The article lede strongly implies that method is a currently operative tax advantage: > Investors in bitcoin and other virtual currencies would lose a lucrativ

The article lede strongly implies that method is a currently operative tax advantage: > Investors in bitcoin and other virtual currencies would lose a lucrative tax break…" It also reports, without caveats (or attribution to "some say") that the characterization has been used successfully, so far, in the absence of an explicit prohibition: > Under current law, such trades have been protected under a provision that allows investors to defer capital gains taxes on so-called “like-kind exchanges” Several of the tax attorneys quoted advance the interpretation that this treatment will only stop on January 1, 2018 under the new bill. Of course, there's a risk given the ambiguities also mentioned in the article. But the fact that it required legislation, with a future-effective-date, to clarify may give more cover to those using the treatment before that date – and focus discretionary enforcement on clearer cases in 2018.