Corporate bitcoin treasury: questions boards and CFOs ask

Two things come first: whether the company can still pay its way after a severe fall, and who is allowed to approve and sign. The board is deciding whether a volatile, scarce asset belongs beside cash in its reserves, with costs to weigh: price swings, accounting and tax work, and controls a bank account gives you that bitcoin doesn't. Key considerations

The bitcoin you hold would be worth a quarter of what it was, so the real test is whether payroll, tax and suppliers are still covered. Plan for a fall that lasts, not one that bounces back. The treasury instrument runs a hypothetical allocation through a 50% and a 75% fall and shows whether operating cover holds. treasury instrument

That's your board's call with its own advisers. We don't recommend an amount. Size it from the bottom up: first ring-fence the cash the company must reach after a severe fall, then ask what portion of what's left could sit untouched through a long downturn. Test your own figures in the treasury instrument. They stay in your browser. treasury instrument

Four things: the liquidity case after a severe fall, a written policy with limits and authorised people, a signing design where no one acts alone, and your accountant's and auditor's questions answered before the decision, not after. The board pack gives you a paper outline, a draft resolution or minute, and the auditor questions. board pack

You don't need a full-time hire. Strategy, sizing and suitability stay with your CFO, board and advisers. The Bitcoin Adviser can act as your virtual Chief Bitcoin Officer for the bitcoin work itself: signer design, collaborative security, documentation, rehearsals, and support as people and devices change. Why The Bitcoin Adviser

Under a board policy, with signing that needs more than one authorised person. The order matters: policy first, then purchases by named people with records auditors can follow, then signing controls, then regular review of who can sign and how a lost device is replaced. How implementation works

People whose roles match your approval chain, approved by the board. Where you can, separate the person who starts a transaction from the person who approves it, spread signers across people and locations, and decide in advance what happens when someone leaves. Record roles in the register, never recovery words. When a signer changes

It should name who may approve a purchase, a transfer and a change to the signers, and set limits and review dates. Keep board approval separate from signing: the resolution authorises, the signers execute. The free treasury policy generator drafts one for your advisers to review. It isn't a policy until your board adopts it. treasury policy generator

Make sure no one can act alone. Require more than one authorised signer on every transaction, give the finance team a verification step for every transfer request, and rehearse replacing a lost device. A bank account gives you some of these controls by default. With bitcoin, you put them in place yourself. How implementation works

You follow a planned procedure, not a scramble. Retire the old key, add the new signer with their own key, move the bitcoin to a new vault that doesn't include the retired key, then update the signer register and the minutes. If someone is only away for a while, document the interim cover the same way. When a signer changes

If the company bought it, the company is the legal owner. Directors act for the company, and a change of directors changes who acts, not who owns the bitcoin on-chain. That is why the vault and the signer register must be updated whenever signers change. The entity holds the bitcoin

Talk to your auditor and accountant. The treatment depends on your jurisdiction and reporting framework, and we don't give accounting or tax advice. Before the board decides, ask them how the holding will be classified and measured, how it affects reported results in a volatile year, and what records to keep from day one. Questions for your accountant

Expect requests for signing records, address verification and reconciliations, and confirmation of existence and ownership at balance date. They will also ask who can move funds, acting with whom, and how that is enforced rather than just written down. Ask your auditor early, so the setup produces that evidence from the start. board pack

Start with controls, not with whether to buy more. Holding bitcoin is not the same as governing it. If one person can move company funds, or a lost device would stop you acting, put a policy in place, move to signing where no one acts alone, and document who signs and what happens when they leave. How implementation works

No. Holding bitcoin means the business keeps selling what it sells, with bitcoin in reserves under a board policy. A bitcoin treasury company raises capital through shares, debt or both to buy more than its cash flow allows, so the treasury becomes the business, with dilution, leverage and disclosure to match. We explain both and recommend neither. What becoming a bitcoin treasury company means

A written treasury policy, adopted by the board before the first purchase. Alongside it: a sizing rationale tested against operating cash after a severe fall, and a signer register showing who can approve and who can sign. Other companies' holdings are public, but how well they control their keys usually isn't, so build your own rather than copy theirs. Bitcoin treasury management guide

Chief Bitcoin Officer is The Bitcoin Adviser's corporate treasury resource. It helps you make the decision, and The Bitcoin Adviser delivers the work if you go ahead. You don't have to use it. The policy and board pack tools are free, need no account, store nothing, and can leave the security arrangement open. Why The Bitcoin Adviser

No. The Bitcoin Adviser is a key agent, not a custodian. The bitcoin sits in a 2-of-3 multisig vault: the company holds one key through its designated officers, The Bitcoin Adviser holds one, and an independent third key holder holds the other. Only your signers can start a transaction, and no single party, including us, can move it alone. Collaborative security at The Bitcoin Adviser