Stablecoins are a rapidly evolving subcategory of cryptocurrency that aim to reduce the price fluctuations of traditional cryptocurrencies and thus become a common digital payment instrument. This paper aims to assess the material substance of fiat-backed stablecoins to determine whether fiat-backed stablecoins could be considered, in accordance with IFRS, as cash or cash equivalents. We chose 11 fiat-backed stablecoins representing 99.97% of the total market capitalisation of all fiat-backed stablecoins. Using a three-step approach, we performed an analysis of the legal and general terms and conditions of the selected stablecoins and of cryptocurrency exchanges, and quantitatively analysed their risk characteristics in comparison with fiat currency pairs, money market indexes and instruments, and traditional cryptocurrencies. The results show that nine of the 11 stablecoins met the objective requirements of cash equivalents according to their material substance and, using an extensive interpretation of IAS 7, could be reported as cash equivalents. This study enhances understanding of the material substance of fiat-backed stablecoins for their financial reporting and can be used by entities when creating accounting policies under existing IFRS rules and by accounting standard setters as evidence when formulating new rules or officially interpreting existing ones to provide guidance on the financial reporting of fiat-backed stablecoins.

中文翻译：

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根据国际财务报告准则规则，法币支持的稳定币能否被视为现金或现金等价物？

稳定币是一个快速发展的加密货币子类别，旨在减少传统加密货币的价格波动，从而成为一种常见的数字支付工具。本文旨在评估法币支持的稳定币的实质内容，以确定是否可以根据国际财务报告准则将法币支持的稳定币视为现金或现金等价物。我们选择了 11 种法币支持的稳定币，占所有法币支持的稳定币总市值的 99.97%。我们使用三步法，对选定的稳定币和加密货币交易所的法律和一般条款和条件进行了分析，并与法定货币对、货币市场指数和工具以及传统加密货币进行了比较，定量分析了它们的风险特征. 结果表明，11 种稳定币中有 9 种符合现金等价物的客观要求，根据其实质性内容，使用 IAS 7 的广泛解释，可以报告为现金等价物。本研究增强了对法币支持的稳定币在其财务报告中的实质内容的理解，并可在实体根据现有 IFRS 规则制定会计政策时使用，也可由会计准则制定者在制定新规则或正式解释现有规则时用作证据以提供指导关于法定支持的稳定币的财务报告。