The lack of clear accounting rules for companies to report holdings of digital assets like Bitcoin threatens accurate and consistent financial reporting, seven House members told U.S. accounting rulemakers.

The bipartisan group, led by Financial Services Committee member Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), asked the Financial Accounting Standards Board in a May 12 letter to update its definition of financial instrument to include digital assets such as virtual currencies.

“The growth of digital assets has been staggering and will likely continue to be even more significant. For these reasons, we urge the FASB to provide authoritative accounting guidance for digital assets,” the lawmakers said.

• FASB has fielded, and rejected, several requests to tackle accounting for digital assets. While companies like Tesla Inc. and MicroStrategy Inc. have made big investments in Bitcoin, there are few takers elsewhere.

• Tesla chief executive Elon Musk on May 12 announced the electric automaker would stop accepting Bitcoin as payment for cars, citing environmental reasons.

• A FASB spokesperson in a statement said it would consider the lawmakers’ request as part of its broader effort to consider new accounting rulemaking projects.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nicola M. White in Washington at nwhite@bloombergtax.com