Accounting
President Donald Trump launched his own cryptocurrency, here’s what bankers need to know
Chip Somodevilla/Bloomberg
President Donald Trump ventured into the crypto-sphere with a new coin released shortly before his inauguration. Like all alt coins, it is subject to volatility and uncertainty. Here’s what bankers need to know, to aid their own decision making and to advise their customers.
It’s a meme coin
Featuring the now-iconic image of Trump raising his fist in the air following the failed assassination attempt over the summer, the new coins named TRUMP and MELANIA fall into the bucket typically called “meme coins,” meaning its value is tied to their personas and brand.
“The way I would describe it is they’re collectors’ items. That’s where people get involved: They get excited about the hype — the president has just been elected and they want to participate in any way they can,” said Rob Krugman, chief digital officer at Broadridge.
“One that I think you often come back to is Dogecoin, another meme coin, and that grew in value largely associated with celebrity, in that case, Elon Musk,” Krugman said.
The current venture is not backed by anything tangible, aside from the celebrity factor, meaning it has no inherent transactional or economic value. The coins are being sold on the Solana Blockchain network via Moonshot, an app that lets people buy meme coins in a variety of ways typical to online shopping: Apple Pay, credit and debit card, Paypal, Venmo and using other crypto currencies.
Seoyoung Kim, an associate professor of finance at USC, likened them to beanie babies.
“This is sort of like, where did the value of beanie babies come from? The meme coins are like your digital beanie babies,” Kim said, and they might have sustained popularity, or they might not.”
The coin’s website states it is “the only Official Trump Meme, by President Donald J. Trump.” The fine print further clarifies:
“Trump Memes are intended to function as an expression of support for, and engagement with, the ideals and beliefs embodied by the symbol ‘$TRUMP’ and the associated artwork, and are not intended to be, or to be the subject of, an investment opportunity, investment contract, or security of any type.”
The MELANIA coin provides a similar disclaimer, noting the coins are “digital collectables” that “are not intended to be, or to be the subject of, an investment opportunity, investment contract or security of any type.”
Think of these coins like concert tickets
Kim used concert tickets as an analogy for why someone may get involved.
“There’s only two legitimate reasons to buy a concert ticket: You really, really like the artist and you plan to use your concert ticket to gain entry into that performance, or you don’t care about the artist but you think that other people will care, and you think you’ll sell that to get at a higher price later,” Kim said.
“But it would be totally ridiculous if you said that you’re buying a concert ticket because you think Lady Gaga is innovative and you want profit participation,” she said.
The TRUMP and MELANIA coins are similar in that people may purchase them to show support for the president and they believe in him or because they believe other people will pay more for them down the line, but not because they expect to receive dividends from the Trump Organization’s businesses.
Currently, CIC Digital LLC, an affiliate of the Trump Organization, and a related firm managing the coin’s launch, Fight Fight Fight LLC, own about 80% of the tokens. The latter firm only recently incorporated and its ownership is unclear. In April, holders will be able to begin to sell off their share of the coins, which will continue to unlock over the next three years with 200 million tokens available immediately and ultimately at the end of the three-year period, 1 billion in circulation.
There’s potential future value
It’s unlikely, but it’s possible that the coins could evolve like Ether into a method of payment at places that accept it. Kim noted crypto has the ability to shift categories over time.
“ETH was always a utility token to transact on Ethereum, but it became so popular that people also accept it as currency, as a medium of exchange. So it has the ability to evolve,” she said.
Krugman agreed and likened it to Dogecoin.
“I see comparisons to Dogecoin,” Krugman said. “Dogecoin had a hype factor associated when it first came out and one of the interesting things that happened is as a result of that interest, you started to see utility be associated with that coin for things like payments, and now there’s a large community of developers that are essentially building on top of it and extending the underlying protocol so that people can do interesting things with it.”
The coin reached a market capitalization of over $10 billion on its first day, making it at that time, the second-largest meme coin by market capitalization, behind only Dogecoin. As of Monday, the market cap has dropped to about $5.3 billion.
“There’s a community of holders that are participating. The question becomes, where does that go? Does that become a utility use case? Is there a payment use case? Or is there another type of use case where people start building on top of it?” Krugman said.
Clients should wade in educated and clear eyed
Crypto can be extremely volatile – something already seen in the TRUMP rollout. The coin was put to market late at night on the Friday before his inauguration a week ago. It quickly soared in value, shooting from $6 to $75 in 36 hours, up more than 1100%. By last Tuesday morning, three and a half days later, it fell to below $40.
The coin is trading at around $27 as of Monday morning.
“Crypto mentality is still looking for a lottery-like payout,” Kim said. “And the lottery-like payout is only possible if you concentrate in one thing because if you’re widely diversified, you’re not just cutting off your downside, you’re cutting off your extreme upside as well. If, for example, you had just picked Tesla and everything is going well, then you now have a lottery-like upside where if you had been wisely diversified, you wouldn’t have the same kind of upside.”
A disclaimer on the website offering the president’s coin warns buyers the price “may be extremely volatile and you may experience substantial losses in connection with a sale or other disposition of Trump Memes.”
Most importantly, bankers should advise their clients to know what the coins are. Because the meme coins are tied to virality and cultural popularity, measures that are difficult to quantify, buyers can’t rely on traditional investor methods like reviewing balance sheets and income statements, or looking at trade flow and GDP growth as currency traders do.
“How do you make sure that the people who are buying it actually know what they’re buying? If it is a collectible, let’s make that clear to them. It’s a meme coin; there’s not an intrinsic use case associated with it right now, but that doesn’t mean there will not be a use case associated with it in the future,” Krugman said.
Broadridge, where Krugman serves as chief digital officer, recently released a product that aggregates all relevant information about crypto coins in one place as a solution to the issue.
“How do you ensure that people participating in the market have an understanding of what these assets are?” Krugman said, adding clients can then make decisions on what to buy from there. “No one’s suggesting that people should not be able to buy or sell these things, but how do you make sure that people have access to the appropriate information to make that informed decision?”
Jonathan Zeigler, managing principal at Baker Tilley, noted further regulation may bring clarity.
“Any potential buyer needs to make sure they really understand what they’re getting into, and that’s where further and more clear regulation could help,” Zeigler said. “What are the rules around marketing these? What are the rules around what disclosures need to be made to investors about the rents and the potential risks and things they need to understand?”
“Regulation, I think, will help increase investor confidence, and then just more kind of flows into it,” Zeigler said. “A big game changer last year was the approval of the spot ETFs for Bitcoin and Ethereum, that provided more investor confidence because now these are regulated just like any other ETF.”
What this signals for regulation
The coin’s launch is the latest sign that this is a crypto-friendly administration.
Even before taking office, Trump vowed to “be the crypto president” at a campaign fundraiser, and over the summer declared at a bitcoin conference in Nashville he would make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet.”
Trump
Zeigler said the crypto community has taken these steps to be positive signs.
“The crypto community believes it is good, because, not saying this was intentional, but the way that the regulations were being put out, or the enforcement actions were done previously, it created much higher barriers to entry, which, of course, could limit innovation. You had entities that were moving to offshore jurisdictions, because it was unclear what the regulatory environment was here,” Zeigler said.
“Trump has said, publicly, effectively, he wants the United States to be the crypto capital of the world. He wants the innovation to happen here; he wants the companies to be domiciled and registered here; and in order to incentivize them to do that, there has to be clear regulatory goals,” Zeigler said. “Once people know the rules of the game, they’ll be more willing to make a business decision asking, do we want to enter this space.”
The sentiment has also been reflected in the market: Before Monday’s drop, Bitcoin was up more than 50% since the November election. The cryptocurrency hit a record peak of $109,241 shortly before Trump’s inauguration ceremony.
Over the last few years, AI has gone from being a novelty to a mission-critical business strategy for many accountants. Innovative, forward-thinking firms are using these tools to streamline manual tasks, ensure compliance and provide the best possible service to their clients. According to the 2025 Intuit QuickBooks
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However, AI adoption is at varying levels across the industry. While nearly every firm has begun experimenting with basic AI tools, many remain in a sandbox phase, hesitant to move toward full-scale integration due to perceived complexity or costs.No matter where you may fall on the integration spectrum, the fact remains: AI is rapidly reshaping the accounting industry. If you’ve delayed AI adoption in your business, you’ll want to create a focused plan to catch up.
Time is of the essence, but don’t sacrifice strategy for speed
Firms that are ready to take the leap from casual use to deep integration may find themselves in need of accelerated adoption, but speed should not come at the cost of strategy. Identify tangible, practical ways that easy-to-use tools can impact your business through automation. Having a strong strategic focus allows firms to implement workflow changes to streamline manual tasks, ensure compliance and provide excellent service to your clients.
To begin your AI journey, here is a four-step plan that firms can use to transition from experimentation to execution, in a safe, practical manner:
Step 1: Kick off your first AI project
As is the case with many things, getting started is often the most challenging step. While enthusiasm is high, uncertainty with implementation risks can cause hesitation. The key is to lower risk by embracing AI and implementing an intentional, phased approach. Begin by weaving AI tools into high-impact, low-risk tasks, such as summarizing meeting notes, drafting client or firm-wide memos, or translating complex concepts into easy-to-understand ideas. Monitor results carefully and, if these initial attempts need adjustment, be prepared to pivot to the next use case until you can clearly demonstrate that AI systems are delivering a measurable impact on your operations. From there, you can learn from early experiences, adapt strategy, and scale appropriately to complete more complex projects.
Step 2: Dig into your AI toolkit
The marketplace is crowded with AI-powered tools that promise to do everything from enhancing your workflows to improving the customer experience. It can be hard to know which ones are worth investing your time and money. Find a trusted source like a respected peer, or leverage your professional network to help discuss the tools that may be the best fit for achieving your business goals. You can also look within the tools you’re already using to see if they offer AI-powered features, which can help ease into the transition. Additionally, look for free high-quality education to upskill your team. For example, Anthropic offers a Claude AI University that provides excellent foundational resources for moving beyond basic prompts.
Step 3: Review an AI security checklist
An important element in AI implementation is security. With AI tools needing access to firm and client data to function, it leads to questions of how the data will be protected. This makes the right AI and cybersecurity strategy critical. Firms must proactively ensure that client data remains protected from today’s increasingly sophisticated threats by embracing an established cybersecurity framework such as
Step 4: Openly discuss AI usage with your clients
Once you’ve established the best way to use AI tools that meet your firm’s needs, you’ll want to communicate all of the advantages afforded by these tools to your clients. Make sure you highlight the benefits and simultaneously ensure you are addressing any potential concerns. It’s also important to get explicit consent from all clients if you’re sharing their information with the third-party tools you may use. While this might seem like an extra step, it will go a long way toward fostering a greater level of transparency and deepen trust between you and your clients.
Don’t get left behind
Adopting AI does not have to be intimidating, expensive or overly complex. Think of it as a strategic business move that will not only keep you competitive, but will potentially free you up to focus on keeping clients happy and growing your practice. By strategically focusing on these best practices, identifying AI use cases in a phased approach, evaluating the right tools for your business, ensuring client information is secure and clearly communicating your AI strategy, you’ll be AI-ready in no time.
The Financial Accounting Standards Board met this week to discuss its projects on accounting for transfers of cryptocurrency assets and enhancing the disclosures around certain digital assets, such as stablecoins.
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During Wednesday’s meeting, FASB’s board made certain tentative decisions, according to a
At a future meeting, the board plans to consider clarifying the derecognition guidance for crypto transfer arrangements to assess whether the control of a crypto asset has been transferred.
FASB also began deliberations on the
The board decided to provide illustrative examples in Topic 230, Statement of Cash Flows, to clarify whether certain digital assets such as stablecoins can meet the definition of cash equivalents. It also decided to include the following concepts in the illustrative examples:
- Interpretive explanations that link to the current cash equivalents definition;
- The amount and composition of reserve assets; and,
- The nature of qualifying on-demand, contractual cash redemption rights directly with the issuer.
FASB plans to clarify that an entity should consider compliance with relevant laws and regulations when it’s creating a policy concerning which assets that satisfy the Master Glossary definition of the term “cash equivalents“ will be treated as cash equivalents.
“I agree with the staff suggestion to look at examples,” said FASB vice chair Hillary Salo. “From my perspective, I think that is going to help level the playing field. People have been making reasonable judgments. I agree with that. And I think that this is really going to help show those goalposts or guardrails of what types of stablecoins would be in the scope of cash equivalents, and which ones would not be in the scope of cash equivalents. I certainly appreciate that approach, and I think it has the least potential impact of unintended consequences, because I do agree with my fellow board members that we shouldn’t be changing the definition of cash equivalents, and it’s a high bar to get into the cash equivalent definition.”
“I’m definitely supportive of not changing the definition of cash equivalents,” said FASB chair Richard Jones. “I believe that’s settled GAAP in a way, and we’re not really seeing a call to change it for broader issues. I am supportive of the example-based approach. The challenge with examples, though, is everybody’s going to want their exact pattern, but that’s not what we’re doing.”
The examples will explain the rationale for how digital assets such as stablecoins do or do not qualify as cash equivalents and give a roadmap for other types of digital assets with varying fact patterns to be able to apply.
“We really don’t want to be as a board facing a situation where something was a cash equivalent and then no longer is at a later date,” said Jones. “That’s not good for anyone, so keeping it as a high bar with certain rigid criteria, I think, is fine.”
Stablecoins are supposed to be pegged to fiat currencies such as U.S. dollars and thus provide more stability to investors. “In my view, while a stablecoin may meet the accounting definition established for cash equivalents, not every one of those stablecoins in the cash equivalent classification represents the same level of risk,” said FASB member Joyce Joseph.
She noted that the capital markets recognize the distinctions and have established a Stablecoin Stability Assessment Framework to evaluate a stablecoin’s ability to maintain its peg to a fiat currency. Such assessments look at the legal and regulatory framework associated with the stablecoin, and provide investors with information that could enable them to do forward-looking assessments about the stability of the stablecoin.
“However, for an investor to consider and utilize such information for a company analysis the financial statement disclosures would need to include information about the stablecoin itself,” Joseph added. “In outreach, the staff learned that investors supported classifying certain stablecoins as cash equivalents when transparent information is available about the entities at which the reserve assets are held. Therefore, in my view, taking all of this into consideration a relevant and informative company disclosure would include providing investors with the name of the stablecoin and the amount of the stablecoin that is classified as a cash equivalent, so investors can independently assess the liquidity risks more meaningfully and more comprehensively by utilizing broader information that is available in the capital markets and its emerging information.”
Such information could include the issuer, reserves, governance and management, she noted, so investors would get a more holistic look at the risks that holding the stablecoin would entail for a given company.
The board decided to require all entities to disclose the significant classes and related amounts of cash equivalents on an annual basis for each period that a statement of financial position is presented.
Entities should apply the amendments related to the classification of certain digital assets as cash equivalents on a modified prospective basis as of the beginning of the annual reporting period in the year of adoption.
FASB decided that entities should apply the amendments related to the disclosure of the significant classes and amounts of cash equivalents on a prospective basis as of the date of the most recent statement of financial position presented in the period of adoption.
The board will allow early adoption in both interim and annual reporting periods in which financial statements have not been issued or made available for issuance.
FASB also decided to permit entities to adopt the amendments to be illustrated in the examples related to the classification of certain digital assets as cash equivalents without the need to perform a preferability assessment as described in Topic 250, Accounting Changes and Error Corrections.
The board directed the staff to draft a proposed accounting standards update to be voted on by written ballot. The proposed update will have a 90-day comment period.
Senators introduced several pieces of tax-related legislation this week, including measures aimed at improving customer service at the Internal Revenue Service, cracking down on tax evasion and curbing the carried interest tax break, in addition to efforts in the House to repeal the Corporate Transparency Act.
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Senators Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, and Mark Warner, D-Virginia, teamed up on introducing a bipartisan bill, the
The bill would establish a dashboard to inform taxpayers of backlogs and wait times; expand electronic access to information and refunds; expand callback technology and online accounts; and inform individuals facing economic hardship about collection alternatives.
“Taxpayers deserve a simple, stress-free experience when dealing with the IRS,” Cassidy said in a statement Wednesday. “This bill makes the process quicker and easier for taxpayers to get the information they need.”
He also mentioned the bill during a
“I’m happy to meet with the team … and do all I can to make it as good as you want it to be,” said Bisignano.
“My bill would equip the IRS with the legislative mandate to create an online dashboard so that taxpayers can monitor average call wait time and budget time accordingly,” said Cassidy. He noted that the bill would allow a callback for taxpayers that might need to wait longer than five minutes to speak to a representative, and establish a program to identify and support taxpayers struggling to make ends meet by providing information about alternative payment methods, such as installments, partial payments and offers in compromise.
“I know people are kind of desperate and don’t know where to turn for cash, so I think this could really ease anxiety,” he added. “This legislation is bipartisan and is likely to pass this Congress.”
Cassidy and Warner
“Taxpayers shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to get basic answers from the IRS — and in the last year, those challenges have only gotten worse,” Warner said in a statement. “I am glad to reintroduce this bipartisan legislation on Tax Day to ease some of this frustration by increasing clear communication and making IRS resources more readily available.”
Stop CHEATERS Act
Also on Tax Day, a group of Senate Democrats and an independent who usually caucuses with Democrats teamed up to introduce the Stop Corporations and High Earners from Avoiding Taxes and Enforce the Rules Strictly (Stop CHEATERS) Act.
Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, joined with Senators Angus King, I-Maine, Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island. The bill would provide additional funding for the IRS to strengthen and expand tax collection services and systems and crack down on tax cheating by the wealthy.
“Wealthy tax cheats and scofflaw corporations are stealing billions and billions from the American people by refusing to pay what they legally owe, and far too many of them are getting a free pass because Republicans gutted the enforcement capacity of the IRS,” Wyden said in a statement. “A rich tax cheat who shelters mountains of cash among a web of shell companies and passthroughs is likelier to be struck by lightning than face an IRS audit, and Republicans want to keep it that way. This bill is about making sure the IRS has the resources it needs to go after wealthy tax cheats while improving customer service for the vast majority of American taxpayers who follow the law every year.”
Earlier this week. Wyden also
The Stop CHEATERS Act would provide the IRS with additional funding for tax enforcement focused upon high-income tax evasion, technology operations support, systems modernization, and taxpayer services like free tax-payer assistance.
“As Congress seeks ways to fund much-needed policy priorities and address our growing national debt, there is one common sense solution that should have unanimous bipartisan support: let’s enforce the tax laws already on the books,” said King in a statement. “Our legislation will make sure the IRS has the resources it needs to confront the gap between taxes owed and taxes paid – while ensuring that our tax enforcement professionals are focused on the high-income earners who account for the most tax evasion. This is a serious problem with an easy solution; let’s pass this legislation and make sure every American pays what they owe in taxes.”
Carried interest
Wyden, King and Whitehouse also teamed up on another bill Thursday to close the carried interest tax break for hedge fund managers that
Carried interest is a form of compensation received by a fund manager in exchange for investment management services, according to a
Under the bill, the
“Our tax code is rigged to favor ultra-wealthy investors who know how to game the system to dodge paying a fair share, and there is no better example of how it works in practice than the carried interest loophole,” Wyden said in a statement. “For several decades now we’ve had a tax system that rewards the accumulation of wealth by the rich while punishing middle-class wage earners, and the effect of that system has been the strangulation of prosperity and opportunity for everybody but the ultra-wealthy. There are a lot of problems to fix to restore fairness and common sense to our tax code, and closing the carried interest loophole is a great place to start.”
Repealing Corporate Transparency Act
The House Financial Services Committee is also planning to markup a bill next Tuesday that would fully repeal the Corporate Transparency Act, which has already been significantly
If enacted, the repeal would eliminate beneficial ownership reporting requirements, removing a transparency measure designed to help law enforcement and national security officials identify who is behind U.S. companies.
“This repeal would turn the United States back into one of the easiest places in the world to set up anonymous shell companies, something Congress worked for years to fix,” said Erica Hanichak, deputy director of the FACT Coalition, in a statement. “These entities are routinely used to facilitate corruption, financial crime, and abuse. Rolling back the CTA doesn’t just weaken transparency, it signals to bad actors around the world that the U.S. is once again open for illicit business.”
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