Odaily News The International Monetary Fund (IMF) released the seventh edition of the Balance of Payments Manual (BPM7) on March 20, incorporating digital assets such as cryptocurrencies into the global economic reporting framework for the first time, marking the first update of the manual since 2009. According to the new framework, digital assets are divided into fungible tokens and non-fungible tokens, and are further classified based on whether they bear related liabilities:
- Unbacked assets such as Bitcoin are classified as non-productive non-financial assets and are classified in the capital account;
- Digital currencies backed by liabilities, such as stablecoins, are considered financial instruments;
- Platform tokens such as ETH and SOL may be classified as equity-like instruments if held across borders;
- Staking and cryptocurrency earning activities are considered as dividend income sources;
- Mining and staking related services are considered exportable computer services. (CrowFund Insider)
The IMF plans to promote the widespread adoption of BPM7 and the latest national accounts system by 2029-2030.