AICPA issues more crypto accounting and audit guidance

The AICPA is out with some more new guidance around digital assets, as market interest grows around cryptocurrencies such as stablecoins.

New additions to the AICPA’s digital-assets practice aid for accounting and auditing professionals include a chapter on accounting considerations for stablecoin issuers. The chapter addresses how to account for obligations with issued tokens and considerations related to the reserve assets that support stablecoins. And a new auditing chapter details how to handle crypto-mining revenue arrangements.

“As digital asset business models continue to evolve, practitioners are encountering increasingly complex accounting and auditing questions,” Di Krupica, AICPA senior manager of assurance and advisory innovation, specializing in digital assets, said in a press release. “These updates provide additional clarity in areas where demand for guidance has grown and help professionals align their work with current standards and emerging practices.”

The updates follow a significant overhaul of the practice aid in January 2025, which the AICPA developed in response to a FASB accounting standards update on crypto assets. Last September, the AICPA also added a chapter focused on auditing the lending and borrowing of digital assets.

Separately, AICPA’s Assurance Services Executive Committee published reporting criteria for issuers of stablecoins in March 2025. It issued part two of the criteria, focused on “ongoing risks inherent in stablecoin operations,” in January.

Zoom out. As of September 2025, there were 291 stablecoins in circulation, according to CoinLedger. Among the most widely used were Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC.

Stablecoins differ from cryptocurrencies like bitcoin in that they’re usually pegged to fiat currencies like the dollar. They’re minted through converting the fiat currency into stablecoins. Some other cryptocurrencies, meanwhile, can be created through “mining”—the attempt to create new coins by solving mathematical puzzles. Only, the puzzles require a lot of computing power. We’re not talking back-of-envelope math here.

Last year, lawmakers passed the Genius Act, which experts say brings regulatory clarity for stablecoin issuers and holders.

The US Treasury Department recently announced it was seeking public input on the pending implementation of stablecoin regulations as set forth in the Genius Act. The SEC also recently proposed some new rules around regulating crypto assets and is also seeking public comment.

Cryptocurrencies are still far from ubiquitous in corporate finance, but they may at some point present some potential applications for CFOs to consider.

According to a 2025 Deloitte survey, just 15% of 200 North American CFOs thought their treasury departments would purchase non-stable crypto over the next couple of years “as part of their investment strategies.” The 200 North American CFOs that Deloitte surveyed cited concerns including price volatility, accounting and controls complexities, and lack of regulation. Yet, only 1% said they “did not envision” using crypto in their business over the long term.

Banks seem to be warming to the idea of stablecoins. While they initially opted for tokenized deposits—digital representations of traditional money—as an alternative to stablecoins, some “have started to consider whether there could be a need for both,” the Wall Street Journal reported. As experts previously told CFO Brew, stablecoins can offer quicker settlement and lower transaction costs.