How Bitcoin Businesses Handle Treasury Accounting in 2025

In early 2025, MicroStrategy reported a $13 billion unrealized gain on its Bitcoin holdings. A few months later, that same position showed a $6 billion paper loss. Both figures were perfectly accurate. Welcome to the new era of corporate Bitcoin accounting.

The accounting rules that took effect on January 1, 2025 fundamentally changed how businesses handle Bitcoin on their balance sheets. If you're running a Bitcoin business or considering adding BTC to your company's treasury, understanding these mechanics isn't optional; it's essential to making informed decisions.

The FASB Rule Change That Unlocked Corporate Adoption

For years, the old accounting treatment acted as a deterrent to corporate Bitcoin adoption. Under the previous impairment-only model, companies could mark down their Bitcoin holdings when prices fell, but couldn't mark them back up when prices recovered. You took the hits but couldn't show the gains until you actually sold.

That changed with ASU 2023-08, which became effective for calendar-year entities on January 1, 2025. The new standard requires Bitcoin and qualifying crypto assets to be measured at fair value each reporting period, with changes recognized directly in net income.

This shift proved transformative. Public companies holding Bitcoin grew from roughly 70 in January 2025 to 228 by October. By early 2026, 252 entities held 3.76 million BTC (about 17.9% of total supply), with public companies alone accounting for 1.09 million BTC valued at $69.1 billion.

Michael Saylor called the new rules the removal of a "major impediment" to Bitcoin adoption. He's not wrong, though the full picture is more nuanced.

What Fair Value Accounting Actually Means for Your Business

Under fair value accounting, your Bitcoin treasury gets marked to market every reporting period. If BTC rises 20% during the quarter, that gain flows through your income statement. If it drops 15% the next quarter, that loss shows up too.

This creates two practical realities:

The upside: Your financial statements now reflect the actual economic value of your holdings. If Bitcoin appreciates significantly, your reported earnings and book value grow accordingly. This matters for investor relations, credit facilities, and overall corporate valuation.

The tradeoff: Earnings volatility becomes part of your financial profile. A company with substantial Bitcoin holdings will see quarterly results swing with the market, regardless of how the underlying business performs. This can complicate forecasting, potentially affect stock price stability, and requires more sophisticated investor communication.

One important detail often overlooked: you only owe taxes on gains when you actually sell. Paper gains increase reported income but don't trigger immediate tax liability.

How Companies Structure Their Bitcoin Treasuries

The businesses successfully navigating Bitcoin treasury management tend to follow similar patterns, though approaches vary based on company size, risk tolerance, and strategic objectives.

Allocation Sizing

Most companies allocating to Bitcoin keep it between 5% and 20% of total reserves. MicroStrategy represents an extreme outlier, having essentially transformed into a Bitcoin holding company with 717,722 BTC as of early 2026. For most businesses, a more modest allocation provides exposure to potential upside while limiting downside impact on operations.

Acquisition Strategy

Dollar-cost averaging has emerged as the standard approach for building positions. Rather than timing the market with large lump-sum purchases, companies accumulate gradually over time. This smooths out entry prices and reduces the risk of buying at local tops.

Liquidity Management

Best practice involves maintaining 6 to 12 months of operating expenses in fiat currency, separate from Bitcoin holdings. This buffer ensures that short-term business needs don't force sales during unfavorable market conditions.

Custody Architecture

The typical setup splits holdings between cold storage (around 80%) and more accessible custody for operational needs. Custodians like BitGo, Coinbase Institutional, and Fidelity offer SOC 2-compliant, insured multi-signature wallets. The U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve established in March 2025 provided additional legitimacy to institutional custody standards.

Governance

Many companies have established dedicated treasury committees to oversee Bitcoin-related decisions. These committees typically define accumulation policies, set allocation limits, establish custody protocols, and determine reporting procedures.

The Accounting Workflow in Practice

Managing Bitcoin treasury accounting requires more rigorous processes than traditional corporate treasury. Here's what the workflow typically involves:

Daily or real-time tracking: Bitcoin positions need continuous monitoring, with clear audit trails for all transactions including acquisitions, dispositions, and transfers between wallets.

Period-end valuation: At each reporting date, holdings must be marked to fair value using reliable pricing sources. Documentation of valuation methodology is essential for audit purposes.

Gain/loss calculation: Changes in fair value from prior periods flow through the income statement. For tax purposes, companies need to track cost basis using their chosen method (FIFO, specific identification, etc.).

Disclosure preparation: Financial statements require disclosures about the nature and extent of crypto holdings, valuation approaches, and associated risks.

This level of complexity has driven demand for specialized accounting expertise. Firms like Satoshi Pacioli have emerged to serve Bitcoin businesses and companies holding BTC on their balance sheets, offering professional accounting, tax, and financial services tailored to cryptocurrency operations.

The Legitimate Concerns About This Approach

Not everyone views corporate Bitcoin treasuries as wise strategy, and the counterarguments deserve consideration.

Earnings volatility hurts predictability. Investors and analysts who value steady, predictable earnings may penalize companies with significant Bitcoin exposure. Quarterly swings of billions of dollars, as MicroStrategy has demonstrated, can make fundamental business performance harder to evaluate.

Capital raising for Bitcoin purchases can dilute shareholders. MicroStrategy raised $6.8 billion in 2025 specifically to buy more Bitcoin, much of it through equity issuance. If Bitcoin doesn't appreciate sufficiently to offset dilution, existing shareholders bear the cost.

Index inclusion considerations. Some indices have rules that could exclude or force sales by companies with unusual asset compositions. This creates potential forced-selling scenarios during unfavorable conditions.

Governance complexity. Managing a volatile asset alongside normal business operations demands expertise that many companies lack internally.

These aren't reasons to avoid Bitcoin treasury strategies entirely, but they're factors that warrant honest assessment before committing capital.

What This Means Going Forward

The regulatory and accounting landscape for corporate Bitcoin holdings is more favorable than it's ever been. Fair value accounting provides transparency that benefits both companies and investors. Custody infrastructure has matured significantly. And with 40% of CFOs reportedly considering cryptocurrency allocation, the practice is moving from experimental to mainstream.

That said, the fundamentals of treasury management still apply. Companies considering Bitcoin allocation should:

• Size positions appropriately for their risk tolerance and liquidity needs
• Establish clear governance frameworks before accumulating
• Build or partner with teams that understand both the accounting requirements and operational security demands
• Communicate transparently with stakeholders about strategy and risks

The businesses getting this right aren't treating Bitcoin as a speculation or a gimmick. They're integrating it thoughtfully into broader treasury strategy, with proper accounting infrastructure and realistic expectations about volatility. In 2025, that's what responsible corporate Bitcoin adoption looks like.