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< Intro >

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– Welcome back to Count Me In.

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The podcast about all things affecting

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the accounting and finance world.

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In today's episode we explore
the world of crypto accounting

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with Matt Druckman, currently,

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the Vice President of Business
Development at Soft Ledger.

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A company focused on helping
companies get their data faster.

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Despite the existence of
non-authoritative guidance,

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there is still no clear framework
for crypto accounting.

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The lack of clarity is due to the,

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constantly, evolving nature 
of digital assets.

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Which are not easily categorized

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within traditional accounting practices.

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Join us as we navigate the
Wild West of crypto accounting

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and discuss best practices
for accounting,

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in this rapidly changing field.

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< Music >

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Matt, thank you so much for coming

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on the Count Me In podcast today.

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I'm really excited to be talking
to you about crypto accounting.

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And, as everybody knows, Bitcoin 
has been around since 2008.

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But when you look at the
authoritative guidance

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there is none, it feels like the Wild West.

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And maybe, as an expert in the field,

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you can talk a little bit
about what it looks like

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to be in the crypto accounting space.

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– Great, thanks so much
for having me on, Adam.

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Happy to get into this a little bit with you.

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You're exactly right, there is not

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authoritative guidance, yet, on the topic.

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What we have is
non-authoritative guidance.

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We have this framework of
best practices and opinions,

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that have been pulled together
that folks are following.

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There's a really good practice aid
that the AICPA put out on accounting

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and auditing digital assets, and 
that's proven to be very helpful.

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But there is not this authoritative

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framework for people to follow.

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So everyone's still figuring this out

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and the nature of crypto,
and digital assets,

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and their evolution is
it's this breakneck pace.

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Things are changing 
on a daily, weekly, basis.

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So there's, definitely, a need
and an increased vocalization

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to have this guidance in place.

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And it does look like the FASB

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is really starting to take 
a harder look at this,

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we'll probably get into it a little bit later.

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but there's been some momentum,

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recently, specifically, in October,

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but right now it's still early days.

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– So when we think about accounting.

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It's been the same since the 15th century,

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when the first accountants 
came into place

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and they were writing their entries.

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The accounting has pretty
much been the same at its core.

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And when you look at digital assets,

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they don't really fit that core.

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And, so, what does that look like,
especially, prior to this FASB vote

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that happened in October of 2022?

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– Yes, it's a great point.

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And, so, you have this new asset class,

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digital assets, come into play here,

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and we need to figure out
a way to account for them.

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And, I think, that's where some of this

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complexity has really arisen, is trying 
to figure out where to put these.

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And then once you put them there,

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what guidance are we following?

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And there, probably, isn't a one-size-fits-all

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and that's what's happened.

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And, so, currently, or prior to this vote,

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digital assets, for the most part,

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were treated as intangible assets,

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and following the guidance
within ASC 350.

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And, so, as a result, 
you also need to follow

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the impairment guidance that exists,

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and it doesn't quite match up
with the economics

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of what's taking place
with a lot of these assets.

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Where you have these
very active markets,

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readily available prices.

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And, so, the idea of marking down 
an asset, impairing an asset,

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when there is an event,
which would theoretically

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be anytime the price drops below cost.

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You're never going to be 
able to write that backup.

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And that just doesn't quite make sense,

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in terms of how people
are viewing these assets,

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and how they're using them,

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and they're leading to
some very material impacts

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on financial statements.

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And, so, that in and of
itself is an area that people

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have been very vocal about,

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and trying to take a better look
at how these should be classified

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and updating how we're
accounting for them.

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– So, Matt, are there any 
more complexities

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that accountants have to be aware of,

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as they're really getting into the nuts

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and bolts of this accounting?

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– Yes, the cost basis piece
is definitely a tricky one

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that we've addressed, and that 
can present a lot of issues,

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especially, with higher volumes.

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But another one that should be known

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is just the accessing and 
making sense of your data.

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It sounds like something
that should be so simple.

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You have this series of transactions

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that are taking place on an exchange,

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or within a wallet, or on a blockchain.

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And you're just assuming that you 
can pull that data down, easily,

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and it's all going to make sense,

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and everything's going to be nicely
categorized and classified

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the way you want to see it.

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And that's really just not the case,
at least, not in all cases,

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some have better data 
outputs than others.

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But, especially, as you start to get 
into more complex transactions

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and, maybe, you're getting more involved
in DFI's, or dealing with NFTs,

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or just different less-plain
vanilla transactions, if you will.

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Being able to make sense of the 
data that you're pulling down,

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and tag that properly, and ensure that

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that's going to be getting into the system

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in a way that you want to report on it.

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It can be a bit manual.

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There could be a process
that needs to take place,

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to make sure that you're
properly categorizing everything

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and getting it into the system.

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It's not just going to pop out of 
an exchange or another data source,

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and everything's going to 
be nice and neat.

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So I think that going into it,

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knowing that there's going to
need to be some work there

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and probably some processes
that need to be ironed out.

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Certainly, if you have 
maybe a little bit more

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of a sophisticated operation,
and you're capable of putting

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a business logic layer on top of that data

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before it gets into your platform.

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A system like ours, like Soft Ledger,
that's programmable via API,

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that's one way that data 
could be ingested.

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So there are some things
to help automate that

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and smooth that process,
but it can be a bit manual.

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I would think that in the future,
as there's more regulation

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and more of an impetus 
to standardize data.

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That should improve, and maybe 
there'll just be better tools,

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if nothing else, to help scrape that data

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and give you what you need, but 
just something to be aware of.

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And, so, I guess, when we're talking 
about what crypto accounting

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or accounting for digital assets,

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at the end of the day, it's still accounting.

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You're still going to be 
booking debits and credits.

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The complexities, a lot of them

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lie in the fact that there are
a lot of new terms.

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There are new terms being used
that we're not familiar with.

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People are learning about blockchains,
and NFTs, and DFI protocols.

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And what it really comes down 
to is getting more familiar with

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what's really taking place 
with these transactions.

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Understanding the nature 
of these transactions.

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How they, ultimately, need to 
be classified and presented.

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And I think that, on top of that, there's just

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the inherent complexities

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that come with dealing
with a volatile asset

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and high volumes of transactions,

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if that's the case for your business.

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That are going to present 
some difficulties and, thankfully, 

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there are systems out there 
that are specifically designed 

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to help automate some of 
these processes, and remove

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some of the manual, cumbersome, 
elements that come with needing

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to track and calculate cost basis.

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But, ultimately, we are still 
accounting for assets

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in the way that we are familiar with.

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– So do you think that this FASB vote

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will help bring us towards some guidance

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or something to help accountants,
in organizations, get to a place

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where they can set that value properly?

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– Yes, it really looks like things 
are moving in the right direction

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and these things are never fast.

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But just based on when this was taken up,

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in May, and where we are right now.

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On October 12th, the FASB voted 
to start treating these

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 under the guidance of 
Fair Value at ASC 820.

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So rather than as intangibles where 
you're impairing these assets,

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you'd be marking to market.

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And, so, of course, this isn't 
going to cover all digital assets.

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Initially, it was thought that

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maybe this would just
be Bitcoin and Ethereum,

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but it looks like it's going to
be broader than that.

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And, I think, that this is really welcome,

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and more in line with how people

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are viewing and using these assets.

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– So as people are continuing 
to use these assets,

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it makes me think of
your typical ERP system.

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It doesn't seem like those ERP systems

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were created with the ability to support

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these types of assets 
because of the volatility.

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I know in our talks, before this, we were
talking about how, sometimes,

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you have to go to eight decimal
points with cryptocurrencies.

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How are major organizations 
handling that?

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– Yes, it's a great question, and 
there's a software component

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and then there's just a human 
capital component, as well.

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I mean, this is all new, for the most part.

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I know it's been 14 years or whatnot,

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as we said at the beginning.

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But still, in terms of where things are

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from an adoption standpoint,
and from just an experience

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and exposure standpoint, for a lot 
of accountants, it's very early.

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So you have that component.

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You also have the fact that
a lot of these crypto businesses,

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they're very early stage.

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They're not going to have, in many cases,

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an accounting or finance department.

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Let alone one that's filled with
experienced, X big-four, auditors.

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So there's a lot that is still up
and coming on that front.

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But from an ERP and system
perspective, yes,  you're exactly right.

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These systems weren't designed
to handle digital assets.

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This technology, these assets, didn't exist

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when these systems were created.

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And, so, you can bump into these issues.

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The first one being that 
you're going to need

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to have a separate, call it crypto tool,

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to track your crypto activity

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and then integrate that with a system

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that wasn't specifically
designed to handle crypto.

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So there are issues that are going to exist

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within that ERP, such as 
we refer to coin support.

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Are they going to be able to represent

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that specific asset in the system properly?

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To your point, on decimal precision,
a lot of these assets you need

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to be able to go out eight decimal points.

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Is that going to be a problem in a system

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that wasn't designed
to handle digital assets?

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So there are a few points in the process

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where things can break down
and necessitate work-arounds.

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Chief among them is needing
to have this integration

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between a crypto tool and an ERP system,

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and that's something that
we, specifically, address,

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in the fact that at Soft Ledger,

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we are a full-featured,
cloud accounting platform,

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but we're also crypto native.

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And, so, for us, it's a sub-ledger
and we don't suffer from issues

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with coin support or decimal precision.

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Everything's neatly stitched
together in one system.

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So you have this very controlled

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and auditable way, to go
from crypto transaction

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to financial statement impact.

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– Do you think that there is a gap 
in knowledge within the accounting

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and finance team, within organizations?

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Is there a gap in the competencies

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that they're missing in 
understanding what crypto is?

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And I even think back to even colleges,

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are colleges catching up to training

245
00:11:13,209 --> 00:11:14,850
the next level of accountants

246
00:11:14,850 --> 00:11:17,828
so that they can be in this world
where crypto is a thing?

247
00:11:17,828 --> 00:11:22,162
– Yes, absolutely, I think
that any gaps, really,

248
00:11:22,162 --> 00:11:23,880
they're resulting from a couple of things.

249
00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:27,600
It's the fact that, again, this
is new but more important,

250
00:11:27,600 --> 00:11:28,620
coming back to what we were discussing,

251
00:11:28,620 --> 00:11:30,470
at the beginning of the show,

252
00:11:30,470 --> 00:11:33,161
that authoritative guidance 
doesn't exist, yet.

253
00:11:33,161 --> 00:11:36,240
So I think that once we get 
this hammered out,

254
00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:37,995
then it's going to become a lot easier

255
00:11:37,995 --> 00:11:41,880
to really embed this into the accounting

256
00:11:41,880 --> 00:11:43,210
curriculum that's taking place.

257
00:11:43,210 --> 00:11:45,510
But this is absolutely something
that's being discussed,

258
00:11:45,510 --> 00:11:48,639
at this point, because it's here

259
00:11:48,639 --> 00:11:51,120
and it's on corporate balance sheets,

260
00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:54,580
and it's going to continue
to be an asset class.

261
00:11:54,580 --> 00:11:57,828
It's going to change, I'm sure,
and some of the digital assets

262
00:11:57,850 --> 00:11:59,459
we're talking about won't be around.

263
00:11:59,459 --> 00:12:01,661
But as a whole, this technology,

264
00:12:01,661 --> 00:12:03,610
this is going to be a part of our future

265
00:12:03,610 --> 00:12:06,180
and we're going to need to be 
spending the time

266
00:12:06,180 --> 00:12:09,300
educating people on how
to properly account for it.

267
00:12:09,300 --> 00:12:10,839
– So it's almost like we need to educate

268
00:12:10,839 --> 00:12:12,230
our accounting and finance team,

269
00:12:12,230 --> 00:12:14,994
but also find partners such as Soft Ledger

270
00:12:14,994 --> 00:12:17,639
or other crypto accounting softwares,

271
00:12:17,639 --> 00:12:19,270
that can help your accounting team

272
00:12:19,270 --> 00:12:21,661
get to a place where 
they're able to do this.

273
00:12:21,661 --> 00:12:24,828
– Right, there's plenty that's been written,

274
00:12:24,828 --> 00:12:27,161
but there's much more to come.

275
00:12:27,161 --> 00:12:29,828
And I think that having
these conversations,

276
00:12:29,828 --> 00:12:33,161
having the platforms in place,
is certainly a really helpful piece

277
00:12:33,161 --> 00:12:38,161
because there are just inherent
complexities beyond just the guidance.

278
00:12:38,161 --> 00:12:41,420
Issues we've discussed with
actually tracking and accounting

279
00:12:41,420 --> 00:12:44,389
for these assets that present themselves,

280
00:12:44,389 --> 00:12:47,870
that can be really quite cumbersome.

281
00:12:47,870 --> 00:12:51,920
So I think that having 
not only the coursework

282
00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:53,661
and bringing this into the classroom,

283
00:12:53,661 --> 00:12:56,260
and having well-developed guidance,

284
00:12:56,260 --> 00:12:58,560
but there's just going to be 
this need to continue

285
00:12:58,560 --> 00:13:02,161
to have these other forums
and places for people to go

286
00:13:02,161 --> 00:13:04,661
and learn about this 
ever-changing landscape.

287
00:13:04,661 --> 00:13:08,149
Because that is really one
of the other real tricks to it all,

288
00:13:08,149 --> 00:13:11,900
is that a transaction that exists this week,

289
00:13:11,900 --> 00:13:15,161
that's novel, that's not going to
be so novel next week, perhaps,

290
00:13:15,161 --> 00:13:17,980
it's just a really evolving space.

291
00:13:17,980 --> 00:13:21,070
And keeping up with the
different types of transactions.

292
00:13:21,070 --> 00:13:23,990
and understanding what
the nature of those transactions are.

293
00:13:23,990 --> 00:13:26,250
and how to properly treat them,

294
00:13:26,250 --> 00:13:29,589
it's something that you need 
to stay on top of.

295
00:13:29,589 --> 00:13:31,370
– So as you work with accountants

296
00:13:31,370 --> 00:13:34,360
and accounting teams, 
in your organization.

297
00:13:34,360 --> 00:13:35,740
What are some of the bigger pain points

298
00:13:35,740 --> 00:13:37,190
that you're seeing that they're having,

299
00:13:37,190 --> 00:13:38,190
as they're trying to work through

300
00:13:38,190 --> 00:13:40,160
these different issues 
we've been discussing?

301
00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:43,160
– Yes, it's a great question.

302
00:13:43,160 --> 00:13:45,509
A pain point that, consistently, comes up

303
00:13:45,509 --> 00:13:48,899
is tracking and calculating cost basis.

304
00:13:48,899 --> 00:13:51,300
That is something that is always difficult,

305
00:13:51,300 --> 00:13:54,327
especially, at higher volumes,
depending on your operation.

306
00:13:54,327 --> 00:13:56,660
Once you start to have any volume,

307
00:13:56,660 --> 00:14:00,519
keeping track of all of
your cost layers, in Excel,

308
00:14:00,519 --> 00:14:03,680
can start to become quite cumbersome.

309
00:14:03,680 --> 00:14:07,993
High volume combined
with a volatile asset class,

310
00:14:07,993 --> 00:14:12,827
constantly, fluctuating prices, it can 
really lead to a nightmarish situation

311
00:14:12,950 --> 00:14:14,440
when it comes to actually determining

312
00:14:14,440 --> 00:14:16,660
what the cost basis is
on a given transaction,

313
00:14:16,660 --> 00:14:20,649
so that you can appropriately
calculate a gain or a loss.

314
00:14:20,649 --> 00:14:24,660
So, at a certain point, and that 
point usually arrives pretty quickly.

315
00:14:24,740 --> 00:14:26,639
You're going to need a system

316
00:14:26,639 --> 00:14:29,493
that's going to enable you
to do that properly,

317
00:14:29,493 --> 00:14:33,327
and relieve that component from
the accountant's day-to-day

318
00:14:33,327 --> 00:14:36,160
because it really is a 
cumbersome process.

319
00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:40,260
And, so, from a calculating
your cost basis perspective,

320
00:14:40,260 --> 00:14:42,630
according to the practice 
aid I mentioned earlier.

321
00:14:42,630 --> 00:14:44,389
You're going to want to use a reasonable

322
00:14:44,389 --> 00:14:47,579
and rational method is what
they refer to as the cost method

323
00:14:47,579 --> 00:14:49,220
that should be selected.

324
00:14:49,220 --> 00:14:51,589
FIFO is what we see most commonly

325
00:14:51,589 --> 00:14:55,326
and that is considered a 
reasonable and rational method,

326
00:14:55,326 --> 00:14:57,826
and that would be what 
you would be using

327
00:14:57,826 --> 00:15:02,279
to calculate the cost basis
on a given transaction.

328
00:15:02,279 --> 00:15:04,660
Other methods we do hear about,

329
00:15:04,660 --> 00:15:06,826
and there's definitely a number of folks

330
00:15:06,826 --> 00:15:09,220
that are interested in weighted average.

331
00:15:09,220 --> 00:15:11,160
We certainly hear people discuss LIFO

332
00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:14,326
and sometimes HIFO — 
Highest-In, First-Out.

333
00:15:14,326 --> 00:15:17,993
There are clearly some tax 
advantage reasons behind that

334
00:15:17,993 --> 00:15:20,120
 but the guide, and the 
current best practices

335
00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:21,910
to use a reasonable and rational method

336
00:15:21,910 --> 00:15:24,326
and FIFO seems to check that box.

337
00:15:24,326 --> 00:15:26,160
Another complexity that can, sometimes,

338
00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:29,009
arrive is just finding the principal market

339
00:15:29,009 --> 00:15:33,326
in terms of pricing information
and that's not a difficult thing

340
00:15:33,326 --> 00:15:35,399
when you're talking about BTC or ETH,

341
00:15:35,399 --> 00:15:38,110
or some of these high-volume assets.

342
00:15:38,110 --> 00:15:41,326
But more thinly traded assets, it can 
be maybe more challenging

343
00:15:41,326 --> 00:15:43,009
to identify that principal market

344
00:15:43,009 --> 00:15:45,750
in terms of identifying pricing information.

345
00:15:45,750 --> 00:15:48,230
– It seems like that this market

346
00:15:48,230 --> 00:15:50,826
with cryptocurrency 
and crypto accounting,

347
00:15:50,826 --> 00:15:52,482
especially, when it comes 
to an organization

348
00:15:52,482 --> 00:15:55,659
and it comes to your assets,
it's a very volatile market.

349
00:15:55,659 --> 00:15:57,659
You can just look at the Dogecoin

350
00:15:57,659 --> 00:16:00,826
how it had a huge rise 
and then a huge fall.

351
00:16:00,826 --> 00:16:02,810
What advice would you 
give to organizations,

352
00:16:02,810 --> 00:16:04,540
as they're looking to get into this

353
00:16:04,540 --> 00:16:06,230
and they're wading these waters?

354
00:16:06,230 --> 00:16:09,659
Are there questions that they 
should be asking themselves 

355
00:16:09,659 --> 00:16:12,159
and their teams, they should 
be asking themselves 

356
00:16:12,159 --> 00:16:16,560
and their stakeholders 
before they get into this.

357
00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:21,659
– Yes, absolutely, I mean, certainly,
having the infrastructure in place

358
00:16:21,659 --> 00:16:23,510
to be able to handle the accounting.

359
00:16:23,510 --> 00:16:26,920
Whether that's having the right
individuals on your staff

360
00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:31,440
or finding the right partners
to outsource the accounting to.

361
00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:33,089
That's going to be critical
because there, certainly,

362
00:16:33,089 --> 00:16:35,769
are firms that do have the experience

363
00:16:35,769 --> 00:16:38,326
that would be able to 
properly support that.

364
00:16:38,326 --> 00:16:39,826
Understanding these assets.

365
00:16:39,826 --> 00:16:43,659
Understanding the nature of the
transactions that are taking place,

366
00:16:43,659 --> 00:16:47,659
but also what's underlying
these different assets.

367
00:16:47,659 --> 00:16:49,492
What are the technologies involved

368
00:16:49,492 --> 00:16:53,325
and getting a better understanding
of what they really are.

369
00:16:53,325 --> 00:16:57,492
Versus just the speculative
nature of investing

370
00:16:57,492 --> 00:17:01,492
in a specific coin or token, that's 
definitely going to be critical.

371
00:17:01,492 --> 00:17:03,540
But then also, as we were discussing,

372
00:17:03,540 --> 00:17:04,825
having a system in place.

373
00:17:04,825 --> 00:17:08,270
If you're just dipping your toe 
in the water here,

374
00:17:08,270 --> 00:17:10,690
and it's going to be really
low in transaction volume

375
00:17:10,690 --> 00:17:12,492
and maybe it's just an initial investment.

376
00:17:12,492 --> 00:17:16,010
Then perhaps a system
isn't quite necessary, yet.

377
00:17:16,010 --> 00:17:18,992
But if this is going to become
a part of your operation,

378
00:17:19,120 --> 00:17:20,880
you're going to want to
invest in a technology

379
00:17:20,880 --> 00:17:22,419
that's going to ensure that you are

380
00:17:22,419 --> 00:17:25,149
properly accounting 
for these transactions.

381
00:17:25,149 --> 00:17:26,992
– So as it becomes much more common,

382
00:17:26,992 --> 00:17:30,825
I go back to us talking about
somebody just getting into this.

383
00:17:30,825 --> 00:17:32,658
They're "Oh, I just have a few transactions.

384
00:17:32,658 --> 00:17:35,100
I don't need to look into anything too big

385
00:17:35,100 --> 00:17:37,390
because we're just doing
one or two transactions."

386
00:17:37,390 --> 00:17:38,570
But if you're saying it's going to

387
00:17:38,570 --> 00:17:40,330
become more common,
does that mean that

388
00:17:40,330 --> 00:17:42,492
it could ramp up very
quickly for those people?

389
00:17:42,492 --> 00:17:44,410
– Yes, and that's a great point.

390
00:17:44,410 --> 00:17:46,059
And that's something that we do hear

391
00:17:46,059 --> 00:17:50,158
when we're speaking to prospective
customers and other companies.

392
00:17:50,310 --> 00:17:54,658
It doesn't take much volume for 
complexity to really ratchet up.

393
00:17:54,730 --> 00:17:57,130
So while you might be fine in Excel,

394
00:17:57,130 --> 00:17:59,270
for a little while, if you're planning on

395
00:17:59,270 --> 00:18:01,270
staying involved with digital assets

396
00:18:01,270 --> 00:18:03,330
and they're going to
become an increasingly

397
00:18:03,330 --> 00:18:05,140
more important part of your business.

398
00:18:05,140 --> 00:18:08,270
It definitely makes sense to start
thinking about a solution

399
00:18:08,270 --> 00:18:11,409
that's going to allow you to properly track

400
00:18:11,409 --> 00:18:13,991
and account for those assets
in an automated way.

401
00:18:13,991 --> 00:18:17,799
And Excel is a great tool,
you can take Excel really far,

402
00:18:17,799 --> 00:18:20,630
but you're still going to have
the opportunity for manual error.

403
00:18:20,630 --> 00:18:25,130
And, so, something purpose-built is
definitely worth the investment.

404
00:18:25,130 --> 00:18:26,799
– So looking into the crystal ball,

405
00:18:26,799 --> 00:18:28,309
trying to look into the future.

406
00:18:28,309 --> 00:18:30,919
There's been tons of futuristic movies

407
00:18:30,919 --> 00:18:34,158
where "I'll give you 50,000 credits for that."

408
00:18:34,158 --> 00:18:37,658
Those kinds of things, there's so 
much volatility in this market.

409
00:18:37,658 --> 00:18:38,880
Where do you see things going

410
00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:42,149
as we look into the 
next five, 10, 15, 20 years?

411
00:18:42,149 --> 00:18:44,320
– Yes, it's an interesting question.

412
00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:46,991
As I said earlier, I believe 
crypto is here to stay,

413
00:18:46,991 --> 00:18:49,210
and it's going to evolve.

414
00:18:49,210 --> 00:18:50,919
It's going to, probably, look different.

415
00:18:50,919 --> 00:18:53,020
There are going to be assets
that are going to go away,

416
00:18:53,020 --> 00:18:56,158
new assets that we haven't 
thought of, yet, but it's here to stay.

417
00:18:56,200 --> 00:19:00,740
And I think that people are looking to,

418
00:19:00,740 --> 00:19:03,158
with this type of technology,
one of the interesting facets

419
00:19:03,320 --> 00:19:07,100
is that you're cutting out the
middleman in a lot of ways.

420
00:19:07,100 --> 00:19:10,180
You're speeding up
the pace of the transaction.

421
00:19:10,180 --> 00:19:12,590
You have this decentralized concept.

422
00:19:12,590 --> 00:19:15,260
But, really, most people that are serious

423
00:19:15,260 --> 00:19:18,824
about crypto are looking for regulation.

424
00:19:18,824 --> 00:19:21,580
That's something that
really needs to happen

425
00:19:21,580 --> 00:19:24,658
so that there is wider adoption.

426
00:19:24,658 --> 00:19:27,658
Once there is regulation in place,

427
00:19:27,658 --> 00:19:29,870
then people are going to
become more comfortable

428
00:19:29,870 --> 00:19:31,940
getting involved due to the protections

429
00:19:31,940 --> 00:19:34,324
that are afforded by having regulation.

430
00:19:34,324 --> 00:19:37,657
And, so, I think that we're going to 
get there on the regulation piece,

431
00:19:37,657 --> 00:19:40,324
and that's going to 
really increase adoption.

432
00:19:40,324 --> 00:19:43,039
And, so, with that is going to
just become this need

433
00:19:43,039 --> 00:19:47,299
to have better processes
and systems in place.

434
00:19:47,299 --> 00:19:49,880
To ensure that you're properly
accounting for these assets,

435
00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:52,824
which are going to become 
much more common

436
00:19:52,824 --> 00:19:54,890
on companies' balance sheets.

437
00:19:54,890 --> 00:19:55,909
– So what advice do you have

438
00:19:55,909 --> 00:19:58,289
for accounting and finance teams?

439
00:19:58,289 --> 00:20:00,657
Accounting and finance professionals,
listening to this podcast,

440
00:20:00,710 --> 00:20:01,710
they're like, "That's great, Matt,

441
00:20:01,710 --> 00:20:04,299
you've given me some
great insight and inputs.

442
00:20:04,299 --> 00:20:05,991
What's next?
What next step

443
00:20:05,991 --> 00:20:07,970
should I take so that I can be prepared

444
00:20:07,970 --> 00:20:10,490
for the coming wave
of crypto accounting?"

445
00:20:10,490 --> 00:20:15,157
– Yes, I think, just trying to learn 
as much as possible.

446
00:20:15,157 --> 00:20:20,120
Keep reading, articles are being
put out on a daily basis.

447
00:20:20,120 --> 00:20:22,150
There's podcasts like this.

448
00:20:22,150 --> 00:20:24,824
There's no shortage of people
that are speaking about it,

449
00:20:24,824 --> 00:20:27,100
just continue to take in the information.

450
00:20:27,100 --> 00:20:29,080
If this is already a part of your operation

451
00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:31,657
and you don't have a 
proper system in place,

452
00:20:31,657 --> 00:20:34,157
start doing some investigative work there

453
00:20:34,157 --> 00:20:37,324
and feel free to go to our site
and take a look at what we have.

454
00:20:37,390 --> 00:20:40,789
I'd be happy to have 
conversations with folks as well.

455
00:20:40,789 --> 00:20:43,490
Like I said, this is something
that's going to be with us,

456
00:20:43,490 --> 00:20:47,940
and education is really critical
in proper adoption here.

457
00:20:47,940 --> 00:20:49,370
– I agree, and we'll put some links

458
00:20:49,370 --> 00:20:51,549
in the show notes for today's episode.

459
00:20:51,549 --> 00:20:53,110
So if you want to take 
a look at some things

460
00:20:53,110 --> 00:20:55,280
that Matt talked about and other things,

461
00:20:55,280 --> 00:20:56,990
please take a look at those show notes.

462
00:20:56,990 --> 00:20:59,490
Matt, thank you so much for
coming on the podcast today.

463
00:20:59,490 --> 00:21:01,323
– Thanks for having me,
Adam, I really enjoyed it.

464
00:21:01,323 --> 00:21:03,490
< Outro >

465
00:21:03,490 --> 00:21:04,990
– This has been Count Me In,

466
00:21:04,990 --> 00:21:08,157
IMA's podcast, providing you 
with the latest perspectives

467
00:21:08,157 --> 00:21:10,990
 of thought leaders from the 
accounting and finance profession.

468
00:21:10,990 --> 00:21:13,490
If you like what you heard
and you'd like to be counted in,

469
00:21:13,490 --> 00:21:16,157
for more relevant accounting
and finance education,

470
00:21:16,157 --> 00:21:25,990
visit IMA's website at www.imanet.org.