Health, Wealth, and Happiness

May 22, 2023

"Beware the investment activity that produces applause; the great moves are usually greeted by yawns."

- Warren Buffett

In today's issue: Are you looking for a way to add crypto assets to your retirement planning? Check out today's Best Managed Bitcoin IRAs, Rated and Reviewed.

Bitcoin (or crypto) IRAs allow you to place select cryptos into tax-advantaged retirement accounts. While many popular investing platforms allow for self-directed crypto investments, the firms we're highlighting in this piece go one step further, providing custody and asset management features.

While we don't advocate putting ALL your retirement dollars into a bitcoin or crypto IRA product, we believe allocating a small portion of your retirement savings to crypto. Read on!

Must Read

Today's most important story for crypto investors.

Congressman Emmer Introduces "Securities Clarity Act" (The Defiant)

Republican Congressman Tom Emmer introduced a bill last Thursday intended to provide clarity to the Web3 industry regarding the rules for digital asset firms.

Called the Securities Clarity Act, it seeks to clarify the 1933 Securities Act in regards to digital assets.

“The Securities Clarity Act inserts a key term, the ‘investment contract asset,’ into existing securities law to enable crypto projects to reach their full potential in a compliant way,” Emmer tweeted.

Investor takeaway: This could be a game changer for the crypto space. Until now, there has been a lack of clarity regarding the status of crypto projects in terms of securities law, which has led to political infighting and confusion for crypto projects and investors alike. Giving clarity to the space could unlock a new wave of investment from those sitting on the sidelines due to the current uncertainties.

Premium members will get an even deeper look into the bill tomorrow when we break it down fully to examine what it would change and how it could impact crypto markets.

Premium Power-Ups

Level up your crypto investing game.

The 59 Theses Of Crypto Investing

A thesis is a statement that says, “I think this is true, but I challenge you to prove or disprove it.” In investing, especially crypto investing, it’s important to have a thesis.

Back in 2022, we wrote these 59 Theses of Crypto Investing, which was inspired by Martin Luther's "95 Theses." We then pasted them on the doors of a bank, sparking the crypto revolution.

The "59 Theses" are still relevant and worth revisiting. For example, here’s one of our investment theses:

You'll get loads of value from reading these theses, so if you're a Premium member, download it here.

Not yet a Premium member? Sign up now for just $10 a month and get access to our complete library of reports, scorecards, and members-only events.

Best Managed Bitcoin IRAs, Rated and Reviewed

by Daniel Joel

Most investors know there's no better time to start investing for retirement than today. What many investors don't know, however, is it's now possible to put bitcoin and other select cryptos into your retirement investment account.

Here, we’ve assembled a few of the top-managed bitcoin and crypto IRAs to help you choose the best possible provider to help you with your digital asset retirement investments.

At a glance:

Best Rates and Fees: ITrustCapital

Best for Security: CoinIRA

Best for Self-Directed Investments: Equity Trust

Best Investor Experience: Bitcoin IRA

Learn how crypto and bitcoin IRAs work, which providers offer managed IRAs, and whether it’s a good idea to make bitcoin part of your retirement fund.

Best Bitcoin IRA Accounts

Our analysts have comprised a list of the top bitcoin IRA accounts currently available. We've included factors like launch year, number of supported assets, minimum investments, lowest fees, and more.

CoinIRA

Minimum investment: $5,000

Assets under management: $34 billion

BMJ Score: 4.5

CoinIRA was founded in 2017 and allows users to trade up to 18 cryptos. Also, their "flex metals" program allows you to invest in gold, silver, or platinum. The company has no monthly or storage fees, but you’ll need a minimum of $5,000 to open an account. You’ll also pay a 1.25% trade fee. The digital assets are secured in the custody of Equity Trust, a regulated, IRS-approved custodian.

iTrustCapital

Minimum investment: $1,000

Assets under management: $6 billion

BMJ Score: 4.0

iTrustCapital was founded in 2018 to allow clients to buy and sell crypto using IRA retirement accounts. The company offers up to 25 cryptos and access to physical gold and silver. You won’t need to pay any setup or management fees, though transaction fees are set at 1%. You'll also need at least $1,000 to open an iTrustCapital account.

BitcoinIRA

Minimum investment: $5,000

Assets under management: $100 million

BMJ Score: 4.0

BitcoinIRA is a retirement asset company founded in March 2015 by Chris Kline, Johannes Haze, and Camilo Concha. Some of the assets offered by the company include cryptos and precious metals. The accounts are easy to set up and allow you to trade as many as 60 different cryptos with up to $700M of their assets insured at Lloyds of London. The minimum investment for the company is set at $5,000 with an annual maintenance fee of $195. They have a one-time service fee of 0.99-4.99%. They also charge a 2% transaction fee and a 0.08% security fee.

BitIRA

Minimum investment: $5,000

Assets under management: $2.5 million

BMJ Score: 3.5

BitIRA was founded in 2017. It allows customers to grow their assets including crypto for an extended period. BitIRA's minimum investment is set at $5,000 and allows you to trade with up to 18 different cryptos while maintaining control of your assets. The setup cost for an account is $50, with the monthly storage cost set at 0.05% per month. There's also an annual maintenance fee of $195.

Equity Trust

Minimum investment: $10,000

Assets under management: $39 Billion

BMJ Score: 3.5

Equity Trust was founded by Richard Desich, Sr. in 1974. It's a self-directed custodian IRA which allows you to diversify your portfolio. Equity Trust lets you to invest in real estate, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and crypto. It also has a feature that allows other providers like BitIRA and CoinIRA to integrate with its platform. To set up an account, you'll pay $50 and $75 for online and paper registration, respectively. The annual maintenance fee ranges from $225 to $2,250 depending on your account balance.

BitAdvizers

Minimum investment: $20,000

Assets under management:

BMJ Score: 2.5

BitAdvizers was founded by Chris Mitchell in 2018. The company was formed to help customers invest in crypto and precious metals. To open an account, you need to pay a one-time fee of $550. It has additional annual maintenance fees of $195. You’ll need a minimum of $20,000 to invest with BitAdvizers.

NobleBitcoin

Minimum investment: $10,000

Assets under management:

BMJ Score: 2.5

NobleBitcoin was founded by Charles Thorngren and Collins Plumer to help customers invest in bitcoin and other digital assets. You need at least $10,000 to invest with NobleBitcoin. Also, you can invest your existing IRS-approved retirement funds in crypto. Noble Gold is a different arm of the company that deals with precious metals.

What is a Crypto IRA?

An IRA (individual retirement account) is a popular investment method used for retirement due to specific tax benefits. The four main types of IRAs – Traditional, ROTH, SEP, and SIMPLE – offer slightly different ways to invest in your retirement with the purpose of avoiding unnecessary taxes. Initially conceived around stocks and mutual funds, IRAs have expanded to include gold, real estate, and crypto.

In most cases, individuals can invest up to $6,500 of earned income (not including capital gains, social security, child support, etc.) for those under age 50, and $7,500 for those age 50 or older annually into an IRA. However, IRAs are not very liquid due to age-based rules around withdrawals. The penalty for withdrawing funds from an IRA account before the age of 59.5 is 10% of the withdrawal, so the vast majority of IRAs are based on a “set it and forget it” mentality.

Since 1974, Americans have utilized the benefits of IRAs to reduce their taxes while saving for the future. Interested investors can set up IRAs with the banks, brokerages, or credit unions of their choice. The portfolio distribution is typically determined by the party offering the IRA unless it’s a “self-directed IRA.” Self-directed IRAs enable investors to choose asset allocation.

IRAs generally consist of widely accepted safe investments including mutual funds, ETFs, bonds, and some blue-chip stocks. However, some IRA providers have begun offering digital assets as a part of their portfolio options.

Why Invest in a Crypto IRA?

The IRS promotes the use of IRAs because it’s a tax-advantaged financial product that helps Americans save for retirement. The foundation for financial security typically begins with baseline accounts like IRAs, but they shouldn't be the only sources for retirement income.

The average IRA returns 7-10% on an annual basis, but this can be improved by adding higher yielding assets like bitcoin and other blue-chip cryptos. Due to contribution limitations, early withdrawal penalties, and restrictions on earned income, the IRA should remain untouched until the age of 59.5.

Since it arrived in the early 1970s, millions of Americans have taken advantage of the IRA to ensure their golden years are financially stable. In short, an IRA has few disadvantages if used for the sole purpose of saving and investing for retirement.

How Does a Crypto IRA Work?

As crypto continues to merge with traditional finance, it's made a significant impact on the way we view retirement funds. Crypto IRAs have become possible as retirement investment vehicles. However, the IRS has yet to define an IRA account that includes digital assets, though some IRA custodians are following the IRS rules that define digital assets as property, making them fair game for inclusion in an IRA product.

IRAs have been used to expand investments towards real estate, precious metals, notes, tax lien certificates, and more. As of late, IRAs have begun to include digital assets like bitcoin, Litecoin, and Ethereum, all to be taxed at the same rate as “property” according to the IRS.

The only type of IRA allowed to include digital assets is a self-directed IRA (SDIRA), but investors must still go through a custodian to start their retirement funds.

The custodian, contrary to traditional IRAs, has no fiduciary responsibility to the client. This means choosing the right provider of your digital asset IRA is very important.

Though digital assets undoubtedly add risk to the overall portfolio, bitcoin IRAs offer diversification and higher potential gains for investors willing to back the digital asset revolution.

Should Bitcoin Be a Part of Your Retirement Fund?

It’s well documented that digital assets carry more risk than stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc. If an investor chooses a bitcoin IRA versus a traditional IRA, they're taking on more risk to potentially generate higher returns.

As the old saying goes, “If you want something done right, do it yourself.” Investors should conduct copious amounts of research prior to choosing a bitcoin IRA as their primary retirement fund.

The success of the bitcoin IRA will, at least in part, be determined by the overall adoption of digital assets in the future. However, customizable crypto IRAs allow investors to “get in on the action” while keeping a manageable level of risk.

We’ve found one great way to minimize risk when investing in crypto is to follow a conservative strategy like that found in our Blockchain Believers Portfolio, which has a maximum allocation of 10% to crypto assets.

Investor Takeaway

Bitcoin IRAs remain a new financial product, but there are ways smart crypto investors can take advantage of these retirement accounts. Consider:

Using qualified providers from our list
Watching out for fees
Allocating no more than 10% to crypto
Investing in quality crypto assets (using our ratings and scorecards)

When saving for retirement, safety is paramount, but that doesn't mean investors cannot make space for digital assets in their bitcoin IRAs. Using a self-directed IRA, along with the help of a qualified custodian from our list, will give investors more options when it comes to the allocation of their funds.

ICYMI