“Oddly, you don’t get a break if the price drops below the acquisition price. “
You can take the loss on your tax return.
Partially correct. You can use losses to offset gains to reduce net taxable income of investment funds. You can't take losses (stock sold at a loss) against earned income (W2) to reduce AGI for federal taxes.
I had a net investment in bitcoin of around $8,000 that was grown into 5 full bitcoins. The party handling my account magically disappeared taking my bitcoins and investment. I have little expectation of ever laying my hands on the principal or gains.