Standards body wants certain crypto assets measured at fair value

FASB officially enacted accounting rule changes following support from around the crypto community

article-image

Ivan Popovych/Shutterstock and Adobe modified by Blockworks

share

The Financial Accounting Standards Board published an Accounting Standards Update on crypto on Wednesday.

The long-awaited update requires certain crypto assets to be deemed at fair value. 

“The amendments also improve the information provided to investors about an entity’s crypto asset holdings by requiring disclosure about significant holdings, contractual sale restrictions and changes during the reporting period,” FASB wrote.

The amendment will go into effect Dec. 15, 2024.

“The amendments in the ASU improve the accounting for certain crypto assets by requiring an entity to measure those crypto assets at fair value each reporting period with changes in fair value recognized in net income,” FASB wrote.

Read more: Yellen: Historic Binance settlement “sends message” to crypto industry

The assets falling under FASB’s new criteria include those that meet the Board’s definition of intangible asset, are fungible, secured through cryptography, and are “created or reside on a distributed ledger based on blockchain or similar technology.”

“It will provide investors and other capital allocators with more relevant information that better reflects the underlying economics of certain crypto assets and an entity’s financial position while reducing cost and complexity associated with applying current accounting,” FASB Chair Richard Jones said in a press release.

FASB, sanctioned by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, gathered feedback on its proposed changes to how companies report crypto holdings back in May. The board, at the time, said that the accounting treatment as indefinite-lived intangible assets didn’t give investors informative data. 

Companies, such as Marathon Digital, supported the change, telling Blockworks in June that it would “provide clarity.”

The Board approved the new rules back in September, with the finalization taking place in December.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 24 - 26, 2026

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

allora-image.png

Research

Decentralized AI coordination networks solve crypto's growing architectural mismatch: applications built on trustless infrastructure shouldn't depend on centralized intelligence providers. By turning model outputs into competitive marketplaces, protocols like Allora are building the permissionless intelligence layer that AI-powered DeFi and autonomous agents require.

article-image

For new growth, crypto may need to shed tired norms like over-raising and the hoarding of investment resources

article-image

Ethereum rolls out Fusaka, setting the stage for a stronger blob fee market and renewed deflationary potential

article-image

Futuristic DeFi is stuck inside the computer. An old idea might be its escape hatch

article-image

Money market indicators are flashing liquidity stress again as crypto underperforms equities

article-image

From passageways to penumbras: a history of private life

article-image

BTC’s Asia-session move and Ethena’s weaker yields reflect a market adjusting to tighter yen funding and softer derivatives carry