> in the case of crypto, the asset never represents anything but itself.
This is the foul taste of all crypto "assets". They are not assets because they have no intrinsic value for anything.
The nearest real economy analogy is the art market, which is hopelessly inflated, utterly riddled with fraud, and with very little intrinsic value.
But you can hang a painting on a wall and look at it. Even if it is a fake it still looks good on the wall.
Crypto has none of that. All it has is the scam, the fake, the hope of a bigger fool.
Shame on us for letting this happen. It gives a bad name to geeks in general and cryptography specifically.
Crypto doesn't have the same properties, but if a crypto token isn't a security then you can get some other tax benefits via wash sales.
That’s a rather fine and unimportant distinction.
It is characteristic of crypto, just not only crypto.
And, in the case of crypto, the asset never represents anything but itself.