You might be surprised that it’s not just when you sell your cryptocurrency that you’ll pay taxes on your gains. You could also be subject to capital gains taxes when you use your cryptocurrency to pay for goods and services or when you exchange it for another cryptocurrency, including stablecoins. Because cryptocurrency is a type of property and not a currency in the eyes of the IRS, exchanging it for something else has a similar effect as selling it.  Receiving cryptocurrency as mining/airdrop/staking rewards can also be a taxable event that’s typically treated as ordinary income.