There was an interesting and I think correct response about miners. When you mine, once you create the coin, that is already a taxable event, even if you keep it holding for years. The base for the tax is the current value at the time of creation and after that it is counted as investment, in case of holding, a long term.
So let's say BTC's value will slowly grind down to 3K in a year. Any coin mined during that year will carry a loss as investment, and also will be taxed at a higher value at its creation.
He is looking at a 600K or so tax bill, so even if he can somehow shave off 100K of it, that is not bad at all...
I wonder about put prices, specially longer term. Maybe selling calls are a better protection....
Edit: Here is the post:
"You are already likely past due on taxes from mining. My tax firm looked at this for me, and when you are mining you need to pay some tax at the time you mined the coin. If 1 bitcoin was worth $100 when you mined it, that is taxed as ordinary income at the time you mined it because you took possession of the asset. From that point if you have held the coins for more than a year it is a capital gain, so if 1 bitcoin was worth $200 when you sold you are only taxed on the $100 in gains. Coins are taxed on a FIFO basis.
So, yeah, get a good tax guy.
"Q-8: Does a taxpayer who “mines” virtual currency (for example, uses computer resources to validate Bitcoin transactions and maintain the public Bitcoin transaction ledger) realize gross income upon receipt of the virtual currency resulting from those activities?
A-8: Yes, when a taxpayer successfully “mines” virtual currency, the fair market value of the virtual currency as of the date of receipt is includible in gross income. See Publication 525, Taxable and Nontaxable Income, for more information on taxable income""
