Dive Brief:

• The Financial Accounting Standards Board in a unanimous vote Wednesday agreed to add a new project to its high priority standard-setting technical agenda that will address how companies should account for transfers of crypto assets, including wrapped tokens and receipt tokens. 
• As part of the project, which paves the way for a new crypto-related update to standards that underpin generally accepted accounting principles, the board will consider whether to expand the scope of its first guidance on digital assets that it issued in 2023: Intangibles — Goodwill and Other — Crypto Assets (Subtopic 350-60). 
• In casting votes, several board members reflected on their pivot to consider standards for a wider range of crypto assets as compared to narrower crypto guidance issued about two years ago. “I supported our crypto accounting because I felt like whether you’re a crypto skeptic or crypto proponent, what we provided was accounting that provided better economics and provided full transparency and I think…we can continue to move in that direction, no matter how people view cryptocurrencies today, with adding this project,” Board Member Frederick Cannon said during the meeting. 

Dive Insight:

The U.S. accounting standards setter’s 7-0 decision to tackle the new crypto standards update marks the third technical agenda project to address accounting for cryptocurrencies, according to Christine Klimek, a FASB spokesperson. Most recently, last month the FASB voted to address stablecoin accounting, adding a project to its technical agenda that will consider whether to treat stablecoins as cash equivalents.  

The FASB’s action Wednesday was based on stakeholder feedback, including the FASB's 2025 Invitation to Comment, Agenda Consultation, recommendations released in the report issued by the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets, and a formal agenda request from the Crypto Council for Innovation, according to Klimek.  

The new project comes roughly two years after the FASB provided its first guidance for digital assets. That called for companies to report qualifying crypto assets using the fair value accounting method, which was a change from previous practice under which most companies reported it as an intangible asset that is impaired to the lowest observable value within a given reporting period. But it was narrowly focused on certain crypto assets such as Bitcoin and excluded such assets as nonfungible tokens.

Nik Fahrer, a CPA and a director at the accounting and consulting firm Forvis Mazars, said the new project reflects notable interest from FASB. “Finance and accounting leaders should view FASB’s vote of approval to take on this project as a sign that standard setters are seeking to understand the nuances associated with crypto assets given the rise in demand for clarity,” Fahrer said in an email. 

While the previous standards update provided a way for crypto assets to be reported at fair value, it only provides an accounting pathway to certain assets that met six criteria, said Fahrer. For example, they need to be fungible, secured through cryptography and they must reside on a distributed ledger based on blockchain or a similar technology, according to Fahrer. That left uncertainty around how to account for wrapped tokens, which are a crypto asset that represents another crypto asset, Fahrer said, noting that more crypto guidance from the FASB is likely on the horizon. 

“New and innovative ways crypto assets can be used emerge quickly and catch traction often,” said Fahrer, who leads his company’s blockchain and digital assets practice. “Don’t be surprised if we continue to see FASB vote on adding additional crypto asset guidance in the future.”