For individuals looking to build their crypto wealth, a crypto IRA may be a good way to do so. Cryptocurrency IRAs allow you to avoid capital gains tax, so long as you keep your investments in your IRA account. Although cryptocurrencies are volatile investments, the asset class has outperformed almost any other investment over the last decade. If you’re a long term believer in a decentralized future, you may want to consider opening an investment retirement account with a platform that gives you access to cryptocurrency.
Best Cryptocurrency IRAs
Now that you know the general rules and limitations of the cryptocurrency IRA, let’s take a look at the best of the breed:
1. Best For Competitive Rates: iTrustCapital
iTrustCapital is the leading digital asset IRA trading platform that allows you to directly buy and trade cryptocurrencies and physical gold in real-time through their retirement accounts.
They have completely transparent pricing with crypto being a 1% trade fee and gold $50 over spot. There is also a $29.95 monthly account fee which provides the following:
- IRA setup at iTrust Custodial Services
- Facilitation of any transfers to your IRA
- IRS and tax reports by iTrust Custodial Services
- Unlimited storage with institutional custody partners
- Platform support and maintenance
Beginner cryptocurrency investors
iTrustCapital is a self-directed IRA provider that gives you the opportunity to invest in cryptocurrencies, gold and silver through your retirement account. iTrustCapital focuses on providing investors with a straightforward and easy-to-understand platform, which can be a major asset if you’ve never bought or sold alternative investments in the past.
When you reach retirement age, iTrustCapital allows you to choose whether you’d like to take your disbursements in cash or in the assets you’ve invested in. Though the platform does offer a limited range of cryptocurrencies when compared to brokers like Coinbase, its simple structure and unique IRA offerings make iTrustCapital a great place to invest.
- Investors who want to add gold, silver or cryptocurrencies to their IRA
- Those who are interested in taking a long-term approach to cryptocurrency or metal investing
- Beginner cryptocurrency investors
- Straightforward platform allows you to buy and sell assets in a few minutes
- Orders clear within 5 minutes
- 24/7 order placements and portfolio monitoring services
- Both live chat and phone customer service service available
- Limited number of cryptocurrencies to buy and sell
- No mobile app currently available
2. Best For Full Service: Bitcoin IRA
Bitcoin IRA is a full-service solution that allows you to invest in bitcoin, ethereum, ripple, litecoin, bitcoin cash and ethereum classic with your IRA. The firm works to make the complex process of crypto investing simpler and safer.
Your digital assets are stored and insured for up to $100 million with BitGo Trust, which is powered by BitGo Inc.’s technology. BitGo Inc. is the world’s largest processor of on-chain bitcoin transactions, processing 20% of all global Bitcoin transactions and holding over $2 billion in assets in wallet.
Whether you need help with a rollover, traditional or Roth IRA—it only takes a few minutes to open an account with Bitcoin IRA.
New bitcoin investors
Bitcoin IRA provides a solution for those looking to take their retirement account outside the traditional market. It partners with BitGo Trust to facilitate the setup of an individual retirement account (IRA) and a digital wallet to hold and trade cryptocurrency. Bitcoin IRA offers a proprietary always-on, self-directed trading platform that empowers you to invest in your future. In addition to digital currency, you can also use Bitcoin IRA to purchase gold, another popular alternative asset for savvy investors.
- New Bitcoin investors who have a handle on their overall financial strategy
- People who have room in their budget for a $100 monthly contribution for an easy set-and-forget savings and investment strategy
- Investors who can tolerate high levels of risk associated with trading crypto and who are able to hold precious metals investments for at least 10 years
- Great rollover options
- Investments stored offline for greater security
- Easily create an account and digital wallet in under 3 minutes
- 24/7 trading platform
- Due to U.S law, cannot transfer existing cryptocurrency holdings into a Bitcoin retirement account
- No financial advisory or planning services
3. Best For Security: BitIRA
Most crypto IRA companies take no responsibility for the security of your crypto. BitIRA turns this trend on its head and offers end-to-end insurance for your account.
You also get true cold storage for your crypto — it’s kept on a hard drive in a vault that is physically guarded around the clock. You get this protection along with praiseworthy customer service that will make you feel comfortable even if you have never invested in crypto before.
The selection of cryptocurrencies currently available with BitIRA includes Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Ethereum Classic, Ethereum and Ripple.
Tax-deferred gains
BitIRA combines the best of tradition and innovation with its Bitcoin IRA platform. You can secure your financial future by funding your retirement account with cryptocurrency and other alternative assets. BitIRA brings institutional, quality retirement accounts to alternative asset investors.
- Long-term investors
- Alternative asset investors
- Diversification of your retirement account
- Those experienced in cryptocurrency investment strategy
- Fully-assisted setup, account rollover and funding process
- Cold storage wallet to secure your funds offline
- Tax-deferred gains
- Bitcoin and other crypto protected against inflation by several key factors, reducing risk of devaluation and debasement
- Potentially long waiting period between account set-up → funding → ready to invest
- High minimum investment
How Crypto IRAs Work
A crypto IRA falls under the umbrella of self-directed IRAs. Crypto’s volatility and looser regulatory structure likely scare investment custodians away from accepting responsibility for consistent returns.
Most financial institutions brand their crypto IRAs with the bitcoin name because of bitcoin’s popularity. There are IRA investment opportunities available in other major coins including Ether, Litecoin, XRP and bitcoin cash. They usually have higher fees associated with them than traditional IRAs, but it may be well worth it to avoid capital gains taxes.
The average crypto IRA will have a holding fee, minimum monthly account fee, establishment fee and fees for purchasing assets and fund transfers. Traditional IRA accounts generally do not have any establishment or monthly maintenance fees.
Within an IRA designation, cryptocurrency accounts are automatically subjected to regulations they would otherwise avoid. IRA contribution limits apply to crypto IRAs as well, for example. Investors are also required to purchase the cryptocurrencies in an IRA from a designated firm. These firms use their monopoly to charge fees for their involvement.
Additionally, crypto IRAs can only be traded during standard market hours. The crypto market is 24/7/365, so the value of an IRA can change significantly over a weekend while leaving the investor with no recourse. Crypto within an IRA account is subject to capital gains taxes as well.
Benefits of Crypto IRAs
Cryptocurrency IRAs incentive investors to hold cryptocurrency over the long-term. If digital assets continue to see similar levels of adoption, then holding crypto for the long-term may be a great investment strategy that could outperform traditional assets. Plus, crypto IRAs have several tax benefits over investing through a cryptocurrency brokerage or exchange. Given the potential for abnormally high returns, these tax savings make it well worth it to invest in digital assets through a crypto IRA.
Trade Cryptocurrency
If you want to trade crypto while holding your IRA, you need a good trading platform. Some things to consider when choosing where to trade crypto are the platform’s security, altcoin offerings and customer support. Some platforms, like Gemini, allow you to earn interest on your digital assets. This is a great way to accumulate more cryptocurrency over time without needing to invest more into your trading account. Here are a few of the best to consider:
New Investors
Gemini is a cryptocurrency exchange and custodian that offers investors access to 26 coins and tokens. Founded in the US, Gemini is expanding globally, in particular into Europe and Asia. Offerings include both major cryptocurrency projects like Bitcoin and Ethereum, and smaller altcoins like Orchid and 0x.
Gemini is 1 of the only brokers with multiple platform options based on skill level. New investors will love the streamlined interface of Gemini’s mobile and web apps, while advanced investors might appreciate all the tools that come with ActiveTrader.
In addition to a host of platform choices, Gemini users also have access to insured hot wallets to store tokens without worrying about digital asset theft. Learn more about what Gemini can do for you in our review.
- New investors looking for a simple mobile and web app
- Experienced investors who need a more advanced platform with more tools
- Users looking for a 1-stop-shop to buy, sell and store all of their coins
- Easy and quick signups — can get started in as little as a few minutes
- Multitude of platforms to accommodate traders of all skill levels
- Hot wallets include insurance to protect your from theft and hacking attempts
- Charges both a commission and a convenience fee for users buying and selling through the desktop or mobile app
Disclosure: eToro USA LLC; Investments are subject to market risk, including the possible loss of principal.
Crypto Trading
eToro, headquartered in Cyprus, England and Israel, has provided forex products and other CFD derivatives to retail clients since 2007. A major eToro plus is its social trading operations, including OpenBook, which allows new clients to copy trade the platform’s best performers. Its social trading features are top notch, but eToro loses points for its lack of tradable currency pairs and underwhelming research and customer service features
- U.S. based cryptocurrency traders
- Social and copy traders
- Simple user interface
- Community engagement and following other traders
- 25 cryptocurrencies
- Expansive network of social trading features
- Large client base for new traders to imitate
- U.S. traders can only buy cryptocurrency
Low Minimums
Webull, founded in 2017, is a mobile app-based brokerage that features commission-free stock and exchange-traded fund (ETF) trading. It’s regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
Webull offers active traders technical indicators, economic calendars, ratings from research agencies, margin trading and short-selling. Webull’s trading platform is designed for intermediate and experienced traders, although beginning traders can also benefit.
Webull is widely considered one of the best Robinhood alternatives.
- Active traders
- Intermediate traders
- No charges to open and maintain an account
- No account maintenance fees or software platform fees
- Intuitive trading platform with technical and fundamental analysis tools
- Only offers 14 coins
Retiring off Cryptocurrency
If you are looking for a way to inject growth potential into a long-term portfolio, holding a crypto IRA is a viable option. Crypto may also be a good last-minute hedge against inflation or low-interest rates for older people who are about to retire. However, remember that cryptocurrencies are inherently volatile, so if you’re looking to preserve wealth (as opposed to growing wealth), you should consider a traditional retirement account. While it may be good to have some exposure to crypto as a retiree, it certainly shouldn’t be your only investment.
It may be a bit premature to put everything into crypto even under the tax haven of the IRA. However, it may also be time to take a serious look at how this market can make your golden years even more fruitful.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you put bitcoin in an IRA?
Absolutely. Through a crypto IRA company, you can hold Bitcoin and many other major cryptocurrencies in an IRA account. This account is subject to the same rules and has the same advantages of an IRA that holds fiat currency.
Is a bitcoin IRA Safe?
Holding crypto always comes with an added degree of risk. Reputable crypto IRA companies partner with a professional custodian for added security, but most of them assume no primary legal responsibility for your holdings.
Continue reading: BEST RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS
- '
- "
- 0x
- 39
- 7
- About
- access
- Account
- active
- Adoption
- advanced
- advantages
- advisory
- All
- Altcoin
- Altcoins
- alternative assets
- Although
- analysis
- app
- approach
- apps
- around
- asia
- asset
- Assets
- authority
- average
- Beginning
- being
- benefits
- BEST
- Billion
- Bit
- Bitcoin
- Bitcoin Cash
- bitcoin transactions
- BitGo
- border
- brokerage
- brokers
- build
- buy
- Buying
- Can Get
- capital
- Cash
- change
- charge
- charges
- classic
- Clock
- coinbase
- Coins
- Cold Storage
- commission
- Companies
- company
- complex
- content
- continue
- could
- crypto
- Crypto Market
- cryptocurrencies
- cryptocurrency
- Currency
- Custody
- Customer Service
- Customer Support
- Cyprus
- decentralized
- Derivatives
- digital
- Digital Asset
- Digital Assets
- digital currency
- digital wallet
- disbursements
- Economic
- engagement
- England
- ETF
- Ether
- ethereum
- Ethereum Classic
- etoro
- Europe
- Event
- everything
- example
- exchange
- expanding
- factors
- FAQ
- Features
- Fees
- Fiat
- Fiat currency
- financial
- Financial institutions
- Firm
- forex
- full
- fund
- funding
- funds
- future
- Gemini
- General
- Global
- Globally
- Gold
- good
- great
- Growing
- Growth
- hacking
- head
- help
- here
- High
- hold
- How
- HTTPS
- image
- Inc.
- Including
- industry
- inflation
- Innovation
- Institutional
- institutions
- insurance
- interest
- Interface
- investing
- investment
- Investments
- investor
- Investors
- Israel
- IT
- Key
- Law
- lead
- leading
- LEARN
- Legal
- Level
- LG
- Limited
- LINK
- Litecoin
- LLC
- Long
- looking
- love
- major
- margin trading
- Market
- metal
- million
- Mobile
- Mobile app
- monitoring
- most
- Navigation
- network
- offer
- Offerings
- Offers
- open
- Operations
- opportunities
- Opportunity
- Option
- Options
- order
- Other
- otherwise
- partner
- partners
- People
- physical
- planning
- platform
- Platforms
- Popular
- portfolio
- Precious Metals
- pricing
- Principal
- process
- Processor
- Product
- Products
- professional
- projects
- protect
- protection
- provides
- purchase
- quality
- range
- Rates
- ratings
- Reading
- real-time
- regulations
- regulatory
- Reports
- research
- retail
- returns
- review
- Ripple
- Risk
- Robinhood
- rules
- safe
- savvy
- SEC
- Securities
- Securities and Exchange Commission
- security
- sell
- Short-selling
- Silver
- similar
- Simple
- So
- Social
- Software
- sold
- Sponsored
- Spot
- started
- stock
- storage
- store
- Strategy
- support
- tax
- Taxes
- Technical
- Technology
- theft
- Through
- time
- Tokens
- tools
- top
- trade
- Trade Cryptocurrencies
- Traders
- Trading
- trading crypto
- traditional
- Transactions
- Trust
- unique
- us
- USA
- users
- usually
- value
- Vault
- Volatility
- Wallet
- Wallets
- Wealth
- web
- weekend
- What
- WHO
- within
- without
- works
- world’s
- worth
- years