Too Long; Didn't Read
The IRS has decreed that cryptocurrency is property, not an asset or a security — it's a property. Therefore, as capital assets, they give rise to capital gains and losses when disposed of. You can go out at a loss and then right back in without losing the right to immediately claim the loss. The IRS also has a view about what happens when there’s a fork in a blockchain. It believes that a fork gives crypto owners a windfall that should be taxed at high ordinary-income rates.