Because cryptocurrencies are classified as “property” rather than as securities, the wash-sale rule does not apply if you sell a cryptocurrency holding for a loss and acquire the same cryptocurrency before or after the loss sale.
You just have a garden-variety short-term or long-term capital loss depending on your holding period. No wash-sale rule worries.
This favorable federal income tax treatment is consistent with the long-standing treatment of foreign currency losses.
That’s a good thing, because folks who actively trade cryptocurrencies know that prices are volatile. And this volatility gives you two opportunities:
