Noah Buxton

Bio

Noah has more than 10 years of audit, legal, IT and regulatory compliance experience. Noah leads Armanino's Blockchain & Digital Assets practice. While Noah advises blockchain and virtual currency clients on myriad industry-specific issues, his expertise lies in IT & Security matters as well as financial assurance and reporting for Virtual Currency Exchanges, Security Token Issuers, broker-dealers, and blockchain and cryptocurrency startups.

In 2018, Noah worked to found and formalize Armanino's Blockchain practice. From 2016 to mid-2019, Noah led a large team of practitioners performing third-party assurance attestations, including System and Organization Controls (SOC 1,2,3), cybersecurity (NIST, SANS, etc.), and HITRUST assessments for startup, mid-market, and large publicly traded companies.

Noah also serves as Director of Product for Armanino's TrustExplorer and Armanino's Blockchain Lab. TrustExplorer is a suite of assurance solutions for stablecoins and blockchain-native businesses and the world's first real-time system for confirmation of asset backing for asset-backed stablecoin issuers.

Noah is a member of the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA), the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), as well as the Chamber of Digital Commerce (CODC). Noah is a contributing writer and member of the AICPA Blockchain for SOC Working Group, as well as the joint working group of the AICPA and ISACA focusing on controls assurance for blockchain ecosystems. Noah holds certifications for the Linux Foundation's Hyperledger permissioned blockchain and is a Certified HITRUST CSF Practitioner.

Q&A

I was drawn to Armanino because it values the entrepreneurial spirit that I was searching for. When I came here in 2016, it was to build a risk assurance and advisory function, and it really resonated with me that you could build a business within a business here. We started with one staff member and a couple gifted clients, and it grew into the large department that it is today. Armanino’s platform for innovation and growth allowed my career to flourish in ways I never could have imagined.

The future is bright for clients in crypto and digital assets. The fundamental innovations of public blockchains, Layer 2 solutions and Oracle networks, will disrupt finance and capital markets as we know it today. And Web3, a decentralized internet based on blockchains, is here to stay. This is going to be a transformational decade where digital assets will touch every sector of the economy.

The IRS, FASB, Treasury, SEC and PCAOB are all extremely far behind on providing necessary guidance to market participants (investors, auditors and management). The United States has an Industrial Revolution-scale opportunity to be the center of innovation and reap the economic benefit that comes with that, but regulators are currently standing in the way. I would like to see them catch up to the current market and remove regulatory roadblocks from innovators.

We represent one of the world’s largest issuers of exchange-traded products backed by crypto. This is my favorite client for multiple reasons, but first and foremost, it’s because of the people. I hold so much respect for, and have learned so much from, their CEO and CFO; they have both become friends in addition to clients. The company is comprised of innovative thinkers who constantly push the industry forward. They took a leap of faith in working with us and they continue to be great partners as we support their real-time reporting on TrustExplorer.

My proudest moment was becoming a father, but I am especially proud that I have managed to preserve a work-life balance that allows me to spend a lot of meaningful time with my daughters.

Bring your whole self to work. Let your managers and colleagues know the real you, and don’t be afraid to ask questions or make mistakes. Being infectiously positive can boost your entire mindset and have life-changing impacts on those around you.