Top 4 accounting firms switch to Ethereum for blockchain-based business contracts

Ernst & Young (EY), a Big 4 accounting firm, unveiled OpsChain Contract Manager (OCM), a new service that manages corporate contracts through blockchain technology, on April 17.

The tool is designed to manage complex multi-party business contracts with enhanced security and privacy features through blockchain technology. The service currently runs on the Polygon proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain and will be upgraded to the Ethereum mainnet in the future.

O.C.M.

OCM is designed to securely process business contracts on public blockchains, leveraging zero-knowledge proofs to maintain contract integrity and confidentiality while ensuring privacy by increasing time efficiency and reducing costs.

It integrates with existing enterprise systems through standardized APIs and supports a variety of contract types, including volume purchase agreements and pricing models based on market data feeds.

The service is currently promoted as running on Ethereum, but according to Block’s report, it actually leverages Polygon PoS to take advantage of the low transaction fees that are attractive to EY’s industrial user base.

Paul Brody, head of EY’s blockchain practice since 2016, said Nightfall, a service-based technology, was launched on Ethereum and tested on a test network. The upcoming update will transition Nightfall to Ethereum’s mainnet and may include Layer-3 upgrades to improve scalability and functionality.

Benefits of public blockchain

Brody also touched on the operational benefits of OCM, noting that contract automation can significantly reduce cycle times and administrative costs.

He highlighted the scalability and neutrality benefits of deploying on a public blockchain, which prevents any single party from controlling the network. Brody also pointed out that the future of enterprise blockchain applications is increasingly leaning towards public blockchains, which offer superior privacy and transparency compared to private blockchains.

These developments come as blockchain adoption increases among major financial institutions. Notably, BlackRock recently launched a tokenized fund on Ethereum, marking a significant step toward institutional participation in blockchain technology.

With the introduction of OpsChain Contract Manager, EY aims to improve how companies manage their contracts and improve process efficiency and transparency through blockchain technology. This initiative positions EY as a pioneer in integrating blockchain into existing business practices and sets the standard for the industry’s movement to embrace this technology in everyday operations.

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