US accounting overhaul could make stablecoins more attractive to corporations: Tempo

A new report from Stripe-backed blockchain Tempo argues that a proposed US accounting change could remove a major barrier to corporate stablecoin adoption by allowing qualifying tokens to be classified as cash equivalents on company balance sheets.

The report examines an Accounting Standards Update the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) proposed in August that could make stablecoins more practical for corporate treasury operations. Under current accounting practices, stablecoin holdings may not count toward a company’s reported cash reserves, affecting liquidity ratios and loan covenants even when the tokens are fully backed by dollars.

The proposed change could let companies use stablecoins for payments and settlements without those accounting complications.

According to Tempo, the FASB proposal would require companies to have direct redemption rights with stablecoin issuers. For example, buying USDC through an exchange would not necessarily let a company classify those tokens as cash equivalents.

Tempo cites Coinbase, which classified USDC and other payment stablecoins as cash equivalents in its 2025 annual report, supported by its redemption arrangement with Circle.

“Your contract with the issuer is what qualifies, and the token alone doesn’t get you there,” Tempo said.