I know that trading stocks is allowed for F-1 students in the US as long as income/losses are reported when taxes are done. (Is Stock Trading legal for a student on F-1 Visa in USA?)
How about buying and selling cryptocurrency as an investment? Would that be different from a legal standpoint?
Given your clarification that you re only intending to use cryptocurrency as a capital asset & a long term investment vehicle, and not as a business day trading or trading for others, I would say this definitely is NOT illegal.
The tax man says cryptocurrency is property. The IRS made this clear in Notice 2014-21.
As long as you report it every time you do transfer it and an income loss/gain is triggered, I see nothing wrong here.
