What is the difference between a reserve attestation and an audit?

A reserve attestation is an assurance engagement addressing a specified statement about reserves against defined criteria. A financial statement audit addresses financial statements; the two scopes should not be treated as interchangeable.

Read the assets and liabilities covered, assurance level, reporting date and exclusions. The label “attestation” alone cannot answer those questions. The PCAOB investor advisory on reserve reports warns against treating limited reserve verification as a financial statement audit. Reserve reports can involve different procedures and assurance levels.

Example: backing for 1,000 tokens

Suppose an issuer reports 1,000 ounces of gold against 1,000 tokens on June 30. A satisfactory examination limited to that date does not verify the balance on July 15 or every liability of the company. Whether a holder can take delivery of gold remains a separate contractual question.

Proof of Reserves describes reserve-verification approaches; the name does not establish the professional standard applied. Read the assurance opinion before relying on the headline ratio.

Our PAXG and XAUT custody and exit analysis shows how to read the reporting date, scope and minted supply together using actual issuer documents.