Allow me to play Devil's advocate.....if they only taxed crypto on conversion to and from fiat, most people would circumvent that by never cashing out. They would use crypto as a currency and use it to purchase goods and services without ever cashing out.

I know it sucks, but look around. All levels of govt are scrounging around for any new sources to tax. Do you really think they are going to ignore an asset that went from pennies to $20K???

Bite the bullet, pay the taxes, avoid any unnecessary hassles.