Crypto Accounting & Compliance: What Finance Teams Need to Know

Crypto’s not a side hustle anymore. It’s sitting on balance sheets, powering payroll, and popping up in treasury strategies around the globe. But as adoption picks up speed, finance teams are running into the real complexity: accounting and compliance.

If you’re in finance or accounting and you’ve been handed a wallet address and told “figure this out”… you're not alone.

This post covers what you actually need to know to stay compliant, accurate, and audit-ready — whether you're under GAAP, IFRS, or some blend of both.

1. Crypto Isn’t A Single Asset Class

Not all tokens are treated the same way. How you account for them depends on what they are and how your business uses them.

Here’s the high-level rundown:

Under GAAP

Most cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, ETH, stablecoins) are treated as intangible assets with indefinite lives. That means:

• Recorded at cost
• Written down if impaired
• No mark-up if value increases

Yeah, it’s conservative. Even if your holdings 2x, the books won’t reflect it.

Under IFRS

IFRS offers a bit more flexibility. Crypto is also typically treated as an intangible asset, unless it’s actively traded as inventory (more on that below).

However, under IAS 38, revaluation models are allowed for intangible assets with an active market. That means:

• You can write up the value of your crypto holdings (after any impairment), as long as there's a reliable market price.
• Gains go to other comprehensive income (OCI), unless realized.

This difference can significantly impact your financial reporting and KPIs. Especially for multinational firms reporting under both GAAP and IFRS.

2. What If It’s Inventory?

IFRS offers another route: under IAS 2, crypto can be classified as inventory if:

• It’s held for resale (i.e. a crypto exchange, broker, or trading firm), and
• Your business is in the business of buying and selling crypto.

In that case, you can measure it:

• At lower of cost or net realizable value, or
• At fair value less costs to sell, if you’re a crypto broker-dealer (as permitted under IAS 2 para 3(b))

⚠️ Reminder: This classification hinges on your business model. You can’t just label ETH as “inventory” because it sounds better — regulators will want to see that it aligns with how you operate.

3. Valuation: Choose Your Pricing Source Wisely

Both GAAP and IFRS require you to use reliable, observable market prices — but there’s no “official” closing price for crypto. Here’s what smart teams are doing:

• Use trusted pricing feeds (CoinMarketCap, CoinGecko, or institutional feeds like Kaiko or Chainlink).
• Capture consistent snapshot timing — typically midnight UTC or local end-of-day.
• Keep detailed records of pricing source, timestamp, and valuation logic — especially for audit support.

If you're under IFRS and using the revaluation model, this gets even more important, since price changes will affect your OCI.

4. Dealing with Tax and Jurisdictional Complexity

No surprise here — crypto tax rules vary wildly by region.

In the U.S.

The IRS treats crypto as property. Every transaction can trigger:

• Capital gains/losses
• Ordinary income (from staking, mining, or airdrops)
• Compensation tax (for payroll in crypto)

Under International Regimes (IFRS jurisdictions)

Tax authorities in IFRS-aligned countries (e.g. UK, Singapore, Australia) may treat crypto as:

• Property or commodity, with capital gains/losses
• Income, when received (e.g., from mining, staking, airdrops)
• VAT/GST-applicable, depending on whether it's used as a “payment token”

Each country may apply slightly different rules to similar events — so global finance teams need tight controls and excellent documentation.

5. Best Practices for Internal Controls (IFRS or GAAP Alike)

Compliance doesn’t stop at the balance sheet. You need strong operational guardrails, especially when self-custody or DeFi is involved.

Some non-negotiables:

• Wallet segregation: Separate operational wallets from treasury, and use multisig where possible.
• Approval flows: Treat crypto movements like you would wire transfers — no single point of failure.
• Reconciliation tools: Use platforms like Bitwave, Cryptio, or Ledgible to reconcile transactions to accounting records.
• Documentation: Maintain SOPs for everything — wallet creation, private key access, valuation methodology, transaction approvals, etc.

6. Don’t Wait for Accounting Standards to Catch Up

Both the FASB (for U.S. GAAP) and IASB (for IFRS) are actively reviewing crypto-related standards, but the current frameworks are still evolving.

Until then, top finance teams are:

• Proactively disclosing their crypto policies in financial statements
• Working closely with crypto-savvy auditors
• Logging every decision with the “why” behind the accounting treatment

Being proactive here doesn’t just reduce risk — it builds credibility with investors and auditors.

Final Word: Crypto Finance Is Growing Up

Crypto used to be the wild west. Now it’s moving into the boardroom. And finance teams are on the front lines — building the frameworks, policies, and controls that’ll set the foundation for long-term adoption.

Whether you're managing $100K in stablecoins or $100M in a multi-chain treasury, you need accounting systems that can keep up.

Want to dig deeper into how crypto fits into your broader treasury and compliance strategy?

👉Check out our Ultimate Guide to Crypto Treasury Management