The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has proposed new accounting guidance aimed at clarifying when certain digital assets, including stablecoins, can be treated as cash equivalents under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.
The proposed Accounting Standards Update would provide illustrative examples to promote more consistent application of the existing definition of cash equivalents and improve comparability among entities that elect to present qualifying digital assets as cash equivalents.
FASB said the proposal would not change the current definition of “cash equivalents.”
The move follows feedback received during FASB’s 2025 agenda consultation and through other stakeholder engagement that highlighted uncertainty over whether certain digital assets, including stablecoins, meet the definition of cash equivalents under current GAAP.
That uncertainty has led to diversity in accounting practice, according to FASB.
Under the proposal, illustrative examples would be introduced to help companies determine how the existing definition applies to certain digital assets.
The examples would apply to entities that hold certain digital assets and are intended to improve consistency in how companies evaluate whether those assets qualify as cash equivalents.
FASB is also proposing enhanced disclosure requirements covering significant components of cash equivalents and their related amounts.
The disclosure requirement would apply to all entities that present assets as cash equivalents, regardless of whether those assets include stablecoins or other digital assets.
FASB said the requirement would provide investors and other financial statement users with more transparent information about the significant components of companies’ cash equivalents.
The proposal comes as stablecoins increasingly intersect with traditional financial markets and payment infrastructure, raising questions over how companies should account for digital assets designed to maintain a stable value.
Stakeholders have until Nov. 19, 2026, to submit comments on the proposal.
The proposal could remove an important area of accounting uncertainty for companies holding or using stablecoins without creating a separate accounting category for the assets.
Rather than redefining cash equivalents, FASB is seeking to clarify how existing GAAP should be applied.
Greater consistency could become increasingly important as stablecoins gain broader use in payments, treasury management and other financial activities, while the expanded disclosure requirements would give investors greater visibility into what companies classify as cash equivalents.
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