First, your article series on this important topic of taxation of virtual currencies are excellent. I appreciate you sharing this information!
A few questions related to the exchange of one virtual currency for another, and whether it is considered a 1031 like kind exchange:

1. Say I hold 10 BTC in some exchange E1. I want to invest in an ICO and send 2 BTC to the ICO. At a later date the ICO sends me 5000 of their ABC token in return for my ICO investment. Is this considered a 1031 like kind exchange or triggers a tax event?
2. I have 10 BTC in exchange E1. I would like to exchange 2 BTC with another virtual currency DEF but E1 doesn't support it. I transfer 2 BTC to exchange E2, and there perform the exchange of the 2 BTC to 20 DEF. Is this considered a 1031 like kind exchange or triggers a tax event?
3. Could you elaborate on how the tax basis is computed if indeed the exchange is considered a like kind one? Say at date d1 I bought 10 BTC for $10000. At date d2 I exchanged 10 BTC for 40 ETH, and at that date the closing rate of 1 BTC was $10 (total worth is now $100). At date d3, I sold my 40 ETH for $15000 total. How is this handled? Do we (a) simply assume cost basis of $10000 (d1) at the date of sale (d3), and therefore compute $15000 minus $10000 = $5000 as the taxable income; or, do we (b) compute what should have been our tax liability at d2 ($100 minus $10000 = loss of $9900), then at d3 capital gain of $15000 minus $100 = $14900, and then pay the tax on $14900 while deducting over time the maximum loss allowed per year?
4. Say we have a case that satisfies the requirements for a like kind exchange such as the one you describe in your article (exchange X BTC for Y STEEM). Am I permitted, if I so choose, to actually treat it as a tax event, compute the new cost basis, and pay taxes as needed in that tax year? Perhaps if the case is a bit vague and I prefer to be on the safe side, can I simply choose to treat it as a tax event?

Many thanks for your insights!