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Buying crypto with retirement funds is done by establishing a self-directed IRA. Numerous, well-known companies offer the SD IRA, and it’s how people have been able to invest in assets like precious metals and real estate using their ROTH or Solo 401k.
With the rise in cryptocurrency popularity, several companies now include crypto as part of their self-directed account options.
For those of you looking for the best crypto IRA, you might start with your current, qualified custodian. A quick call or chat and you’ll soon know whether or not they offer self-directed accounts, aka: participant directed account (IRS). If they do allow Self-Directed accounts, be sure to verify if it includes a crypto IRA option.
In my case, I was already using custodians Fidelity, Ameritrade, and Equity Trust. One of them, Equity Trust, does offer self-directed IRA’s and crypto is one of the available investment options. (pictured).
So I started with Equity Trust, but knew it wouldn’t be my only option. There are many companies out there that offer crypto IRA’s. I opened different accounts and tested multiple companies because I like to spread risk.
Who knows if one company will get hacked or collapse. It happens. Remember, crypto is speculative and hackers are plentiful. Regulations are at the doorstep and no one has a crystal ball. So here comes your reminder….
This is not qualified investment advice. Sharing this info is experience- based entertainment. Crypto companies, fees, offerings and availability are constantly changing and this information may become outdated. Be sure to read a company’s terms of service and call them with your questions.
I researched 8 crypto IRA custodians and facilitators and made crypto IRA accounts with 4. I opened crypto IRA retirement accounts with: iTrustCapital, IRA Financial, Equity Trust and their partner: My Digital Money.
All crypto retirement accounts are now funded and hold crypto.
Let’s dive in…
List of Self-Directed Crypto IRA Companies I’ve Contacted / Reviewed
Here is the list of crypto IRA companies that I considered signing up with and the type of accounts I reviewed during my research:
Listed alphabetically
- Bitcoin IRA – self-directed crypto IRA
- Broad Financial – LLC checkbook crypto IRA
- Directed IRA – LLC checkbook crypto IRA
- Equity Trust Company – self-directed crypto IRA
- iTrust Capital – self-directed IRA
- IRA Financial – self-directed crypto IRA + LLC checkbook crypto IRA
- My Digital Money – self-directed crypto IRA
- Swan Bitcoin IRA- self-directed crypto IRA
All companies offered multiple crypto retirement account services including ROTH & Traditional IRA’s for both new accounts and transfers (mine were all transfers).
These IRA crypto companies also offered full and partial conversions of 401k, 457, and SEPs.
Do crypto IRA’s allow Self-Custody of Keys?
Yes, self-custody of private crypto keys is possible with either a Trust IRA or LLC IRA often referred to as checkbook IRA.
I spent hours learning about checkbook IRA’s and ultimately decided not to move forward with my plans to open a crypto LLC IRA until there is better guidance or clarity from the IRS. I’ll explain more in the checkbook IRA section.
Below is a summary of the actions I took and my experiences. I’ll start with my top pick Crypto IRA facilitator: iTrust Capital
iTrust Capital (Best Crypto IRA Overall)
Having tested multiple, the best crypto IRA is with iTrust Capital (link to iTrust Capital). So far, iTrust Capital did everything faster and cheaper than the other crypto retirement companies I signed up with and it has been my favorite experience.
In my book, iTrust Capital stayed true to the company vision of making the crypto IRA process easy. Here is a quote from one of the Co-founders….
“As digital assets are reaching mainstream adoption, iTrust Capital’s technology is disrupting the self-directed IRA industry by utilizing technology to offer a low cost, transparent and easy-to-use platform for investing in alternative assets using IRAs.”
Blake Skadron – CVO & Co-founder iTrust Capital
Available coins with iTrust Capital crypto IRA
iTrust Capital offers dozens of cryptocurrency options that you can invest in with your ROTH IRA, or Traditional IRA. Of course the most popular coins, Bitcoin and Ethereum are available, but iTrust offers a lot of other options such as Aave, Solana, Shibu Inu, Dogecoin, Polkadot, Chainlink and XRP, just to name a few.
Here is the most recent snapshot of available coins but note *these coins may be different when you sign up.
sample of coins at iTrust Capital for IRA’s
iTrust Capital Crypto IRA Pros & Cons
I started with iTrust Capital by initiating a partial transfer of an existing ROTH IRA. This was all completed by iTrust Capital and they facilitated everything with my current custodian: Equity Trust.
My overall experience was great, results may vary depending on your current custodian.
Pros –
- 0 setup fees
- 0 maintenance fees
- Low trade fees
- Low minimum start
- Fast paperwork
- Excellent Support
- Large crypto variety
iTrust Capital had a well guided, step-by-step form. The paperwork was fast and efficient. The support line always answered and every phone agent knew their stuff. It’s hard to find a Self-Directed crypto IRA that doesn’t charge a setup fee or ongoing maintenance fee. But iTrust Capital doesn’t charge either.
Cons – The only thing that needs some improvement is the interface. The user experience and website design could use a little updating. I spend a lot of time going back and forth between screens when comparing crypto currency.
While I consider iTrust Capital the best crypto IRA company, I plan on keeping my other crypto IRA accounts with IRA Financial, Equity Trust, and My Digital Money because I want to diversify my crypto custodians.
My Digital Money Crypto IRA (Good if You’re with Equity Trust Custodian)
My Digital Money is one of five approved crypto intermediaries that have partnered with Self-Directed IRA giant: Equity Trust Company. And since I already had an established Self-Directed IRA with Equity Trust, I decided to start my first crypto Roth IRA with Equity Trust Company through facilitator: My Digital Money.
The crypto I can buy in an IRA with My Digital Money / Equity Trust Company
This crypto can currently be bought with your IRA on My Digital Money, as well as fractional metals. These coins may change and are only current as of the time of this writing:
 Aave |  Basic Attention Token |  Bitcoin |
|---|---|---|
 Bitcoin Cash |  Chainlink |  Compound |
 Dai |  Decentraland |  Ethereum |
 Fractional Gold |  Litecoin |  Livepeer |
 Fractional Platinum |  Maker |  Solana |
 Fractional Silver |  Stellar |  The Graph |
 Uniswap |  Yearn Finance |
Pros & Cons
My Digital Money was the first company I used for a crypto retirement account.
Pros
- User friendly
- Attractive interface
- Low beginning deposit
- Nice variety
- Great support
Sign up was super easy to begin because I was already established with Equity Trust. Still, we had to make a separate self-directed account that was for crypto only. Both account are accessible through the same login, but I cannot see a combined view of crypto plus other assets.
*If you’re not an existing Equity Trust client, it may not be this easy.
My Digital Money’s buying platform is user friendly, intuitive and has one of the best looking layouts for Crypto Retirement Accounts.
I was able to start with just $1,000 and every time I called, someone answered or got back to me quickly.
Cons
- Fees
- Logs you out too fast
The fees add up. My Digital Money + Equity Trust Company will both charge fees for buying and selling. ETC charges 2% on the buy and 1% on the sell side. My Digital Money has a tiered fee structure. If you trade less than $25,000, they charge 1.9%.
Using a $2000 example, you would pay 3.9% in trade fees to buy crypto with My Digital Money and ETC.
I also don’t like how quickly My Digital Money logs you out. If you’re not actively moving your mouse, it isn’t long before you have to log back in and it always requires a code. I have not found a way to adjust this logout time.
IRA Financial
I was originally interested in IRA Financial because they offered the Checkbook IRA with LLC for crypto. I later decided not to go that route. Instead, I liked their basic Self-Directed IRA called IRAfi Crypto and decided to sign up.
IRA Financial was the third crypto IRA company I signed up so I had a good baseline for comparison. Unfortunately, IRA Financial fell short in many areas and the process was frustrating compared to the other companies.
To be clear, everything has since been sorted to my satisfaction. It was a bumpy start with IRA Financial, but I do have my account setup and I’m buying crypto.
Crypto Offered at IRA Financial
I found IRA Financial to have a great variety of crypto. Of course you find the usual Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solona and XRP, plus some hard to come by crypto like APE, PAX and NEAR.
My time spent researching has proven that each crypto IRA company will have their own unique currency. At the time of this writing, I could choose from the following crypto:
Pros and Cons
Pros –
- 1% trade fees
- 0 setup
- Low maintenance fee
- Good crypto IRA variety
- Profit view for crypto buys
- Excellent account type variety
IRA Financial charged me zero setup fee, $100/year maintenance and trades are some of the lowest you’ll find in a crypto IRA at just 1%. They also have several way to invest in crypto through IRA’s and have an excellent side-by-side comparison for their crypto IRA.
One of the best features of IRA Financial crypto platform is that when you buy crypto, you can see profit/loss in both dollars and % right on the home screen. THANK YOU!
Cons –
- mixed support
- long wait
- confusing process
This ROTH IRA, partial transfer process took longer than advertised and was slower than my other IRA crypto companies combined. Many times I called IRA Financial for support and it was always a voicemail box, some messages went unreturned.
The long wait wasn’t on my custodian’s end. After my account was funded at IRA Financial, I waited another 13 days for them to setup my crypto account. This was in stark contrast to the other crypto IRA companies that had immediate crypto trading upon account funding.
IRA Financial has 2 area of opportunity: support and communication. Compared to my other crypto IRA experiences, I felt in the dark and I was the one initiating all the calls.
Be sure to check your account charges. I was billed $100 annual fee in late December, then another $100 annual fee mid January. I had to call sales… they said it was a mistake and that I would be credited $100.
Aside from the bumpy start, the reps I did manage to speak with were professional and cordial. There was one person there named Danielle. She was the only person who figured out my account problem and knew how to fix it. She did a great job retaining my business.
Bitcoin IRA
I couldn’t get any information about fees or minimum requirements without giving my email, creating a password and opening an account. That’s not for me. I want to see all the info and THEN I’ll decide if I want to sign up.
Swan Bitcoin IRA
If you’re looking for a crypto IRA that is solely focused on Bitcoin, Swan Bitcoin IRA might be worth investigating. I came really close to signing up, but have put this off until later in 2024.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Low trade fees
- 0 setup fees
- no minimum depots
- Great support
They are one of the only Bitcoin IRA companies that do not require a minimum deposit. Plus their trade fees are low at just .99% and the annual fee under $300 is competitive for a self-directed IRA.
The reason I didn’t sign up with SWAN IRA is because I wanted to start with IRA crypto companies that offered coin variety so I could compare apples to apples.
Cons
- Lack of variety
- No sell button
If you want any other crypto coin your IRA, such as Ethereum, it’s not possible. Swan Bitcoin IRA is just how it sounds…Bitcoin only.
Of note, in order to sell any Bitcoin in your IRA, you have to send an email. This juicy fact was not all that forthcoming.
Swan Bitcoin IRA devotes an entire page boosting about how transparent they are compared to Bitcoin IRA. I think they should be more transparent about the fact there is no “Sell” button. It’s a built in assumption that my IRA account will have a buy button and a sell button. So to not offer a sell button should be front and center in the decision making process.
IRA LLC & Trusts (Checkbook IRA) for Crypto
When I first learned about IRA LLC’s I was certain it was exactly what I wanted. It’s the only way to hold your retirement account crypto in a private wallet and I was determined to go this route.
I spent hours reading public opinion and then more hours watching videos made by companies offering the checkbook IRA LLC. Everything was great until, by chance, I heard these words…“we can’t guarantee the IRS’s position”
Wait…..what?
TIMEOUT!
That’s when I first heard about the McNulty case and I’ll attempt a brief summary: Donna McNulty used a checkbook IRA LLC to buy gold coins with her self-directed retirement account. She took custody of some of the coins and stored them inside of her home safe. In a tax audit, those coins were deemed to be taxable because she no longer had “unfettered control” The case was appealed, and she lost. The courts confirmed that self-storing the coins gave her unfettered control. You can read a detailed explanation of the case here.
Anyway…I don’t like the way that went down and I fear the same decision could be made if I opened an LLC IRA fur the purpose of storing my own crypto. In a checkbook LLC IRA, there would be no custodian in between me and my crypto which could translate to: “unfettered control” of crypto.
So I will wait for better guidance. If it ever becomes clear, I will circle back to IRA Financial plus these two companies that offer the LLC IRA for crypto: Broad Financial and Directed IRA
Broad Financial – checkbook IRA for Crypto: LLC or Trust
I had a 15 minute consult with a financial advisor named Jeff. The appointment was super easy to schedule and Jeff called me within the window.
Broad Financial has multiple offerings for crypto IRA accounts, including IRA Trust, LLC IRA (checkbook) and a solo 401k IRA. I was most interested in the IRA LLC that comes with checkbook privileges.
The cost was $1195 + $100 setup and $400/year – The $1195 is for LLC setup, including the appropriate articles of organization. It’s worth noting that Broad Financial includes the state filing fee in that $1195 (which is $200 in NY). I actually confirmed that via email with their entities team.
Directed IRA – Checkbook IRA LLC
I learned about Directed IRA from their YouTube channel and they have an excellent series of videos and a podcast. The guys seem passionate about Checkbook IRA’s,
The cost was typical – $1195 for a sign member LLC + $50 setup fee + $300/year – This includes the LLC paperwork and articles or organization, but the $1195 does not include state LLC filing fees.
IRA Financial – Checkbook IRA LLC
I’m using IRA Financial but not the LLC IRA. If self-custody of crypto keys is allowed, I will look into upgrading my account with IRA Financial.
IRA Financial was the best price at $999 including costs for the LLC filing. The annual fee was $460
Summary – Checkbook LLC IRA’s for Crypto
Hopefully, better guidance comes along and checkbook IRA’s get the ok to hold crypto keys. Until then, I’ve opted to use custodians to hold my retirement account crypto. If anything changes, I’ll be sure to update my findings.
Keep in mind there might additional tax filing requirements when you create an LLC. Be sure to ask these questions as part of your research. I didn’t get that far but would want to know who does the filing and if there are any extra charges.
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