Basically inflation is taxed. However, few people report trinkets. Inflation in a certain sector (whether due to speculative bubbles or not) is taxable.
The real question is — what if there is huge volatility and it goes down after it went up? Surely you don’t pay taxes on just the hands you win in a casino without deducting the losses first? But when does a casino session end with markets?
another BIG question I have is, do you really now have to pay for EVERY TRADE of one cryptocurrency to another? What if you have a capital loss and gain etc.?
If you have a capital gain on one transaction and a loss on other, in general the net gain is taxed, and usually losses in one tax period can be used to offset gains in other periods - there are all kinds of accounting rules on how to properly document the transactions and these gains. In general, everything you worry about in this post isn't new, it's been argued and resolved decades ago, you "just" have to follow all the regulations. Or, alternatively, chartered accountants make a living by following the details of these regulations so that their clients don't have to.
The real question is — what if there is huge volatility and it goes down after it went up? Surely you don’t pay taxes on just the hands you win in a casino without deducting the losses first? But when does a casino session end with markets?
another BIG question I have is, do you really now have to pay for EVERY TRADE of one cryptocurrency to another? What if you have a capital loss and gain etc.?