I have accounts on several major exchanges, in which I have an amount of bitcoin and several alt coins.  Nothing huge, but some.  A few thousand bucks or so.  I bought in early this year when prices were down, and I am currently up about 30%.  I expect to 2X or 3X my initial investment after interests rates fall and crypto prices rise.  But that's another story.

Okay, so prices rise and I am at a point where I think prices are topped out and I want to cash out.  Buy low sell high.  I'm looking for the best ways to do this while minimizing taxes owed.

I've read about a few things.  One is giving a gift to a spouse.  Would this gift have to be in crypto or selling the coins in my account, then transferring the money to the spouses bank account?  At what point is it made into a tax free gift transaction?  And how?

How about moving my various coins to a stablecoin, so the value doesn't decrease when the alt coin prices rise and fall?  From what I have read, the mere act of trading BTC for a stable coin is considered selling it at an improved price and thus, taxes are owed on the transaction.

I suppose then that just selling the coins for USD cash and letting that sit in my crypto account would also be a taxable event even if I didn't withdraw the cash to my bank account? 

I know I'll have to pay some tax, I am just looking to minimize it through the available methods.  Since it all has to hit a bank or go through an exchange, the IRS can see it at some point.  Otherwise I'd have many more options.