Abstract This study compares and contrasts US and international accounting and financial reporting practices for cryptocurrency. We analyze the financial statements of 40 global companies that have exposure to cryptocurrencies, including cryptocurrency purchases, mining, payments, trading, and investments in ICOs and early-stage blockchain ventures. We document inconsistency between Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), as well as distortions that can mislead users in assessing asset value, liquidity, profitability, and cash-generating abilities across firms. In particular, firms receiving cryptocurrencies in revenue-generating activities account for cryptocurrencies as intangibles using different measurement bases and classify the associated cash inflows differently. Some firms place cryptocurrencies in the usual long-term location of intangibles, while others consider intangibles as liquid, short-term assets. Limited guidance about crypto-assets from both IFRS and GAAP lets companies choose which existing standard to apply and how to apply it. Understanding the financial and valuation implications of these new virtual assets is vital for future accounting research and professional practice.

Central banks all over the world are at various stage of developing central bank digital currency (CBDC). Few countries have launched the CBDC or widely used it in the economy. In addition to surveying the literature, which features extremely scarce empirical studies due to data limitations, this paper provides likely the earliest and the most comprehensive empirical documentation of the adoption of China's CBDC (e-CNY) after the central bank launched and actively promoted it in pilot regions using both regulatory power and economic incentives. We find that regions with active promotions for e-CNY plausibly witness more frequent and larger e-CNY transactions, more wallet creations, and greater merchant adoption. However, despite the strong intervention, individual users mostly stick to existing electronic payment Apps and are reluctant to switch to e-CNY. Given the world eagerly learns from China's experiment and China plans to expand the application scope of e-CNY as a general payment tool domestically and internationally with added smart-contract functions, we discuss primary challenges and potential paths forward for the development of e-CNY and CBDCs in general.