You are, indeed, wrong: taxes are owed the moment coins are mined, even if they remain unspent or unused, see question Q-8 in http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-

You are, indeed, wrong: taxes are owed the moment coins are mined, even if they remain unspent or unused, see question Q-8 in http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-14-21.pdf http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-14-21.pdf