us treasury just cleared companies to hold bitcoin without getting taxed on unrealized gains

treasury department and irs released guidance on september 30th that changes how corporate alternative minimum tax applies to bitcoin holdings.

the big issue was unrealized gains. under old rules, companies holding bitcoin would get taxed on paper profits even if they never sold.

imagine strategy (formerly microstrategy) with ~640,000 btc (the dollar value swings with price—tens of billions at recent levels). bitcoin price goes up, they report gains on their balance sheet, then they'd owe 15% tax on those paper gains under camt rules.

some analysts had warned strategy could face billions in tax liability starting 2026 just for holding bitcoin. not selling it, just holding it.

new guidance says companies can exclude unrealized crypto gains from their adjusted financial statement income. that's the number used to calculate camt.

this affects corporations that meet the camt thresholds (generally ≥ $1 billion in average annual financial statement income). public companies collectively hold over 1 million btc now, and well over a hundred companies have btc on balance sheets.

strategy announced they no longer expect camt exposure on their bitcoin treasury. removes a major concern that was hanging over their accumulation strategy.

the timing matters. new accounting standards in january 2025 required companies to report bitcoin at fair value with gains and losses hitting net income quarterly.

without this relief, companies would report massive income from bitcoin appreciation then immediately owe minimum tax on it.

bitcoin advocates are calling this validation for corporate treasury strategies. removes the fear of getting taxed on volatility you haven't realized yet.

asset managers (including strive’s jeff walton) say it removes a major deterrent that discouraged companies from accumulating btc.

this should accelerate corporate adoption. companies can now hold bitcoin as reserve asset without the tax penalty on price appreciation.