Fair Value

Definition

Fair value is the price at which an asset could be exchanged between informed parties in a market transaction. FASB ASU 2023-08, adopted by many companies in 2025, allows US companies to mark their Bitcoin holdings to fair value, recognizing both gains and losses in the income statement. This contrasts with the previous standard, which only allowed losses (impairment) to be recorded. Fair value adoption makes it easier to compare a treasury company's BTC NAV against its market capitalization.