SEC rejects MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin accounting practices: report

Business intelligence firm MicroStrategy reportedly acted contrary to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s accounting practices for its crypto purchases.

According to a Bloomberg report, a comment letter from the SEC released Thursday showed the regulatory body objected to MicroStrategy reporting information related to its Bitcoin (BTC) purchases based on non-GAAP, or Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. The business intelligence firm has been reporting it used these methods of calculating figures for its BTC buys excluding the “impact of share-based compensation expense and impairment losses and gains on sale from intangible assets” — essentially, negating some of the effects of the volatility of the crypto market.

GAAP rules are seemingly not designed for reporting the value of cryptocurrencies. However, MicroStrategy has purchased 124,391 BTC as of Dec. 30, representing more than $4.7 billion in value across several buys totaling roughly $3.8 billion since August 2020. The company reported it used non-GAAP practices to exclude “cumulative impairment losses” from the cost and based the value of its holdings on the market price of 1 BTC at 4:00 EST on the last day of each period.

MicroStrategy said following a BTC purchase in July 2021 that it “believes that these non-GAAP financial measures are also useful to investors and analysts in comparing its performance across reporting periods on a consistent basis.” The SEC reportedly said MicroStrategy should “remove this adjustment in future filings.”

Related: MicroStrategy CEO won’t sell $5B BTC stash despite crypto winter

The report came as shares of MicroStrategy fell more than 17.8% in the last 24 hours to reach a six-month low price of $375. The drop may have been affected by BTC also falling to a six-month low as the crypto asset dipped under $38,000.