What is a Bitcoin IRA?

We will explore what is a Bitcoin IRA, what benefits it provides investors, and where to sign up.

What is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin (BTC) is one of the most exciting innovations to enter the financial industry within the last 100 years. The world's first virtual currency that is not owned by any single person, government or entity. Bitcoin is controlled by the people, through it’s mining network, known as Proof of Work.

Proof of Work allows anyone in the world to use their computer power to secure the Bitcoin network and be rewarded with payments in Bitcoin. Since its inception in 2009, Bitcoin has become a household name in the financial industry.

Who invests in Bitcoin?

While 2020 brought Fortune 500 companies like Microstrategy purchase Bitcoin for their company treasury reserves, the news in 2021 has been even larger. In February of 2021, Tesla announced they put more than 10% of their treasury, accounting for more than 1.5 Billion Dollars into Bitcoin.

In addition to large global corporations, some of the world's greatest individual investors have shown to favor Bitcoin as a part of their portfolio as well. Paul Tudor Jones announced in 2020 that he believed the digital assets were incredibly undervalued and compared it to Gold.  Alternative assets and alternative investments are likely continue to be a major story throughout the 2020's.

How can you buy Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is available from many exchanges all over the world, these include Binance, Kraken, Paybis, iTrustCapital and others. The main difference with digital assets compared to stocks and bonds is that the markets trade 24/7 and never close. This means that investors can buy or sell anytime, without ever having to worry about the time of day. This instant liquidity has caused Bitcoin and other digital currencies to become a favorite of investors and traders alike.

Putting Bitcoin in your IRA / 401k.

While US investors have historically only had access to stocks and bonds within their retirement accounts, a new industry has emerged under the name Bitcoin IRA or a Crypto IRA. These are self-directed IRA platforms that allow clients to invest in Bitcoin, Ethereum and other digital assets while still keeping the tax benefits and flexibility of their retirement accounts. These platform allow for both Traditional IRA accounts and Roth IRA accounts, which are specifically designed for long term investments.

How to Evaluate a Bitcoin IRA / Crypto IRA company.

When considering investing part of your retirement account into a Bitcoin IRA, it’s important to evaluate the five following factors.

Fees

The Crypto IRA industry has been plagued by companies that charge incredibly high fees due to commissioned sales agents and lots of manual paperwork. While Crypto IRA's can occur tax free investing, it's still important to consider fees. Fortunately, next generation technology companies like iTrustCapital have arrived that offer incredibly low fees.

24/7 Trading

As mentioned earlier, Bitcoin and digital assets can be traded 24/7 in real time. It’s important to not only ensure that the Crypto IRA company you choose has 24/7 trading, but that their trades settle quickly as well. Companies like Bitcoin IRA have trade times that settle in around 2-4 business days, while iTrustCapital settles trades within a few minutes.

Institutional Storage, Security and Insurance

The most important thing to keep in mind when investing in Bitcoin and other digital assets is the security and insurance that is offered by companies. While Bitcoin storage used to be incredibly difficult, there are many large scale institutional custodians that are designed to secure assets. Companies like Curv offer military grade storage, and even a $50 million dollar insurance policy to back their storage.

Team

Whenever investing in anything, it’s important to perform due diligence on a company's leadership. These are the people who likely built the systems, monitor the security and ensure your assets cannot only be traded 24/7 but are secured properly as well. As a good rule of thumb, if you cannot find a company's team on their website, that is a huge red flag.

Who are the top Bitcoin IRA / Crypto IRA companies?

1. iTrustCapital – They offer not only the lowest fees in the industry by far, but they have robust military grade storage and the best 24/7 trading platform. In addition, their team has decades of experience in the financial services and technology industries.
2. Bitcoin IRA offers one of the most user-friendly services and all-around solutions if you want to open a highly secure Bitcoin IRA or one in a range of other major cryptocurrencies. You will find an extremely transparent provider of self-directed IRAs with the backing BitGO Trust for completely secure digital assets trading on-chain that is insured for up to $100 million for complete peace of mind.
3. BitIRA – is one of the best choices if you are seeking a secure place to hold your Bitcoin IRA. This is due to the fact that the company also provides secure cold storage services to ensure your investment stays completely safe until your retirement.