@vince4ltci wrote:
Thank you for the bad news. $100,000 and it is all mine.
For that amount of money, contact a CPA. Many of the cryptocurrency scams could probably be considered Ponzi schemes.
It also may be possible to report this as an investment loss (capital loss) on schedule D. The downside is that you can only deduct losses up to your capital gains for the year, plus $3000, and you can carry the rest forward. It may take a long time to deduct a $100,000 loss that way, but it's better than nothing.
The IRS is not going to allow a conventional theft to be deducted as an investment loss; if you purchased a painting by one of the Masters, and it was stolen from your home, that's clearly not an investment loss. But if you legitimately believed you were investing your funds in a security or other instrument, then the theft might be deductible as a loss (the security or investment is now worthless). This is a case where you want to hire an expert to look out for your interests and find the best way to handle the situation.
