Bitcoin contains a curious parallel to quantum mechanics: once you interact with it, you fundamentally change it.

This property stems from Bitcoin's UTXO model and has profound implications.

I recently heard an attorney claim: "It's not a taxable event if you get back the original Bitcoin." This reveals a fundamental misunderstanding. There is no such thing as "original Bitcoin" in a technical sense.

In Bitcoin's architecture, coins don't exist as discrete objects. The system tracks Unspent Transaction Outputs (UTXOs). When you receive Bitcoin, you receive a UTXO: an entry in the blockchain ledger.

But whenever you spend Bitcoin, the original UTXO is completely destroyed, and new UTXOs are created.

This process resembles quantum mechanics, where measurement changes the particle being observed.

The act of transacting with Bitcoin transforms it: UTXO A exists, transaction occurs, UTXO A is destroyed, UTXO B and C (change) now exist.

The new UTXOs have different transaction IDs, positions in the blockchain, and properties. They are not the same "Bitcoin" in any technical sense.