You are applying perfect economic logic, and honestly, in a fair world, that’s exactly how it should work. It’s a pure barter exchange—trading gold for silver without ever touching the fiat system. But here is where the disconnect happens: Tax laws aren't built on economic logic; they are built on tracking wealth creation and enforcing financial surveillance. The moment you swap Asset A for Asset B, the government doesn't see a 'swap'. They see an invisible pit-stop where you 'liquidated' to fiat on paper, just to trigger a taxable event. This is the ultimate trap for crypto newcomers. They think they are safe inside the ecosystem, while centralized platforms are busy indexing their transaction metadata for regulatory compliance. It’s counterintuitive, but it's the barrier between common-sense economics and state-level control—which is precisely why sovereign protocols and privacy matter.