What does ASU 2023-08 require for crypto assets under US GAAP?

What it replaced

Before ASU 2023-08, US GAAP generally treated crypto as an intangible asset with an indefinite life. Companies tested it for impairment at least once a year. If its carrying amount was more than its fair value, they wrote it down to fair value.¹ They could never write it back up, even if the price recovered.¹ This is called the cost-less-impairment model.¹

Stakeholders told the FASB that showing only the falls, and not the rises, until the crypto was sold did not give investors relevant information.¹ The FASB also said fair value would likely cut the cost and complexity of the old model for many companies.¹

The six scope tests

ASU 2023-08 added a new section to US GAAP, Subtopic 350-60. It applies to assets that meet all six of these criteria, in the FASB's words:^1,2

1. Meet the definition of intangible assets as defined in the Codification²
2. Do not provide the asset holder with enforceable rights to or claims on underlying goods, services, or other assets²
3. Are created or reside on a distributed ledger based on blockchain or similar technology²
4. Are secured through cryptography²
5. Are fungible²
6. Are not created or issued by the reporting entity or its related parties.²

The Codification defines intangible assets as assets, not including financial assets, that lack physical substance.² Fungible means each unit is identical to any other unit, as PwC puts it.^3,4

What falls outside

• NFTs. The fungibility test leaves out non-fungible tokens.⁵
• A company's own tokens. Crypto created or issued by the company or its related parties is out. The FASB said stakeholders had not asked it to address issuers' accounting.⁵
• Tokens that give rights to other assets. The FASB said crypto that gives rights to other crypto is outside the scope.⁵ Deloitte says wrapped tokens need checking one by one for such rights.⁶
• Many stablecoins. It depends on their terms. Deloitte says some stablecoins are financial assets or financial instruments. Others may be intangible assets that fail a scope test, especially if they give enforceable rights to other assets.⁶ EY says the accounting depends on the stablecoin's rights and obligations, especially any redemption rights.⁷

Mining and validating is a separate question. The FASB said a company that mines or validates, and receives newly created crypto for it, is not that crypto's creator if that is its only involvement.⁵

Crypto that fails the tests is accounted for under other US GAAP. EY says such digital assets are generally indefinite-lived intangible assets, held at cost and tested for impairment, unless another definition fits.⁴

Fair value through net income

In-scope crypto is measured at fair value on the balance sheet, and the gains and losses from remeasuring it go into net income.² Fair value is the price that would be received to sell the asset in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date.² Lesson 6 covers how to find that price.

How it is presented

• Balance sheet. Crypto assets are shown separately from other intangible assets.²
• Income statement. Remeasurement gains and losses are shown separately from changes in other intangible assets.¹
• Cash flows. Some companies are paid in crypto in the ordinary course of business and sell it nearly immediately. The cash from those sales counts as operating cash flow.^1,4 The ASU says "nearly immediately" means within hours or a few days, rather than weeks.²

What must be disclosed

In every interim and annual report:¹

• For each significant holding: its name, cost basis, fair value and number of units. Smaller holdings are added up into totals.²
• For crypto under contractual sale restrictions: its fair value, what the restriction is, how long it has left, and what could end it.¹

Each year, as well:¹

• A reconciliation from the opening to the closing balance, showing additions, dispositions, gains and losses.²
• What kinds of activity caused the additions and dispositions, such as purchases or using crypto to pay for services.²
• The total realised gains and losses on what was sold during the period.²
• The cost-basis method, such as FIFO, and the income statement line that holds the gains and losses if they are not shown separately.²

When it applies

ASU 2023-08 applies to all entities for fiscal years beginning after 15 December 2024, including the interim periods inside those years.¹ Early adoption is allowed for statements not yet issued.¹ For a company whose year runs from January to December, the first required year began on 1 January 2025.¹

On adoption, a company makes a one-off adjustment to its opening retained earnings: the difference between the crypto's old carrying amount and its fair value at the start of that year.^1,2

What it doesn't cover

ASU 2023-08 covers measurement after purchase, presentation and disclosure. It does not cover the first measurement, or when to recognise or remove crypto from the books. Those come from other parts of US GAAP.^2,8 The FASB also chose not to say how to treat transaction costs. Lesson 5 covers both.⁵

What is changing

• In November 2025, the FASB added two projects. One would widen the scope to address wrapped tokens and receipt tokens. The other would clarify when control of transferred crypto passes.⁹ FASB staff slides from June 2026 said the Board had begun discussing the scope change in April 2026. They said that, under the proposed approach, the Board expects wrapped tokens, and some receipt tokens depending on their rights, to come into scope.¹⁰ On 19 August 2026 the Board told its staff to draft a proposed update. It would bring wrapped tokens and receipt tokens into scope and clarify when transferred or lent crypto leaves the books; under the Board's tentative decisions, crypto that a company lends out would stay on its books.¹¹ When we checked in October 2026, the FASB's project page listed no proposal yet, and said it would have a 60-day comment period. Deloitte expected it in the fourth quarter of 2026.^11,12
• On 18 August 2026, the FASB proposed examples of when digital assets such as stablecoins can be cash equivalents. It would not change the definition of a cash equivalent.^13,14 Deloitte notes three attributes in the examples. One is an on-demand contractual right to redeem for cash; another, a direct redemption right with the issuer. The third is segregated reserves of at least one to one.¹³ Comments are due by 19 November 2026.¹⁴