New AICPA guidance on stablecoins, mining revenue, current auditing standards

The AICPA has added chapters to its digital assets practice aid focused on guidance for stablecoin issuers, considerations for auditing mining revenue, and updates related to recently effective auditing standards.

“As digital asset business models continue to evolve, practitioners are encountering increasingly complex accounting and auditing questions,” Di Krupica, CPA, senior manager–Digital Assets, Assurance and Advisory Innovation at the AICPA, said in a news 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 latest version of Accounting for and Auditing of Digital Assets features:

• A new chapter dedicated to accounting considerations for stablecoin issuers, with guidance that addresses recognition of obligations associated with issued tokens and considerations related to reserve assets that support stablecoins.
• A new chapter on auditing considerations related to mining revenue arrangements, including transactions involving mining pool participants and data center hosts. 
• Updates that reflect auditing standards through Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) No. 148 and revisions related to SAS No. 146, Quality Management for an Engagement Conducted in Accordance With Generally Accepted Auditing Standards (AU-C Section 220).
• Revisions to Chapter 5, Considerations for Existence, Rights, and Obligations of Digital Assets, that streamline and consolidate existing question-and-answer content without changing the underlying guidance.

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