AICPA seeks comments on criteria for stablecoins

The AICPA’s Assurance Services Executive Committee (ASEC) on Monday issued an exposure draft to provide a framework for stablecoin issuers to present information about stablecoins and the assets that back them in order to provide transparency for holders of these digital assets.

ASEC is seeking comments on Criteria for the Presentation of the Sufficiency of Assets for Redemption: Specific to Asset-Backed Fiat-Pegged Tokens, which would use the following criteria when reporting at a specific measurement point in time:

• The completeness and accuracy of a token issuer’s redeemable tokens outstanding and related disclosures.
• The completeness and accuracy of the redemption assets available to redeem redeemable tokens outstanding and related disclosures.
• The redemption assets are equal to or greater than the redeemable tokens outstanding and related disclosures.

The criteria for reporting on the sufficiency of cash, cash equivalent, or other assets for redeeming outstanding asset-backed, fiat-pegged tokens at a specific measurement point in time are divided into three subject matters:

• Token issuer’s redeemable tokens outstanding and related disclosures.

• Redemption assets available to redeem redeemable tokens outstanding and related disclosures.

• Comparison of the balance of redemption assets available to redeem tokens and the token issuer’s redeemable tokens outstanding and related disclosures.

The current lack of a framework “results in inconsistency among token issuers about making disclosures regarding redeemable tokens outstanding and the sufficiency of the redemption assets that back those tokens,” according to the ED. “Because information about the redeemable tokens outstanding and redemption assets is not disclosed in the same manner, there is a lack of comparability and consistency of available information needed to ensure reliability and trust in these types of digital assets.”

Guide for respondents

ASEC is seeking comments specifically on the nature and extent of information and disclosures contained in the proposed criteria. The document asks respondents to consider various questions, including whether the criteria is complete and whether the information is relevant and technically inaccurate. The committee is also seeking feedback on the definitions of terms included in the glossary.

The comment deadline is Jan. 29. Comments on the ED can be emailed to StablecoinED@aicpa-cima.com.

— To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Kevin Brewer at Kevin.Brewer@aicpa-cima.com.