Tax implications for a friend buying bitcoin

Hey everyone, I'm new here, just signed up. I’ve been struggling to buy bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin on Coinbase, so I got my buddy to buy some for me and just hold it on Coinbase/GDAX until my Ledger Nano S arrives. He’s not trading it, just keeping it safe until I can receive it. I’ve already paid him back for the exact amount he spent. He’s not trying to make a profit from this. So, my question is, does my friend need to report his purchase to the IRS once he transfers the coins to me? I’m keeping track of all the purchases, like the date, time, and price. Will my cost basis be the same as what he paid? Also, should I tell him to leave the coins on Coinbase/GDAX, or should he move them to a temporary wallet while I wait for my Ledger Nano S? Thanks a lot!

You generally report sales rather than purchases. The risk of loss is low, but the effort of transferring to your own wallet is lower. Download a Ledger-compatible wallet and transfer the coins. Then, when you get the Ledger, move the coins to the Ledger.

Yes, your friend needs to report that as well. He will just need to say he bought at $xxx and sold at $xxx (to you). What would be great is if you can sign a paper between both to just to say he sold it to you.  No tax if no gain of course. If you buy bitcoins on July 12, 2019, the value to consider is the price on July 12, not the day your friend bought the coins. You can't say the bitcoins were your before that because it was your friend

Beware of random strangers on the internet giving tax and legal advice.

Yeah but if you read my post again and if you have already filled a tax paper once in your life you will see that the two points I gave are common and logic for every one used to fill a tax paper. This is basically so evident that there is no need to ask, and no matter the country you come from. It's not like if I was giving a complex scheme so OP can avoid to pay the due taxes

If you dont like to experience headaches later then better to know first the laws of your country when it comes to taxation. Declaring anything as long you do gain and skipping out behavior isnt really a rightful thing to be done. This thread is old and im sure OP's Ledger already arrived and also some points where keeping your coins on exchange wallets is always been risky. No keys= Those coins arent yours fully.