Valuación

The Case for Independent Digital Asset Valuation

Cryptocurrency is the visible face of the digital asset economy, but it is not the whole of it. Tokenised real-world assets, non-fungible tokens, stablecoins and security tokens are increasingly present on Australian balance sheets, in family property pools and in deceased estates. Here is what a digital asset actually is, why valuation is different, and what to do about it.

By Dr Tony Irish, CA Business Valuation Specialist · 6 min read

What is a digital asset

A digital asset is a right or unit of value recorded on a distributed ledger, most commonly a public blockchain such as Bitcoin, Ethereum or Solana. The record on the ledger, together with the private keys that control it, is what constitutes ownership.

That definition is deliberately wide. Cryptocurrency is one category of digital asset, but only one. The working taxonomy used across the accounting, valuation and regulatory literature now identifies eight categories.

  • Cryptocurrencies are the native tokens of a public blockchain, used as a means of payment or a store of value. Bitcoin and Ether are the familiar examples.
  • Stablecoins are pegged one-for-one to a fiat currency and backed by reserves. They are increasingly used for treasury management, cross-border settlement and offshore payroll.
  • Utility tokens provide access to a specific product, service or network. They are common on platforms where holders pay for compute, storage or content access.
  • Governance tokens carry voting rights over a decentralised protocol. Economically they resemble a share class with voting but limited economic entitlement.
  • Security tokens represent an ownership interest in an underlying financial asset (equity, debt, a share of a fund) and are treated as regulated securities. They are increasingly used for private capital raising and fund tokenisation.
  • Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are unique tokens representing ownership of a specific asset: art, collectibles, brand assets, intellectual property licences, membership rights.
  • Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are digital forms of sovereign currency issued by a central bank. The Reserve Bank of Australia is researching a wholesale A$ CBDC.
  • Tokenised real-world assets (RWAs) are off-chain assets represented on-chain: US Treasuries, money-market funds, private credit, gold, real estate, corporate bonds, equities and carbon credits. BlackRock, Franklin Templeton and Fidelity now operate tokenised money-market products, and the ASX is progressing its own tokenisation programme.

Not every digital asset is a cryptocurrency. The opportunity for Australian valuation practice sits substantially outside cryptocurrency: in tokenised assets held by professional-services firms, NFT-based intellectual property held by creative and media businesses, security tokens issued in private capital raises, and stablecoin treasury balances held by any business trading across borders.

How a digital asset differs from a conventional asset

Ownership sits in a private key, not a title deed. Whoever controls the private key controls the asset. A digital asset for which the private key has been lost, or for which access-control arrangements are not documented, is effectively worthless. The value exists on the ledger, but it cannot be realised.

Provenance is public but pseudonymous. Every transaction is visible on the ledger, but the parties are not. Establishing beneficial ownership requires reconciling on-chain records with off-chain documentation.

Liquidity varies from continuous to effectively zero within the same asset class. Two digital assets at the same headline price can have profoundly different realisable values.

Regulatory classification is not fixed. The same token may be a security in one jurisdiction, a commodity in another, and a payment instrument in a third, and tax treatment turns on that classification. The ATO treats different digital assets differently, so a valuation prepared without regard to tax classification is not fit for purpose.

Custody arrangements are part of the asset. Two identical holdings, one in a self-custody wallet, one in a multi-signature arrangement, one with a third-party custodian, are not worth the same amount to a rational buyer.

The size of the market

The cryptocurrency numbers are already material. The 2026 Independent Reserve Cryptocurrency Index found that 33 per cent of Australian adults hold cryptocurrency, roughly triple the share in 2019. Independent Reserve places the domestic cryptocurrency market at approximately $91 billion in 2025, and IMARC Group projects it to reach US$114.9 billion by 2033 at a compound annual growth rate of 9.7 per cent. Global cryptocurrency market capitalisation peaked above US$4.4 trillion in late 2025.

The tokenised real-world assets segment is smaller but growing faster. Boston Consulting Group projects the tokenised RWA market to reach US$16 trillion by 2030, up from roughly US$24 billion at the end of 2024. Institutional participation is where the growth is concentrated. Digital-asset holdings are increasingly appearing on business balance sheets, in fund structures and in professional-services firm treasuries, not just in personal wallets.

Why digital asset valuation is genuinely different

There is a common assumption that a digital asset is easy to value: look up the price on an exchange, multiply by units held, record the number. That works for a small, liquid holding on a single date. It falls over quickly for anything more complex.

Price alone is not value. A token trading at US$100 on a thinly-traded exchange with wash-trading indicators is not worth US$100 in a controlled sale. The European Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts, in its Certified Digital Asset Valuator program, identifies wash-trading detection, TVL double-counting and active-address adjustments as core data-quality controls. Practitioners without specialist training rarely apply them.

The methodologies used to value digital assets are not the ones used for operating businesses. Digital asset valuation uses protocol revenue discounted cash flow, staking yield analysis, token burn discounted cash flow, mining cost models, Metcalfe’s Law, stock-to-flow analysis, and NFT rarity-based valuation. These are the mainstream methods required by IFRS fair value measurement for material digital-asset holdings.

Digital-asset-specific premiums and discounts apply. Discounts for lack of marketability, blockage discounts on vesting positions, and net asset value discounts on token treasuries all differ from their operating-business equivalents.

The data question is different too. Valuation requires reasoning about both on-chain data (network activity, security metrics, supply dynamics, protocol financials) and off-chain data (exchange prices, contextual sources). Neither is sufficient alone.

And the regulatory environment is moving. Australia’s first digital assets legislation was passed earlier this year. The Board of Taxation review of digital-asset tax treatment is live. Internationally, the European Union’s Markets in Crypto Assets regulation (MiCA) has established the first comprehensive framework of its kind, and IFRS 13 fair value measurement now applies squarely to digital-asset holdings on regulated balance sheets.

The credential gap

Australia does not have a domestic specialist accreditation for digital asset valuation. The CA ANZ Business Valuation Specialisation covers business valuation under APES 225 but does not carve out digital assets as a sub-specialty. Neither does the AIBB Registered Business Valuer, the API Certified Practising Valuer, or the Australian Valuers Institute.

The recognised international specialist credential is the Certified Digital Asset Valuator, issued by the European Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts, Europe’s largest valuation association, with over 1,200 members across 20 countries. Valuación is currently pursuing this credential. Until it is complete, digital-asset valuation work continues to be prepared under APES 225, with methodologies drawn from the EACVA framework and applied conservatively.

What to do about it

Digital-asset holdings should be treated with the same discipline as any other material asset on a balance sheet or in a property pool. That means a defensible current-state valuation prepared under APES 225 before it is needed; documentation of the specific holdings, wallet addresses, exchange accounts, cost bases and access-control arrangements; a valuation methodology that reasons about both price and liquidity; and recognition that a Family Court property pool including digital assets will require an expert valuation that a broker’s estimate cannot substitute for.

The 2027 CGT reforms apply to digital-asset holdings on the same basis as any other asset. Every digital asset held on 1 July 2027 is deemed sold and reacquired for CGT purposes, with the split measured primarily by market value on the day.

If you are contemplating a transaction, a succession, a Family Court matter, a deceased estate, or a CGT documentation exercise that involves cryptocurrency, tokens, tokenised assets or other digital-asset holdings, please get in touch. The initial scoping conversation is complimentary.

Sources

About the author

Dr Tony Irish is the principal of Valuación, the business valuation practice of SED Advisory. He is a Chartered Accountant and holds a PhD in economics. Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand accredits him as a CA Business Valuation Specialist. He has spent more than 30 years in professional services, over 20 of them based in regional Australia, valuing regional and rural businesses and professional-services firms.

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