Suppose a farmer plants some corn. It grows and is eventually harvested and stored in a big barrel. He does not pay tax on it until he sells it for dollars. I would argue the same is true for STEEM.
Until time provides us with a court case or an established law, I do not either fret or speculate. My cost value in STEEM is zero. My potential gains are like the stored corn. They are yet unknown.
This is a good point, until it turns into fiat, it shouldn't matter. But even then, should it...? A farmer would pay taxes upon selling his corn, but if I grew corn in my backyard, too much for me to consume, and gave some to a friend, in exchange for a bit of money to cover for water and whatnot, should I pay taxes on that? This is a real question, I am obviously no expert. I feel like I wouldn't have to. Similarly, I would imagine that the little money I could make here shouldn't be declared. As long as I am not making any relevant profits, that is.
I actually don't know the taxation on capital gains here, but I am not sure cryptos would fall under that category. Buying a few bitcoins and then selling them back for a profit seems much closer to buying collectible cards are something along this line and selling them a few years later. Or is that supposed to be declared as well...?
Wow, I realize I don't know much at all when it comes to taxes... (I actually went to the tax office today, should have asked!)