According to ChainCatcher, citing CrowFund Insider, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released the seventh edition of the Balance of Payments Manual (BPM7) on March 20, which for the first time incorporated digital assets such as cryptocurrencies into the global economic reporting framework. This marks the first update to the manual since 2009. Under the new framework, digital assets are classified into fungible and non-fungible tokens, and further categorized based on their associated liabilities:

• Unbacked assets like Bitcoin are classified as non-productive non-financial assets and placed in the capital account;
• Digital currencies backed by liabilities, such as stablecoins, are viewed as financial instruments;
• Platform tokens like ETH, SOL may be classified as equity-like instruments if held across borders;
• Staking and cryptocurrency earnings activities are considered sources of dividend income;
• Mining and staking-related services are recognized as exportable computer services.

The IMF plans to promote the widespread adoption of BPM7 and the latest System of National Accounts by 2029-2030.