Founders love pointing to tax treaties like they’re insurance policies. “They can’t tax me. There’s a treaty.” That confidence disappears the moment two countries claim you at the same time. Because treaties don’t prevent collisions. They resolve conflicts after you’re already in one. And by then, you’re dealing with lawyers, audits, and agencies exchanging your data in real time.
Crypto should be the ultimate freedom asset. For U.S. founders, it's a compliance black hole. You bought ETH in 2017, traded between wallets, staked, provided liquidity, took profits. In 2025, an IRS notice arrives: "You failed to report crypto transactions. We're assessing tax on 100% of your wallet inflows as unreported income." That's the Crypto Compliance Trap: The assumption that blockchain anonymity equals tax invisibility. The IRS can't see every transaction. But they assume every dollar you received is taxable income unless you prove otherwise.