@etienne_figueroa wrote:
Would the consumer be legally bound to pay taxes if it is offshore, and no payment is made to them?
If you are a US taxpayer, you are required to report all your world-wide income and pay US tax on it, regardless of where the income comes from, and regardless of any tax paperwork that might or might not be filed.
For example, if you hold stock through a US broker, you will get a 1099-B statement each year showing the gains and losses on the stocks you buy and sell. If you owned stocks through a foreign stock broker, you still owe US tax on your capital gains, even though the overseas broker might not file a 1099-B. Lacking the 1099-B means the IRS doesn't have a secondary record of the transaction, but you are still on the honor system to accurately report your income. (And the IRS audits about 1% of tax returns, and if you don't report overseas income, you can face taxes, penalties and interest.)
Remember that money is not taxable; income is. Income includes selling an asset for more than you paid, that's a capital gain, and is taxed a little differently than wage income. If you sell an asset for less than you paid, you have a capital loss that may be deductible against other gains.
If you have assets (including cryptocurrency) with an overseas broker, and you sell them for a gain, you are required under US law to report and pay tax on that gain. Assuming the overseas broker does not file a 1099-B, the IRS won't have an easy way of catching you if you fail to report the income voluntarily. But if you are selected for an audit, the IRS can look at every deposit to every bank account you own, and tax it as if it was income, unless you can prove otherwise.
