Accounting for Cryptocurrencies 加密 货 币 的 会 计 核算 方法 pwccnWhat is the issue? A cryptocurrency refers to a form of exchange that does not exist in physical form but only digitally. It is not linked to any physical currency, nor is it backed by any government, central bank, legal entity, underlying asset or commodity. However, it is often quoted in an exchange against other currencies. The most commonly known example of a cryptocurrency is the Bitcoin. Cryptocurrencies have been developed as a product of the blockchain technology and has gained much popularity. It is now used as a means to make payments for goods and services, to incentivize employees as well as simply held for investment purposes (legality- permitting or not). Since its introduction and especially in recent years, transaction volume has grown exponentially albeit also experiencing significant volatility in value. Cryptocurrencies are initially mined but could subsequently be bought, exchanged, awarded, or granted. It undoubtedly meets the definition of an asset. Mining cryptocurrencies is a specialized activity and the accounting for such activities warrant further research. This paper discusses how cryptocurrencies could be accounted for from the non-miner-holders perspective. There are a number of potential options to account for them and each option will be discussed in brief, and/or dismissed, below, recognizing the fact that diversity has already emerged in practice. 1什 么 是 加 密货币 ？ 加密货 币是一 种可 用作交 易且 无实物 形态的 交 易媒体 。加密 货币 既不与 任何实 际货 币挂钩 ，亦 不由任 何政府 、 央行 、 法律实 体 、 基础资 产或商 品提 供担保 。然而 ，加 密货 币 通 常以 兑 换其 他 货币 的形式进行标价 。目前， “比特币” 是最广为所知的加密货币 。 加密货 币是发 展区 块链技 术而 延伸的 产物 ， 并 越来越 广受关 注 。 如今， 哪怕 其 合法 性仍 有 待商 榷 ， 加 密货币 已 被用于 支付商 品及 服务、 作为激 励员 工的赠 与或 作为投 资工具 而 持有 。 自其问 世以 来，尤 其是最 近几 年 ，尽 管其 价值 经 历了 大 幅 波动 ， 加密货 币的 交易量得到了指数级的增长 。 加密货 币只能 通过计 算机 “挖矿 ”生成 ，这 过 程由 “ 矿工” 操作， 一旦生 成 ，随 后即 可通 过 购买 、交换 、奖励 或 授予等 其他方 式取 得。毫 无疑问 ，加 密货币 符合 资产的 定义 。 加 密货币 的挖矿 属于 专业 化 业务 ， 其核 算亟 待 进一 步研 究 。 本文 将 论述 非 矿工 持 有人 应如何 核算加 密货 币 。目前 ， 在实务 中已经 出 现了多 种对加 密货 币的核 算方法 ，本 文将对 各项 潜在的 核算方 法 进行简 要介绍 并探 讨其适用性。 2Cash exist in the form of paper currency or coin and is issued by a government as a means of legal tender, e.g. the Renminbi issued by the Peoples Republic of China or the Pound issued by the United Kingdom. Since cryptocurrencies are not issued or backed by any government or state, it is not cash. Cash equivalents are short-term, highly liquid investments that are readily convertible to known amounts of cash and which are subject to an insignificant risk of changes in value. Investments could be financial or non-financial. Due to the lack of an underlying physical asset, cryptocurrencies are not non-financial investment. Financial investments, either equity or debt, are derived from contracts between two counter parties. Since there is only one party to a cryptocurrency, it is also not a financial investment. Therefore, it fails the definition of a cash equivalent. Financial instruments are contracts that give rise to a financial asset of one entity and a financial liability or equity instrument of another entity. Given there is no contractual relationship with any party, it is not a financial instrument either. By the same token, it is not a subsidiary, joint arrangement or associate. Properties, Plant and Equipment or Investment Properties refer to assets, or to be precise properties, with physical form. Cryptocurrencies lack physical form so are not PPE or IPs. Leases (under the prevalent standard) are arrangements whereby the lessor conveys to the lessee in return for payment the right to use an asset for an agreed period of time. There is only one party and one can hold onto a cryptocurrency for an unspecified period of time. It is not a lease. This conclusion is not expected to change under the new leasing standard. What are our potential accounting options? 3现金指政府以纸币和硬币形 式发行的 法定货币 ，如中国央 行发行的 人民币 、英 国央行发 行的英 镑等 。由 于加密货 币并非由任 何政府或 国家发行或提供担保 ，因此不应被视为现金 。 现 金等价物 指持有的期限短 、 流动性强 、 易于 转换为已知 金额现金 、 价值变动风 险很小的 投资 ， 包括 金融 或非 金融 投资 。 由于 缺少基础 的实物资产 ，加密货 币不属 于非金融 投资 。金融 投资 （包括 权益投 资或债权投资 ） 源自 双方 订 立的 合同 。 由于加 密货币只涉 及一方 ， 因此不属于金融投资 。所以， 加密货币不应被视为现金等价物 。 金 融工具 指使一方主体形成 金融资产 而使另一 方主体形成 金融负债 或权益工具 的合同 。 鉴于加 密货币不 涉及与其 他方形成合 同关系 ， 因此不属于 金融工具 。同样 的 ，加密 货币也不 属于对子公 司 、合营 安排或联营企业的投资 。 不 动产 、厂 房及设备 或投资 性房地产 指资产 ，更为准确地 说 ，泛指 有形的 “不 动产 ” 。 加密货币 没有实物 形态 ， 故不应被视 为不动产 、 厂房及设备或投资性房地产 。 租赁 （ 根据 现行准则 ） 指出租人向承租人让渡 议定期间内 资产的使 用权， 以换 取租 金付 款的 安 排 。 然而 ， 加密货 币仅由一方 持有且其 持有时间不 明确 ， 因 此不应 被视为租 赁 。 在新 的租赁准则 下 ，预计 该结论也不会有所改变 。 可 采 用 哪 些 潜 在 的 核 算 方 法 ？ 4Exploration for and evaluation of mineral resource provides guidance to the expenditures incurred when undertaking extractive activities to obtain mineral and other non-regenerative resource (one would expect those are with physical form). Arguably cryptocurrencies are mined at inception. Even though the standard does not specifically prohibit resource without physical form, this standard only provides relief to costs incurred prior to the discovery of resource, rather than the cost incurred to obtain the resource. Therefore, it is also not an E&E asset. Inventories are assets that are held for sale in the ordinary course of business, or used in the process of production for such sale, or in the form of materials or supplies to be consumed in the production process or in the rendering of services. We normally expect inventory to have a physical form but this is not necessarily the case. For example, setting aside whether cryptocurrencies are commodity-equivalents, commodity broker-traders that trade equity or debt securities account for these security investments as inventory so long as they are measured at fair value through the profit and loss. Therefore, traders of cryptocurrencies could take advantage of this guidance. However, for entities that are not commodity broker-traders, since cryptocurrencies may not be traded in such frequency that they would be regarded as an entitys ordinary course of business, they could fail the definition of inventory. Intangible assets are identifiable non- monetary assets without physical substance. There are three parts to this definition, namely, (i) identifiable (ii) non-monetary and (iii) without physical form. Cryptocurrencies are assets and is separable (hence, meeting one of the two identifiable criterion) because it could be sold, transferred or exchanged individually. It is a non- monetary item because it is not money held nor assets to be received in fixed or determinable amounts of money. Last, it lacks physical substance. Given intangible asset is the catch all category for all non-financial assets without physical form, it does seem that cryptocurrencies meet this definition under the current accounting standard. 56 无 形资产 指可识别的 、无 实物形 态的非货 币性 资产。该 定义 包 含三 层含 义：(i) 可识别 的；(ii) 非 货 币 性 及(iii) 无实物形态 。 由 于 加 密 货 币 可 以单独出 售 、转 让或交换 ，因此 是可区分 的 资 产（满足 了两项 可识别标 准中的 一 项）。 由于 加密货币 不属于 持有的货 币或为 获取固定 或可 确定金额 的货币 而持有的 资产 ， 因此属于 非货 币性资产 。除此 之外 ，加 密货币 无实物形 态 。 鉴于所有 无实物 形态的非 金融资 产会落入 无形 资 产 准 则 的 适 用 范 围 ， 加密 货 币 似乎 符 合 现 行 会计准则规定的无形资产的定义 。 矿 产资源 的勘探 和评估 为获取矿产及其他 具有 实物形态 的非再 生资源进 行开采 业务而发 生的 开支 提供 了相 关 指引 。 值 得讨 论 的是 ， 加 密货 币初始也 是通过 “挖掘” 产生的 。尽管准 则并 未明确禁 止适用 于无实物 形态的 资源 ， 但 其仅 适用于发 现资源 前发生的 成本而 非获取资 源而 发生的成 本 。因此 ，加密 货币也 不应被视 为勘 探和评估资产 。 存货 指日常经营过程中持 有待售 的资产或 在生 产该 等资 产过 程 中使 用的 资产 ， 或在 生产 或提 供服务过 程中消 耗的物料 或物资 。存货通 常具 有实物形态 ，但并 非所 有 情况 均是 如此 。例如， 先不考虑加 密货币 是否作 为大宗商 品的等同 物 ， 只要其按 公允价 值计量且 其变动 计入损益 ，买 卖股票或 债券的 商品交易 经纪人 可将该等 “证 券投资 ” 作为存 货进行核 算 。加 密货币的 交易 经纪人可 以利用 该指引 。 然而 ， 对非商品 交易 经纪人的 主体 ， 由于加密 货币的 交易频率 可能 不足以被 认定为 是主体的 日常经 营活动 ， 则不 能利用该指引将加密货币作为存货核算 。Accounting for Intangible Assets Intangible assets are recognized initially at cost. Subsequently, an entity could choose to measure them at cost or at fair value, less amortization (for intangible assets with finite lives). The fair value option is only available to those assets that have active markets. Also, fair value gains are taken through OCI while losses are taken through the P&L. And for intangible assets with infinite lives, they are not amortized. Cryptocurrencies have indefinite useful lives so would not be amortized. There are exchanges that trade certain cryptocurrencies. Given there are active markets (at least for the more popular ones like Bitcoins), they could be carried at fair value, if that measurement option is chosen, with fair value changes through OCI. And for those that are not actively traded, they could only be carried at cost. 7如 何 按 照 无 形 资 产 进 行 核 算 ？ 无形资产以成本作为初始确认金额。随后，针对具有有限使用寿 命的无形资产而言，主体可能选择以成本或公允价值扣减摊销进 行后续计量。公允价值计量只适用于有活跃市场的资产。此外， 公允价值利得计入其他综合收益，损失计入损益。使用寿命不确 定的无形资产则无需摊销。 加密货币的使用寿命不确定，因而不予摊销。实务中已存在交易 所对某些加密货币进行交易。对于存在活跃市场的加密货币，例 如最热门的比特币，可以选择以公允价值计量，其公允价值变动 计入其他综合收益。相较而言，没有活跃市场的加密货币则只能 以成本计量。 89 Is the information produced the most relevant and useful? An intangible asset (for example a patent or brandname) has traditionally been an asset held for use in the production process with the primary objective to generate revenue from the entitys ordinary course of business. Even though the reference to production has been removed from the definition of an intangible asset, such a presumption is still reflected in how the standard is written through its initial and subsequent measurement basis. As we highlighted at the beginning, cryptocurrencies are used as a means to make payments for goods (like cash) and services (like employee benefits), to incentivize employees (like share-based payments) and for investment purposes (like financial instruments or investment properties). Therefore, the purpose for holding an intangible asset is very different from holding a cryptocurrency. The accounting for a financial-like asset using a standard written for productive assets does not reflect the nature of such an asset nor the purpose of holding onto it. Due to the fact that it is being used as a currency-equivalent or alternative investment vehicle, its most relevant measurement basis is probably at fair value through the profit and loss. This is akin to treating cryptocurrencies as a foreign currency or investment, which are largely carried at fair value with fair value changes through the profit and loss. However, it seems like we are stuck with the intangible assets standard at present and either carrying it at cost or fair value through OCI does not provide the most relevant information to users. There is indeed an urgent need to “fill the gaap” on the accounting for cryptocurrencies. 10 无形资产通常指为用于生产过程而持有的资产，其主要目的是为 了从主体的日常经营活动中产生收入。尽管无形资产的定义已不 再提及生产，但准则规定的初始及后续计量基础仍对该假设有所 反映。 如本文开篇所述，加密货币可用于支付 商品（类似现金）和服务 （如职工福利）， 作为员工激励的 手段（类似 以股份为基础的 支 付）或投资工具（类似 金融工具或投资性 房地产）。 因此，持有 加密货币的目的可能与持有无形资产的目的大相径庭。若采用针 对生产性资产编写的准则核算类似金融资产的加密货币，无法反 映该资产的性质及持有目的。 由于加密货币被用作货币等价物或另类投资工具，其最适用的计 量基础可能是以公允价值计量且其变动计入损益。这类似于将加 密货币作为一种外币或投资（大部分以公允价值计量且其变动计 入损益）进行计量。但是 ，局限于现行准则的规定， 目前我们似 乎“只能”采用无形资产准则，而无论是以成本还是以公允价值 计量且其变动计入其他综合收益的核算方法，均无法为报告使用 者提供最为相关的信息。因此，如何修改和明确相关准则，规范 加密货币的会计核算是一个亟待解决的问题。 核 算 方 法 是 否 提 供 了 最 相 关 且 有 用 的 信息 ？Yvonne Kam | 金 以文 Partner 合伙人 +86 (21) 2323 3267 yvonne.kamcn.pwc pwccn This content is for general information purposes only, and should not be used as a substitute for consultation with professional advisors. 本文仅 为提 供一 般性 信息 之目 的， 不应 用于 替代 专业 咨询 者提 供的咨 询意 见 。 © 2016 PricewaterhouseCoopers Zhong Tian LLP. All rights reserved. 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