[mudrockbestgirl]

I think the op may be asking the more general question of why it is defined like this. What makes a "digital representations of value that are recorded on a cryptographically secured distributed ledger" so fundamentally different from an MMO currency that it becomes taxable? The fact that it's distributed? Why should that matter? What even is the definition of distributed? And isn't an encrypted database cryptographically secured?

[beebmam]

These are important questions that I think aren't super well defined currently. Cryptocurrencies are changing so fast that it's hard for the law to keep up. It will eventually.

Seems like a great field of legal scholarship right now!

[dylan604]

If you ask a congress critter, I'm sure they'd love to be able to tax v-bucks too if they were to be told of them. It at least has the ability to become things of lore like requiring a stamp-like fee for emails

[colechristensen]

MMOs have to go to extensive lengths to prevent and punish trading in game currency in the real world because it would burden them with a long list of regulations. Your WoW gold or whatever it is is not money because it only works in game and despite black markets for it, it is not allowed to be used in free exchange with other currencies.

Honestly everybody actually knows the difference, if you don’t hire a lawyer and go to court and add to caselaw to be sure.