Comfort with crypto: Big North American companies have big plans

Despite continued concerns, large companies are growing more comfortable with cryptocurrency.

In Deloitte’s latest quarterly survey, 23% of CFOs at North American companies with $1 billion or more in annual revenue said their treasury departments likely will accept cryptocurrency as payment or will purchase crypto as an investment within the next two years.

At $10 billion-plus companies, 39% said the same.

“CFOs are thinking beyond any ‘crypto hype’ and focusing on the practical implications of digital assets,” Steve Gallucci, global and U.S. leader of Deloitte’s CFO Program, said in a news release. “They appear to be assessing where cryptocurrency can drive efficiency, reduce friction in global operations, and future-proof financial infrastructure.”

Just 1% of the 200 CFOs responding to the latest North American CFO Signals survey said they didn’t envision their companies using crypto in the long term.

Thirty-seven percent said they’ve had discussions with their boards about the use of crypto. Despite the strong show of long-term interest, there’s plenty to discuss, according to the survey:

• Just 1% of the CFOs said, “I do not have any concerns about investing in cryptocurrency.”
• Price volatility, complexities around accounting and controls, and lack of industry regulation were all selected by at least 40% of the CFOs as top concerns about investing in crypto.

Specific to stablecoins as a form of payment, 15% of the CFOs said their companies likely would accept stablecoins for payments in the next two years (24% at $10 billion-plus companies said the same).

Last month, a legislative bill providing a federal regulatory framework for stablecoin issuers became law.

AICPA resources

The AICPA recently released its 2025 Criteria for Stablecoin Reporting, and the AICPA’s Assurance Services Executive Committee is set to review public comments on an exposure draft of controls for supporting asset-backed fiat-pegged tokens.

For further insights, explore the AICPA Stablecoin Reporting and Assurance resource page.

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