July 28, 2022

Engiven Making Cryptocurrency Donations More Secure

Brandon Murphy

For Engiven, it’s a matter of doing right, even when nobody is looking. Security & privacy are paramount.

Engiven Achieves SOC 2 Type 1 Certification Signaling a Milestone in its Maturity

As you may have heard, Engiven has recently achieved SOC 2 Type 1 certification.  At a high level, this certification assures our customers, partners, and other stakeholders that Engiven takes data security, information privacy, and business maturity & continuity very seriously.  The certification is achieved through having our internal controls audited for alignment to the respective COSO trust principles by an Independent Service Auditor.

SOC for Service Organizations Logos
AICPA SOC logo

We get a lot of questions from prospective clients about the security of cryptocurrency and digital assets.  Are Digital Assets safe?  How secure are crypto donations? Why have the crypto markets been behaving erratically? What happened with UST, LUNA (now LUNC) & Celsius (among others)?  These are great questions, and we applaud those who research, reach out, and proceed with prudence.  We hope that through this certification, current and prospective clients will rest easier knowing Engiven is a data privacy leader in the crypto for nonprofits & philanthropy sector.

Regardless of industry, one needn’t look far to cite an example of a business that took shortcuts and eventually caused financial or reputational damage to its customers, peers, or even its sector.  And that’s precisely what we’re seeing in the cryptosphere right now.  Several businesses with insufficient internal controls, compliance standards, and/or risk management programs are currently facing bankruptcy, dissolution, or litigation - and it clouds an entire ecosystem of otherwise world-changing platforms and technologies.

Interestingly, business ethics & integrity aren’t extensively covered through SOC 2 Type 1 certification.  However, business ethics & integrity at Engiven are the driving principles behind us seeking & obtaining this certification.  We don’t hide the fact that our Ethics & Compliance policy asserts, “We will never compromise our ethics, even if doing so results in the loss of business.”  We refuse to operate “in the gray'' and have lost business because of this.  And that’s perfectly fine with us.

For us, it’s a matter of doing the right thing, even when nobody is looking.  This means implementing and following industry best practices for handling and protecting client and privileged data.  Our customers trust us to protect their data at all times correctly, and this SOC 2 Type 1 certification demonstrates our commitment to maintaining business practices that protect customer data in the same way we would desire our data to be protected.

Engiven started this process months ago, before the current calamity in the crypto markets.  However, the applicability of this certification could not be better timed as we look to memorialize our position as a compliance leader - not just within the crypto-philanthropy sector but also in the broader crypto services industry.

And while this SOC 2 Type 1 certification is a good step in demonstrating our commitment to data security, information privacy, and business maturity, we are further committed to obtaining our SOC 2 Type 2 (a higher level of SOC 2 assurance) to further test the effectiveness of our internal controls in the months to come.

About the Author: Brandon Murphy currently lives in Minneapolis with his wife and two daughters and enjoys cycling and trail running in his free time.  He has a diverse background spanning engineering, operations, program management, and compliance - but his passionate hope is to see human trafficking eradicated during his lifetime.

About Engiven: Engiven is a cryptocurrency donation platform that believes cryptocurrency is a valuable asset that can benefit the nonprofit community. That's why we've developed a donation platform that helps nonprofits, ministries, and enterprise-level organizations accept cryptocurrency donations to help fund their causes.

Engiven provides a safe and easy path for a 501c3 nonprofit to get set up quickly, receive crypto donations, and exchange them for fiat (US dollars). Our system verifies the gift on the blockchain and sends the proceeds via bank ACH as a direct deposit into the nonprofit's bank account. Engiven's proprietary software helps also aids in tax reporting. We provide 8282 and 8283 tax form automation. Donors

Engiven's founders have a lifelong passion for living at the intersection of technology and doing good. Engiven's founders have collaborated on numerous companies and a wide range of technology products with diverse skills. Most recently, they developed Mogiv, an early-to-market online giving application acquired in 2016. Now, with the emergence of blockchain-based technologies, they have developed Engiven. 

Curious on how to begin accepting crypto donations? If you'd like a free demo of our crypto donation platform, we'd love to connect. Please give us a way to reach you by filling out this form