Crypto Accounting Journal Entries: 14 Worked Examples

The short answer: Book crypto in its own asset account at fair value. Every disposal, including vendor payments, swaps and gas, credits the asset at carrying value and books a realized gain or loss. US GAAP (ASC 350-60) remeasures in-scope holdings to fair value each period through net income. Under IFRS, cost less impairment is the usual model.

Updated September 2026. Standards checked on 2026-09-03 against FASB ASU 2023-08 (December 2023), the IFRS Interpretations Committee agenda decision (June 2019), and the Big Four pages linked inline. Not tax advice.

Most guides to accounting for cryptocurrency stop one step early. They explain that bitcoin is an intangible asset and that ASC 350-60 changed the measurement model, then leave you to work out which account takes the debit when a customer pays in USDC. This post starts there. Every common event gets a worked entry with the reason behind it, plus a note wherever practice varies. One example carries through the whole thing, 1 ETH bought for $2,500.

The accounts you need before the first entry

Neither Xero nor QuickBooks ships a crypto chart of accounts, so you build one. Keep the measurement models apart while you do it, because a fair value token, a stablecoin and an NFT follow three different rules. The full walkthrough is in setting up a crypto balance sheet in Xero and QuickBooks. Here is the starter list.

Account	Type	What goes here
Digital assets: ETH, BTC, SOL (one per token)	Asset	In-scope tokens
Digital assets: stablecoins	Asset	USDC, USDT and similar
Digital assets: other	Asset	NFTs and self-issued tokens
Realized gain or loss on digital assets	Income statement	Every disposal
Unrealized gain or loss on digital assets	Income statement	ASC 350-60 remeasurement
Impairment loss on digital assets	Income statement	Cost-model holdings
Revaluation surplus on digital assets	Equity (OCI)	IFRS revaluation increases
Staking and DeFi income	Income statement	Rewards at fair value
Transaction fees expense	Income statement	Gas and exchange fees you expense

One account per token matters because ASU 2023-08 requires the name, cost basis, fair value and units of each significant holding, plus an annual rollforward (Deloitte, Heads Up on ASU 2023-08, 15 December 2023).

Entry 1: buying crypto with fiat, including the exchange fee

You buy 1 ETH for $2,500 and pay a $10 trading fee from the bank. Practice splits on the fee. PwC's view is that transaction costs on an individually acquired crypto asset are generally capitalized (PwC Viewpoint 2.4, 31 May 2025). The FASB declined to rule. Paragraph BC36 of ASU 2023-08 says the Board "decided not to provide guidance on how to recognize or present transaction costs", since fair value remeasurement makes the period's income the same either way.

Capitalized fee:

Account	Debit	Credit
Digital assets: ETH	2,510
Bank		2,510

The lot starts at $2,510, fee included.

Expensed fee:

Account	Debit	Credit
Digital assets: ETH	2,500
Transaction fees expense	10
Bank		2,510

The lot starts at $2,500.

Pick one and write it into the policy.

Entry 2: a customer pays an invoice in USDC

You invoice a client $5,000 and they settle with 5,000 USDC. Under ASC 606 crypto received from a customer is noncash consideration measured at fair value when the contract criteria are met, and later value changes do not touch revenue (PwC Viewpoint 3.1, 15 August 2025).

On the invoice date:

Account	Debit	Credit
Accounts receivable	5,000
Revenue		5,000

Ordinary revenue recognition.

On receipt of the USDC, at a quote of 0.999:

Account	Debit	Credit
Digital assets: stablecoins	4,995
Realized loss on digital assets	5
Accounts receivable		5,000

The receivable closes and the USDC goes on at fair value. The $5 gap between face value and fair value is a realized loss on the asset, not revenue. At an exact $1.00 quote there would be no gap to book.

Most subledgers park the payment in a clearing account to match later. Breezing closes the invoice natively in Xero and QuickBooks Online with no clearing account. See closing a crypto invoice in QuickBooks and Xero with USDC or USDT.

Entry 3: paying a vendor or an expense in crypto

You owe a contractor $3,000 and pay with 1 ETH worth $3,000 that day. Paying with crypto is a disposal, and the gain or loss is the consideration allocated to the asset minus its carrying amount (PwC Viewpoint 2.4, 31 May 2025). For an in-scope asset settled at fair value, PwC does not generally expect a disposal gain or loss, because remeasurement has already caught the price moves. A gain or loss shows up only when the settlement price differs from the asset's last measured fair value (same source). Assume the ETH was remeasured to $2,800 at the last month end (Entry 8) and its price kept moving before the payment went out.

Account	Debit	Credit
Accounts payable	3,000
Digital assets: ETH		2,800
Realized gain on digital assets		200

The ETH leaves at carrying value and the difference is a realized gain.

Under a cost model the credit would be $2,510 and the gain $490. Which lot you release is a cost basis question. PwC Viewpoint 2.3 (31 May 2025) lists specific identification, FIFO and LIFO, and your policy has to name one.

Entry 4: network and gas fees

Paying gas spends a sliver of the native token, so it is a disposal and a fee at once. Say a transfer costs 0.002 ETH when ETH is $3,000, so $6 of gas, and that sliver is carried at $5.60.

Account	Debit	Credit
Transaction fees expense	6.00
Digital assets: ETH		5.60
Realized gain on digital assets		0.40

Fee at fair value, ETH out at carrying value, 40 cents of realized gain.

Practice varies on gas paid to acquire a token. Some entities capitalize it, others expense it, and no crypto-specific rule settles the question. High-volume teams post one summarized gas entry per wallet per month, but the disposal side still needs lot-level tracking or the wallet rollforward will not tie.

Entry 5: swapping one token for another

You swap 1 ETH (carrying value $2,800) for 20 SOL worth $3,000. A swap is a disposal plus an acquisition. Measure what you received at fair value, and the gap to the carrying amount of the asset given up is the gain or loss (PwC Viewpoint 2.4, 31 May 2025). As in Entry 3, that gap is price movement since the last remeasurement date, not a gain PwC expects from the exchange itself.

Account	Debit	Credit
Digital assets: SOL	3,000
Digital assets: ETH		2,800
Realized gain on digital assets		200

SOL starts a new lot at $3,000 and the gain is realized although no fiat moved. Gas follows Entry 4.

Entry 6: staking and DeFi rewards

Your stake pays out 0.1 ETH, worth $280 on arrival. There is no explicit US GAAP on staking. KPMG's Hot Topic (August 2022, updated December 2024) says so in its introduction, and takes the view that a validator's rewards are revenue measured at the fair value of the tokens at contract inception. Later price moves are remeasurement if the reward token is in scope of ASC 350-60, and impairment if it is not.

Account	Debit	Credit
Digital assets: ETH	280
Staking and DeFi income		280

Income at fair value, opening a new ETH lot with a $280 cost basis.

Contract inception itself takes judgment, and that is where practice varies. KPMG ties it to the start of a committed staking period or to each validation activity, depending on the blockchain's staking protocol. Where the two dates fall close together, some entities use the date the reward lands as a practical stand-in. Lending and liquidity-pool rewards follow the same shape. See accounting for staking rewards in Xero.

Entry 7: stablecoin receipts and payments

Stablecoins get their own account because they usually fall outside ASC 350-60. The scope criteria require that the token gives the holder no enforceable rights to or claims on underlying goods, services or other assets (paragraph 350-60-15-1(b)), and a redemption right against the issuer is such a claim. PwC's view is that a stablecoin with a contractual right to cash from the issuer may meet the definition of a financial asset, while one without that right runs through the 350-60 criteria as an intangible (PwC Viewpoint 2.1.2, 31 May 2025). Day to day, the entry looks like a bank payment. You pay a $4,000 supplier invoice in USDC, at a quote of 0.998:

Account	Debit	Credit
Accounts payable	4,000
Digital assets: stablecoins		3,992
Realized gain on digital assets		8

The $8 difference between face value and fair value is a realized gain. At an exact $1.00 quote there would be no gain or loss.

Receipts mirror Entry 2. For the AR side, see stablecoin invoicing.

Entry 8: period-end fair value remeasurement under ASC 350-60

This is the entry ASU 2023-08 added. Paragraph 350-60-35-1 requires in-scope crypto assets to be measured at fair value on the balance sheet, with remeasurement gains and losses in net income. It applies to fiscal years beginning after 15 December 2024, interim periods included, and early adoption is permitted (paragraph 350-60-65-1). Our ASC 350-60 guide covers scope and disclosures.

Month one, the 1 ETH bought for $2,510 is quoted at $2,800.

Account	Debit	Credit
Digital assets: ETH	290
Unrealized gain on digital assets		290

The gain runs through net income, not OCI.

Month two, ETH closes at $2,600.

Account	Debit	Credit
Unrealized loss on digital assets	200
Digital assets: ETH		200

Symmetrical. Under the old model, month one was never booked and month two was permanent.

Present crypto assets and their remeasurement gains and losses separately from other intangibles (paragraphs 350-60-45-1 and 45-2). On adoption, the step-up from the old carrying amount goes to opening retained earnings as a cumulative-effect adjustment, not through income (paragraph 350-60-65-1(b)).

Entry 9: the legacy cost-less-impairment model for out-of-scope assets

NFTs fail the fungibility criterion and self-issued tokens fail the related-party criterion, so they stay under the old model the ASU's summary describes. They are indefinite-lived intangibles, written down to fair value when the carrying amount exceeds it, and later increases and impairment reversals are prohibited. PwC confirms these assets continue under ASC 350-30 (Viewpoint 2.4, 31 May 2025). You bought an NFT for $5,000 and its fair value at period end is $3,500:

Account	Debit	Credit
Impairment loss on digital assets	1,500
Digital assets: other		1,500

A recovery to $6,000 next quarter posts nothing until sale.

Entry 10: the IFRS entries

IFRS has no crypto-specific standard. The IFRS Interpretations Committee's agenda decision of June 2019 concluded that IAS 2 applies to cryptocurrencies held for sale in the ordinary course of business and IAS 38 to every other holding, that a cryptocurrency is neither cash nor a financial asset, and that broker-traders measure inventory at fair value less costs to sell (IAS 2 paragraph 3(b)).

Under IAS 38 the default is the cost model, shaped like Entry 9 except that IAS 36 allows an impairment reversal up to original cost (EY, Applying IFRS: accounting by holders of crypto assets, October 2021), which US GAAP forbids. The revaluation model needs an active market, a condition EY and KPMG (4 June 2026) both stress. When it applies, EY summarizes the split this way. The net increase over cost goes to the revaluation reserve through OCI, and a net decrease below cost goes to profit or loss.

Revaluation model, 1 BTC bought for $60,000 and quoted at $70,000:

Account	Debit	Credit
Digital assets: BTC	10,000
Revaluation surplus on digital assets (OCI)		10,000

A fall to $55,000 would release the $10,000 surplus first, then take the remaining $5,000 to profit or loss (IAS 38, paragraph 86, 2021 issued standards volume).

Broker-trader under IAS 2, same price move:

Account	Debit	Credit
Inventory: crypto	10,000
Gain on inventory at fair value (P&L)		10,000

Change in profit or loss. Only broker-traders qualify.

Summary: where the gain or loss goes

Event	Accounts hit	Where the gain or loss goes (US GAAP vs IFRS)
Buy with fiat	Digital assets, bank, fee expense (optional)	None at purchase
Customer pays in crypto	AR, revenue, digital assets	Revenue fixed at contract inception. Later moves: net income (US GAAP), asset rules (IFRS)
Pay vendor in crypto	AP, digital assets, realized gain or loss	Realized: net income (US GAAP), profit or loss (IFRS)
Gas fee	Fee expense, digital assets, realized gain or loss	Realized, as a vendor payment. Capitalizing is accepted
Token swap	Two digital asset accounts, realized gain or loss	Realized on the token given, both regimes
Staking reward	Digital assets, staking income	Income at fair value, both regimes
Stablecoin receipt or payment	Stablecoins, AR or AP	Usually nil. A de-peg is realized
Period-end remeasurement	Digital assets, unrealized gain or loss	Net income (ASC 350-60). IFRS: OCI for revaluation increases, otherwise profit or loss
Impairment (cost model)	Impairment loss, digital assets	Net income, no reversal (US GAAP). Profit or loss, reversible up to cost (IFRS)

The month-end tie-out

Every entry above produces a number an auditor can ask you to prove:

Units. Opening plus receipts minus disposals equals the closing on-chain balance per wallet and token, the wallet rollforward. It fails first when you did not book gas as a disposal.
Lots. Open lots at cost equal the asset accounts before remeasurement.
Realized versus unrealized. Realized equals proceeds minus released lots. Unrealized equals closing fair value minus carrying value, from one documented price source.
Ledger equals subledger. Xero, QuickBooks Online or Bexio balances match the subledger, and a transaction-level reconciliation explains any gap.

Our crypto month-end close checklist turns this into a routine.

What a subledger automates

One wallet and a few dozen lots are manageable by hand. Hundreds of small disposals a month, and entries that need reopening when a classification changes, are not. A crypto subledger takes the mechanical part. It pulls activity from 80+ blockchains and exchanges, tracks lots per wallet and token, and posts summarized entries to Xero, QuickBooks Online or Bexio. Breezing updates a journal entry in place instead of deleting and reposting it, closes a crypto-paid invoice natively with no clearing account, and accrues DeFi rewards. Unlimited wallets and users come with every tier, and pricing starts at $29 per month.

Quick answers

How do you record cryptocurrency in accounting?

Record each purchase or receipt in a dedicated digital asset account at fair value. Every time crypto leaves the wallet, credit the asset at carrying value and book the difference to a realized gain or loss. Period-end treatment depends on whether US GAAP or IFRS applies.

What is the journal entry for buying crypto?

Debit the digital asset account for the purchase price and credit bank. The exchange fee is either capitalized into the asset's cost or expensed, because ASU 2023-08 gives no rule on transaction costs. Under ASC 350-60 the period's income is the same either way after remeasurement.

How do you record a crypto payment received from a customer?

Recognize revenue when you issue the invoice, then debit the digital asset account and credit accounts receivable when the crypto lands, at fair value. Under ASC 606 revenue is fixed at contract inception, so a price move before payment is a gain or loss on the asset, not revenue.

What is the journal entry for staking rewards?

Debit the digital asset account and credit staking income for the fair value of the tokens received. No explicit US GAAP covers staking. KPMG's view is that validators measure rewards at fair value at contract inception, a date that varies by blockchain, with a new lot opening at that value.

How do you account for gas fees?

Paying gas spends a sliver of ETH or another native token, so it counts as a disposal. Credit the asset at carrying value, book the small realized gain or loss, and expense the fee. Some entities capitalize gas paid to acquire a token instead. Pick one policy and apply it consistently.

How does ASC 350-60 change the journal entries?

It adds a period-end remeasurement entry. In-scope crypto is carried at fair value and every change runs through net income. A price rise debits the asset and credits unrealized gains, and a fall does the reverse. Impairment-only entries disappear for those assets. It applies to fiscal years beginning after 15 December 2024.

How is crypto accounted for under IFRS?

An intangible asset under IAS 38, at cost less impairment or, where an active market exists, under the revaluation model with increases in OCI and decreases in profit or loss. Entities holding crypto for sale in the ordinary course apply IAS 2, and broker-traders measure it at fair value less costs to sell.

Do stablecoins get the same treatment as bitcoin?

Usually not under US GAAP. A stablecoin with an enforceable right to redeem for cash fails an ASC 350-60 scope criterion, so it is not remeasured there and may be a financial asset instead. Book it at face value in its own account. A gain or loss only appears on a de-peg.

Bottom line

Crypto journal entries are ordinary double-entry bookkeeping applied to an asset you dispose of far more often than a normal intangible. Get the chart of accounts right, treat every outflow as a disposal, remeasure in-scope holdings at period end under US GAAP, and keep stablecoins and out-of-scope assets on their own rules. The entries are simple. The volume is what is worth automating.

Sources

Accounting Standards Update No. 2023-08, Intangibles-Goodwill and Other-Crypto Assets, FASB, issued December 13, 2023, checked 2026-09-03: supports the ASC 350-60 scope criteria (350-60-15-1), the fair value remeasurement-through-net-income rule (350-60-35-1), the effective date and cumulative-effect transition (350-60-65-1), the separate-presentation rule (350-60-45-1 and 45-2), the Board's decision not to prescribe transaction cost accounting (paragraph BC36), and the prior cost-less-impairment model for indefinite-lived intangibles.
Heads Up: FASB Issues Final Standard on Crypto Assets, Deloitte, December 15, 2023, checked 2026-09-03: supports the ASU 2023-08 disclosure requirement (name, cost basis, fair value and units per significant holding, plus an annual rollforward).
Holdings of Cryptocurrencies, IFRS Interpretations Committee, IFRS Foundation, June 2019, checked 2026-09-03: supports the IAS 2 versus IAS 38 classification, the conclusion that a cryptocurrency is neither cash nor a financial asset, and the broker-trader fair-value-less-costs-to-sell treatment under IAS 2 paragraph 3(b).
IFRIC Update June 2019, IFRS Foundation, June 2019, checked 2026-09-03: companion web summary of the same agenda decision above.
2.4 Crypto assets accounted for in accordance with ASC 350-60, PwC Viewpoint, 31 May 2025, checked 2026-09-03: supports transaction cost capitalization on acquisition, the gain-or-loss-on-disposal formula for in-scope assets, and the continuation of out-of-scope holdings (NFTs, self-issued tokens) under ASC 350-30.
2.3 Disposal and derecognition of crypto assets not in scope of ASC 350-60, PwC Viewpoint, 31 May 2025, checked 2026-09-03: supports the cost-model gain-or-loss formula and the specific-identification, FIFO and LIFO cost-basis methods.
2.1 Initial recognition and measurement of crypto assets not in scope of ASC 350-60, PwC Viewpoint, 31 May 2025, checked 2026-09-03: supports the stablecoin financial-asset-versus-intangible classification test in section 2.1.2.
3.1 Receipt of crypto for goods and services, PwC Viewpoint, 15 August 2025, checked 2026-09-03: supports the ASC 606 noncash-consideration rule that crypto received from a customer is measured at fair value at contract inception, with later value changes excluded from revenue.
Digital assets: Accounting for staking activities, KPMG, August 2022, updated December 2024, checked 2026-09-03: supports the absence of explicit US GAAP on staking and the fair-value-at-contract-inception measurement of a validator's staking revenue.
Applying IFRS: Accounting by holders of crypto assets, EY, updated October 2021, checked 2026-09-03: supports the IAS 36 impairment-reversal-up-to-cost rule, the active-market condition for the IAS 38 revaluation model, and the OCI-versus-profit-or-loss split on revaluation.
Cryptoasset holdings, KPMG, June 4, 2026, checked 2026-09-03: supports the active-market condition for the IAS 38 revaluation model.
IAS 38 Intangible Assets, IFRS Foundation, 2021 issued standards volume, checked 2026-09-03: supports paragraphs 75, 85 and 86 on the revaluation model's active-market requirement and the OCI-then-profit-or-loss mechanics for revaluation increases and decreases.

Crypto accounting journal entries: how to record every common transaction