It has always been a taxable event. If you buy anything and sell or trade it for a profit, you owe income tax (in the U.S.), be it gold, water, wheat, or Hungar

It has always been a taxable event. If you buy anything and sell or trade it for a profit, you owe income tax (in the U.S.), be it gold, water, wheat, or Hungarian forints. The IRS just confirmed that bitcoins are assets and not currency, which has a few different rules.