The U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) is moving to tighten and clarify accounting standards for crypto asset transfers, addressing long-standing industry concerns about inconsistent reporting.
Background: Since the adoption of fair-value accounting for crypto assets in 2023, companies have struggled with ambiguity around derecognition — specifically, when an asset should be removed from the balance sheet after being transferred between wallets, custodians, or service providers.
New Agenda Item: At its November 19, 2025 meeting, FASB formally added a project to its technical agenda to:
Expand the scope of Subtopic 350-60 (Intangibles—Goodwill and Other—Crypto Assets) to cover wrapped tokens and receipt tokens.
Clarify derecognition guidance for crypto transfer arrangements, ensuring companies can assess whether control of a crypto asset has truly been transferred.
Industry Feedback: Many firms had warned that the lack of clear rules led to confusion, misreporting, and inconsistent disclosures, undermining investor confidence.
Impact: Clearer rules are expected to improve financial transparency, reduce compliance risks, and encourage broader mainstream adoption of digital assets in corporate finance.
Analysts note that this move reflects the growing importance of crypto in mainstream accounting and signals regulators’ intent to treat digital assets with the same rigor as traditional financial instruments.
