation, implementation, scaling and adoption of the DCARPETM assurance and disclosure platform. The DCARPE™ Alliance will hold events and symposiums, as well as educate the investment, enterprise and regulatory community about the benefits of continuous audit and real-time reporting using the DCARPETM Assurance and Disclosure platform. For more information, visit https://dcarpe.org.

About Auditchain

Auditchain is the founding member of the DCAPRETM Alliance and is leading the development of the world's first Decentralized Continuous Audit & Reporting Protocol EcosystemTM for digital asset and enterprise assurance and disclosure. Auditchain is developing a public blockchain ecosystem populated with CPAs and Chartered Accountants who externally validate enterprise system and controls and financial condition on a continuous basis and in near real time. The DCARPETM Explorer is a subscription-based public block explorer that renders financial statements and audit analytics in real time to subscribers. For more information, visit https://auditchain.com.