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The AICPA Digital Assets Working Group develops professional accounting and auditing guidance for digital assets. Its associated practice aid is nonauthoritative: it can help practitioners apply U.S. GAAP and audit digital assets, but it does not set accounting standards or create a universal legal definition.

Which Digital Assets Working Group does this refer to?

The name most plausibly refers to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Digital Assets Working Group. A 2023 description identifies it as a joint group under the AICPA’s Financial Reporting Executive Committee (FinREC) and Assurance Services Executive Committee (ASEC), with Accounting and Auditing subgroups. CPA Practice Advisor’s 2023 account provides that organizational description; it should not be taken as confirmation that the committee structure remains unchanged today.

How does the practice aid describe digital assets?

The AICPA practice aid’s broad, accounting-oriented description is “digital records that are made using cryptography for verification and security purposes, on a distributed ledger (referred to as a blockchain).” The wording is reproduced in an IFRS Foundation staff paper.

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This is the practice aid’s description, not a universal statutory, regulatory, or market definition. It should not be treated as resolving how a particular asset is classified under every law, accounting framework, or factual circumstance.

Crypto assets are a subset, not a synonym

The staff paper explains that the aid treats crypto assets as a subset of digital assets. The subset characterization includes use as a medium of exchange and considers whether an asset is issued by a jurisdictional authority, creates a contract with its holder, or is considered a security under specified U.S. securities laws. These characteristics are not exhaustive; other facts and circumstances may affect the analysis.

Is the AICPA practice aid authoritative?

No. The IFRS Foundation paper describes the practice aid as nonauthoritative, and the AICPA’s current resource page presents it as practical guidance on accounting for digital assets under U.S. GAAP and auditing them. It is professional guidance, not an authoritative accounting standard. Practitioners should distinguish its assistance in applying existing requirements from the authority of the standards themselves.

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What is included in the current edition?

The AICPA & CIMA resource page lists a practice-aid update dated September 2, 2026. Its public summary identifies new content on stablecoin accounting and auditing mining revenue. The full resource is marked as reserved for AICPA and CIMA members, so the public summary does not establish the aid’s complete chapter-level coverage or technical conclusions. Check the AICPA & CIMA practice-aid page for current access and edition information.

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What readers should take away

  • The Working Group is associated with AICPA professional accounting and auditing guidance for digital assets.
  • The practice aid’s broad description connects cryptographically secured digital records with a distributed ledger; it is not a universal legal definition.
  • Crypto assets are treated as a narrower subset, and the classification considerations are not exhaustive.
  • The aid is nonauthoritative, and its full current version is member-reserved.

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