A Note from the Editors-in-Chief

1.385-2 that had been identified in Notice 2017-38 as regulations issued after January 1, 2016, that imposed an undue financial burden on the U.S. taxpayers and added undue complexity to the U.S. federal income tax laws. [...]the authors go on to conclude that while an exchange might occur, it does not necessarily follow that the exchange results in the realization of gain or loss, because realization invariably requires that the properties exchanged differ materially in kind or in extent. [...]a well-advised cryptocurrency lender might avoid taxable gain or loss by carefully structuring the terms of their cryptocurrency loans to ensure that the property received in exchange for the cryptocurrency is not materially different from direct ownership of the cryptocurrency. Tom notes that the initial absence of detailed regulatory guidance created tax uncertainty for asset classes other than real estate, which lead to an initial focus on real estate investments that may have been unintended and unanticipated by the champions of the qualified opportunity zone program.