MicroStrategy wanted bitcoin rule change — not billions in tax bills
For years, MicroStrategy (MSTR) founder Michael Saylor has been complaining that regulators have been unfairly forcing him to undervalue bitcoin (BTC) as a corporate asset. As of January 1, 2025, he got his wish — and might have created an unexpected, multi-billion dollar tax bill in the process. Prior to 2025, Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (FASB) reporting standards for Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings classified MicroStrategy’s BTC as an “indefinite-lived intangible asset.” This designation required MicroStrategy, as a public company, to permanently mark down the value of its BTC when it declined in USD price. Permanently marked down, the company could never mark up the value again, unless it actually sold the asset. Saylor decried this unfair treatment, claiming it was lunacy to not be able to report a gain after a markdown even as BTC’s price rebounded . Saylor fought for an ostensibly BTC-friendly change to FASB acco...