Bitcoin mining should not be a taxable event. Bitcoin profits from mining should only be taxed once they are actually used.

So currently when you mine any kind of cryto currency, you need to pay taxes on it just as it was regular income.

But this doesn't make any sense. As income requires realization of gain, and if bitcoins are sitting in a wallet unused then they haven't been realized yet by a taxpayer. This would be the equivalent of taxing someone for $1000 in unrealized gain on stock appreciation, because the crypto in my wallet can depreciate and lose value just as the stock can lose value.

Paying taxes requires realization of gain, and until I actually go to use my mining profits I haven't gained anything. So the IRS shouldn't be able to make me pay taxes on it.