How verification works
Six parts, from quote to a sealed report. Every procedure is read-only — DACS never takes custody of assets.
The six parts of a DACS verification
- Step 1
Quote and triage
Four questions, one price.
Four questions classify the engagement and price it — instantly for straightforward holdings, or assessed with Metis for complex ones. Nothing starts until you accept the quote.
- Step 2
Onboarding — who you are and who the fund is
New clients are identified and documented once.
We record the trustee vehicle, the name of the fund, ABNs, your accountant, your auditor and contact details. Returning clients skip this unless something has changed.
- Step 3
Scoping — where the assets sit
Cold storage, exchange, or both.
We establish whether we are verifying a hardware wallet, one or more exchange accounts, or a consolidated report that brings them together. Holdings held in trust through other crypto investment vehicles get a bespoke report.
- Step 4
Verification and valuation
Read-only, from the source.
We run our verifications and scans on the blockchain and pull exchange balances by read-only key. Every holding is then priced at the reporting date by DAVO™, our Digital Asset Valuation Oracle.
- Step 5
Drafting and review
A person checks every report.
The report is drafted from the evidence, then checked by an authorised DACS officer before it is finalised.
- Step 6
Sealing and delivery
A PDF that cannot be quietly changed.
The finalised report becomes a PDF. Before it goes to you, your accountant and your auditor, we hash it — an electronic signature that produces a number unique to that exact document. Change one character and the number no longer matches. Anyone who needs to be sure can scan the QR code and confirm the report is unaltered.
Proving control, not just existence
A blockchain shows that an address holds a balance. It does not show who controls that address. For self-custodied holdings we close the gap with a cryptographic handshake. We generate a unique, time-stamped challenge message for each address in scope. You sign each challenge on your own hardware device — no key material ever leaves it, and we never see, request or hold a seed phrase, PIN or private key. We then verify each signature against the address it claims, and record the challenge, the signature, the public address and the result in the evidence file. That is direct evidence of control of the private key: the strongest form available for a self-custodied asset, and the part of an audit file that cannot be built from a screenshot.
A signature proves control on the day it is made
Nothing more. The report prints the handshake date on its face, and we run a fresh handshake for every engagement rather than relying on last year's — because control has to be evidenced at this balance date.
Exchange-held assets are different
Coins on an exchange sit in the venue's omnibus custody: the exchange holds the keys, so no proof-of-control procedure is possible. The report says so plainly, and evidences the balance and the name on the account instead. Stating that limit is what makes the rest of the file reliable.
What we need from you
Entity details and identification — the trustee vehicle, fund name and ABNs
Your accountant and your auditor
A list of the wallets and exchange accounts
A read-only API key for exchange-held assets (or tell us the exchange and we'll send the steps)
The public address for any self-custodied wallet. Nothing to schedule, and never a seed phrase, PIN, private key or password.
Returning clients
Most repeat verifications are a check on what has changed, not a fresh start. Tell Metis what is different — new wallets, assets sold, a change of trustee, accountant or auditor — and we scope this year's engagement from last year's file. Entity details and identification carry forward unless they have changed. Two things change every year:
Your exchange API keys
Read-only keys expire, and exchanges revoke them after a password change, a security event or a period of inactivity. Expect to issue a fresh read-only key for each exchange account — balances only, never trading or withdrawal. We tell you which accounts need one before you start.
The handshake
We re-run the challenge-response against your self-custodied addresses even where the addresses have not moved, because a signature evidences control on the day it is produced. Same wallet, same coins, new proof.
HOW WE COMMUNICATE
Ask Metis first
Everything we send comes through one tracked email system, so nothing gets lost. For questions — whether you are new to DACS or a returning client — the best place to start is Metis, our AI agent trained on our business. Faster, more precise, and your question is never lost in an inbox.
METHODOLOGY
A verification is a statement of fact. We prepare ours the way auditors expect — independently, under ASRS 4400 agreed-upon procedures, from evidence we collect ourselves.
Ready to start?
Four questions, an instant price for straightforward holdings, and a read-only process from there.