Updated July 29, 2026. Quick answer: Yes, and the route people hope for was closed by statute rather than by interpretation. IRC §1031 is now titled “Exchange of real property held for productive use or investment”. The 2017 Act narrowed the section to real property for exchanges after that year, so there is no like-kind exchange available for any personal property at all — not crypto, not artwork, not equipment. A coin-for-coin swap is a disposition.
What changed, and why the section heading settles it
The section’s own title now reads “Exchange of real property held for productive use or investment”. Before the 2017 amendment it read “property” and the nonrecognition rule reached a wide range of personal property; P.L. 115-97 narrowed it to real property for exchanges after 2017. The limitation is not specific to crypto — it removed like-kind treatment for personal property generally, and crypto was simply never carved back in.
That distinction matters when you read older material. Arguments that one coin was “like kind” to another were being made when the section still covered personal property, and they were contested even then. They are moot now for a structural reason: there is no personal-property like-kind exchange to qualify for.
| Transaction | Taxable event? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Coin A for coin B on an exchange | Yes | A disposition; no like-kind relief exists for personal property |
| Coin for stablecoin | Yes | Same — still a disposition |
| Coin for cash | Yes | An ordinary sale |
| Coin for goods or services | Yes | A disposition of property |
| Moving a coin between your own wallets | Not a disposition on these provisions | No exchange of property has occurred |
The practical consequence is bookkeeping, not rate. Every swap is a separate realisation event with its own date, its own proceeds measured in dollars, and its own basis and holding period for what you received. An active trader running many swaps has generated many taxable dispositions without ever holding cash — which is the case where a large tax bill arrives against a portfolio that never produced any dollars to pay it with.
Which is where the other divergence helps
Because §1091 does not reach crypto, a holder sitting on realised swap gains can sell a losing position against them and re-establish the exposure immediately, without the waiting period a stockholder faces. The two provisions cut in opposite directions on the same asset: no like-kind relief on the way in, no wash-sale disallowance on the way out.
This page addresses two Code sections. It does not address broker reporting, staking, mining, airdrops, lending, or how any particular exchange characterises a transaction on the statements it sends you.
Run your own numbers. Provisional income calculator — find how much of the benefit is taxable.
Sources
IRC §1031, including its section heading and §1031(a)(1); P.L. 115-97 for the amendment limiting the section to real property; IRS Notice 2014-21. Fetched July 2026.
This states what the cited authority says. It is not tax advice. It does not address staking, mining, airdrops, lending, or broker reporting, and it states no exchange’s practice — only what two Code sections reach and do not reach.