Prager Metis has become the first CPA firm to open up a metaverse headquarters. The firm, which in real life is based in New York, is setting up shop in Decentraland, a 3D virtual world, as part of a joint venture with Banquet LLC, a metaverse studio.
The firm purchased the piece of virtual real estate on Dec. 28, a three-story digital structure. On the first floor is an open floor plan that doubles as a gallery space for nonfungible tokens from Prager Metis clients along with a large entertainment area. The second floor will provide more of a working space with meeting rooms and conference capabilities. The third floor will serve as a rooftop space where Prager Metis intends to host events and even live entertainment.
The metaverse has been attracting attention ever since Facebook’s parent company announced a name change last October to Meta to highlight its interest in developing technology for virtual reality and augmented reality. More businesses have followed suit in setting up shop in the metaverse. Prager Metis isn’t the first firm to dip its toes in the waters: PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Hong Kong firm announced last month that it had bought virtual land on another metaverse platform, the Sandbox, but Prager Metis is going further by setting up an actual headquarters in Decentraland. It plans to focus on advisory services for clients and potentially for other accounting firms as well. The firm already has clients who have entered the rapidly growing market for nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, which use blockchain technology to create collectibles and artwork that people bid on to buy and trade.
“A lot of our clients are in the NFT and digital space and we’re very familiar with it,” said Jerry Eitel, a partner of Prager Metis’ Metaverse HQ in Decentraland. “We can actually help other accounting firms that aren’t in it because we have a pretty good digital practice.”
Prager Metis has plans to open the space in February. The digital structure was built by House of Tang run by Metaverse architect Tangpoko, also known as Tracy Tang.
“We’re going to try to build a community there, and we’re going to offer some advisory services inside this space,” said Eitel. “We’re going to probably have some symposiums through video or whatever. We’re going to have avatars and it’s going to be a real virtual world.”
Prager Metis will offer tax advice and accounting services as well to clients who are trying to make sense of the unclear rules surrounding digital assets, cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.
“Basically, there are people doing business in Decentraland and they’re selling NFTs,” said Eitel. “They’re doing some concerts. There’s even gambling there. We’re just there to consult and also offer some advice in terms of making sure people are doing the right thing tax wise. I think there’s a lot of opportunity to make sure people are on the up and up. There’s a lot of mistakes that you can make, like not issuing 1099s, but paying somebody. If they’re making a capital gain, maybe you should be withholding. We think there’s business to be made. We have a lot of entertainment clients and they’re already in this space. The accounting is a nightmare on the blockchain. It never made things easier.”
Eitel has nearly four decades of accounting experience and currently leads the firm’s real estate practice group. He previously ran the Long Island office at the firm and was coaxed into running the new Metaverse office. “I’m like a 70-year-old guy,” he said. “I may become an avatar next week. That’s where this is.”
The accounting profession already has some experience in virtual worlds. Back in 2008, the Maryland Association of CPAs set up CPA Island, a space on the Second Life virtual reality platform where some firms like KatzAbosch created offices. Other accounting firms may want to get involved with Prager Metis on the new venture.
“We could give symposiums and we can have other accounting firms come to the symposium,” said Eitel. “We can bring them in with a link or something like that.”
He differentiates it from a Zoom meeting since participants will be joining as avatars. Other members of the firm will be involved in the effort as well.
“The opening of a metaverse office reflects Prager Metis’ belief that the metaverse will be the future and technology will continue to influence the way the world operates,” said Prager Metis CEO Glenn Friedman in a statement Friday. “Our new Metaverse headquarters will serve as a bridge between traditional and digital and offer valuable real world financial services to the metaverse. Our presence in the metaverse shows how serious we are about our vision for the future and supports our belief that there is a tremendous need for financial expertise and resources in the evolving digital world.”
Prager Metis’ international digital asset division, led by Brian Goldblatt, has been working with cryptocurrency exchanges, crypto mining companies, investment companies and tech companies in different ways. “Blockchain and distributed ledger technology is changing the way companies are doing business, and will ultimately impact how we all work and live, so it’s important that any business work with advisors who understand the space.” Goldblatt said in a statement. “Prager Metis works with different companies in the digital assets space, from an audit, tax and advisory perspective, including a top three global cryptocurrency exchange in the world, and one of the largest real estate tokenizations in the U.S., as well as serving a top-five Global NFT company. As a leader in the digital assets industry, Prager Metis is constantly expanding, and our experts stay current with industry trends, such as NFTs, and clients conducting transactions in the metaverse.”
The metaverse presence promises to help differentiate Prager Metis in a new, but quickly evolving market. “I don’t think there’s an accounting firm that’s involved in this as much as we are,” said Eitel. “It was just the next step for us.”
