2 December 2025
Reconciling on-chain balances with the operational ledger
A practical sampling approach for digital asset positions that span custodians, chains, and internal books.
On-chain explorers and custodian portals rarely match your ledger without intentional mapping of fees, gas, staking rewards, and pending settlements. Auditors should define the cut-off, the price source for valuation if needed, and the tolerance for timing differences before sampling begins.
Classify breaks early: timing, fee, mis-coding, or true shortage. Ownership for each class should sit with a named operations or finance owner—not with the auditor.
Quarterly reconciliation audits keep year-end attestations from becoming forensic projects.