Binance exec suggests an audit of the world's largest crypto exchange is still a ways off amid calls for greater transparency after FTX disaster

• FTX's crash prompted calls for a full audit of rival Binance's assets and liabilities.

• Binance's audit is still a ways off as accounting firms try to learn the crypto sector, a company exec told Bloomberg.

Binance may be a ways off from a full financial audit amid calls for transparency after the fallout of rival crypto exchange FTX, according to the company's Asia-Pacific head Leon Foong.

The digital asset exchange, which accounted for 60% of trading volumes last year, wants to hire an auditor to review its full assets and liabilities, but many accounting firms are still learning the nascent space, including navigating challenges like price volatility in crypto assets.

"It'll take a longer time," Foong told Bloomberg. "It shows you the limitations of the more traditional industries because there is a learning curve. Number one, it's not their core competence. And number two, obviously there's a lot of scrutiny if they get it wrong."

A complete audit could help reassure customers that their assets are safe with Binance, which has felt especially crucial after FTX lost over $8 billion of user deposits last year.

Binance has never conducted a full financial audit. And while accounting firm Mazars released a so-called proof-of-reserves report for the crypto exchange in December, it has since suspended its work with crypto clients, citing "concerns regarding the way these reports are understood by the public."

Some experts also have warned that proof-of-reserves reports are incomplete and could be misleading as they only show balances at one specific point in time.

Binance is currently using tools like the Merkle Tree Proof of Reserves, a company spokesperson told Insider, which is used to show that an exchange has the reserves it claims, along with providing other technological solutions like zk-SNARKs that "demonstrate [their] healthy financial position."

"Added transparency around assets in custody is now a market demand," a spokesperson added. "We believe transparency can be achieved in multiple ways and we continue to work with others in the ecosystem and industry to achieve this."