FASB ISSUES ASU 2023-08 December 2023 INTANGIBLES – GOODWILL AND OTHER – CRYPTO ASSETS (SUBTOPIC 350-60) Accounting for the Disclosure of Crypto Assets
Why Is the FASB Issuing This Accounting Standards Update (Update)?
The Board is issuing the amendments in this Update to improve the accounting for and disclosure of crypto assets. Stakeholder feedback, including from respondents to the 2021 FASB Invitation to Comment (ITC), Agenda Consultation, indicated that improving the accounting for and disclosure of crypto assets should be a top priority for the Board. Stakeholders stated that the current accounting—except as provided in generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for certain specialized industries—for holdings of crypto assets as indefinite-lived intangible assets, which is a cost-less-impairment accounting model, does not provide investors, lenders, creditors, and other allocators of capital, (collectively, “investors”) with decision-useful information. Specifically, accounting for only the decreases, but not the increases, in the value of crypto assets in the financial statements until they are sold does not provide relevant information that reflects (1) the underlying economics of those assets and (2) an entity’s financial position. Investors also requested additional disclosures about the types of crypto assets held by entities and the changes in those holdings. In addition to better reflecting the economics of crypto assets, measuring those assets at fair value will likely reduce cost and complexity associated with applying the current cost-less-impairment accounting model for many entities.
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