It’s not a loss if it was never realized; if he never converted coins to fiat at a loss from the purchase, there is no loss except on paper (and that is not tax deductible).

>It’s not a loss if it was never realized

If I hold stock in a company that goes bankrupt, I can write-off those losses, even though they never get converted to fiat.

Doesn’t this support the opposite?

Ever dollar I pay anyone for services must be claimed as income, yet none of those are capital losses for me. Conversely, none of my capital losses can be claimed as anyone’s income.

>I pay anyone for services

What service exactly am I getting for being robbed?

Conversely, in the correct metaphor, if I buy a fraudulently priced stock for $100 and sell for $0.01, I get to write off the $99.99.

Seems kind of arbitrary that 'a buyer' is the difference between a write-off and not.