Course Description

In this advanced, one-hour self-study course, we explore the nuances of DAO accounting in today’s evolving crypto economy. Learners will gain a practical understanding of the tools, standards, and challenges associated with decentralized organizational structures, especially as they relate to traceability, tax, and financial reporting. The course draws heavily from real-world client use cases and new product innovations to offer a tangible roadmap for navigating DAO financial ops, wallet-level accounting, and regulatory alignment. This session is essential for CPAs, controllers, and finance teams supporting Web3 organizations.

This course fulfills CPE objectives.

After this course, learners should be able to:

  • Explain the foundational principles of DAO accounting and why conventional accounting systems struggle with crypto-native operations.

  • Evaluate the auditability and traceability challenges presented by DAOs and on-chain assets.

  • Describe the distinctions between entity-level and wallet-level financial tracking and how these affect compliance.

  • Apply knowledge of accounting and tax treatment across wallets, subwallets, and smart contracts to real-world DAO scenarios.

  • Analyze accounting challenges and reporting limitations associated with multi-chain DeFi protocols, including token wrapping, cross-chain bridging, and validator traceability.

Your Instructors

Get to know the expert contributors to this course

Pat White is the Co-Founder and CEO of Bitwave, the leading digital asset finance platform for enterprises. Under his direction, Bitwave has become the go-to solution for automating accounting workflows, ensuring regulatory compliance, and simplifying digital asset payments for businesses. As a seasoned software engineering leader, Pat brings over a decade of experience building enterprise software at top companies like Intuit, Microsoft, Five9, and Fortify Software (now HP Security). In 2009, he launched Ally Software, a successful enterprise software consulting firm, before founding Synata, an innovative enterprise search engine acquired by Cisco in 2016. Pat is also a recognized contributor to the Bitcoin and Ethereum codes. He remains active in several leading on-chain projects and co-hosts The DeFi Daily podcast. Pat proudly holds a degree from the University of Southern California.

Pat White

CEO & Co-Founder at Bitwave

Your Instructors

Get to know the expert contributors to this course

Steven Lim

Head of Finance at Magic Eden

Your Instructors

Get to know the expert contributors to this course

Aldo Barnard

Partner - Leader of Blockchain and Digital Assets at RSM Cayman

Course curriculum

    1. Course Introduction

    2. Module 1: Structuring and Governing DAOs

    3. CPE Review Questions

    4. Module 2: Revenue Recognition, Treasury, and Audit Complexity

    5. Module 3: DeFi Accounting and Cross-Chain Technical Challenges

    6. CPE Review Questions

    7. CPE Qualified Assessment - Pass this assessment to earn CPE!

About this course

  • 7 lessons
  • 1 hour of video content
  • 1.0 CPE Credits (Accounting)
  • No prerequisites

Made Possible by The Arbitrum Foundation

This course is enabled by The Arbitrum Foundation to accelerate on-chain activity for the Arbitrum ecosystem.

Be sure to check out the other two courses in the Arbitrum series!
Learn more about Arbitrum

Other CPE Info

  • Program Level

    Intermediate

  • Advance Preparation

    None

  • Delivery

    QAS Self Study

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BitAlpha, Inc. (Sponsor ID #148962) is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its website:www.nasbaregistry.org.