PCAOB eyes audits involving cryptocurrency

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board released a document Tuesday with information for auditors and audit committees about audits involving cryptoassets, such as Bitcoin and other digital currencies.

The Spotlight document, Audits Involving Cryptoassets – Information for Auditors and Audit Committees, is part of the PCAOB’s Strategic Plan to monitor the development and implementation of emerging technologies to analyze their implications for the quality of audit services.

The PCAOB’s staff has noticed that cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin has recently started to be recorded and disclosed in the financial statements of companies, broker-dealers and other issuers. When doing inspections of auditors of some smaller issuers, the PCAOB’s staff has seen situations where transactions involving cryptoassets were material to the financial statements.

The document discusses some of the issues auditors should consider when handling their responsibilities under PCAOB standards for…