But that’s what tax accounting is. Asking “what if we interpret the tax code this way?”

It’s all gray areas. See my sibling comment about how to write off future profits.

There are some gray areas in the tax code, but this isn't one of them. You write off your basis in a capital loss. There's no legal justification for writing off "lost profits". Trying to do so would just be tax fraud.

Even if that were a thing, the fact that it would cost more to release it than not shows that the profit value is negative.

No it's not. But sure, "They just write it off!"