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Michael Kurko has 18+ years of experience researching and writing about small businesses, wealth management, finance, and technology products and services. His work has appeared on U.S. News & World Report, The Balance, Software Advice, Fit Small Business, and Fast Capital 360. He has helped startups and small businesses build their brand identity, improve their online presence, and market to new and existing customers.
With practical experience running his own IT business and an education in the liberal arts, Matthew Klammer had become well-accustomed to the difficulties of research. From providing POS systems to small tourist shops to data security and account management Matthew has provided business solutions to many individuals.
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Traditional individual retirement accounts (IRAs) are a great way to provide future financial security. However, as the global markets become increasingly volatile, some investors are looking to diversify their IRAs with alternative assets, including Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Since Bitcoin is a digital rather than tangible asset, cryptocurrency IRAs require specialized management, greater protection of sensitive data, and deep expertise in cryptocurrency trading. We researched nearly a dozen Bitcoin IRAs and chose the best ones based on expertise, security, experience, fees, and more.
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Why We Chose It
Bitcoin IRA is a full-service Bitcoin IRA provider offering 24/7 trading, secure cold storage for digital assets, and $700 million of insurance protection, making it our choice as the best overall.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Easy setup and trading
Secure offline digital asset storage
Digital assets insured up to $700 million
Cons
High setup and maintenance fees
Overview
Established in 2016, Bitcoin IRA is the first and largest cryptocurrency IRA company that lets individuals invest in cryptocurrency with their retirement accounts. The platform’s easy account setup and management, 24/7 real-time trading, and military-grade security features are why we chose it as the best Bitcoin IRA company overall.
Bitcoin IRA makes it easy to create an IRA account and digital wallet in just a few minutes using its app or web dashboard. Once funds are transferred to an account, users can begin trading within three to five days and can buy, sell, and trade online any time of day or night.
Bitcoin IRA supports trading over 60 types of cryptocurrency, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, and Litecoin. Although the minimum to open a standard account is $3,000, the company also offers a Saver IRA that requires an initial deposit of $100 with a recurring investment of $100 per month through a linked bank account.
Bitcoin IRA also takes security seriously. The platform offers 256-bit encrypted SSL trading, stores digital assets offline in separate cold storage accounts, and insures its digital assets up to $700 million.
Bitcoin IRA charges a custodian fee, a security fee, and a one-time service fee, but they require potential investors to contact a customer service representative for specific numbers.
Receive a $100 reward when you create and fund an account with iTrustCapital.
Why We Chose It
iTrustCapital makes it easy for both novice and expert investors to start a Bitcoin IRA with expert consultants and transparent pricing, making it our choice for the best rates and fees in Bitcoin IRAs.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Low account and trading fees
$1,000 minimum investment
24/7 trading
Cons
No financial advisors on staff
Overview
Founded in 2018, iTrustCapital lets individuals buy and trade cryptocurrencies and physical gold in real time through their retirement accounts. The company has the lowest service and trade fees we’ve come across, placing it in the top spot for best rates and fees.
iTrustCapital offers some of the most affordable trading and investing fees. While it’s not uncommon to pay up to 15% per transaction to trade cryptocurrencies, iTrustCapital charges just 1% per transaction. There is no monthly fee, and clients are charged no initial purchase fees, broker fees, or scaling based on the size of their assets. Additionally, new users get a $100 Bitcoin reward when they fund their accounts.
iTrustCapital allows clients to trade in 29 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple, and EOS any time of day or night using its 24-hour transaction service. There is only a $1,000 minimum to start an account and a $30 trade minimum. iTrustCapital also lets its clients diversify their IRA portfolios with gold while enjoying the same fees.
In June 2021, iTrust announced that it began using Coinbase Custody to secure its digital assets up to $370 million. This is in addition to its basic coverage that begins at $50 million and is provided by Munich Re, a leading provider of insurance-related risk solutions founded in 1880.
Coin IRA provides education on the process of establishing and funding accounts and offers low fees, placing it in first place for the best investor experience.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Low fees
Cons
No longer offers varied wallet options
No Cryptocurrency consultants available
Overview
Coin IRA was founded in 2017. Its low fees and customer education make it our choice for the best investor experience.
Coin IRA helps individuals get started with its free "How to Add Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrencies to a Crypto IRA" that educates readers on the investment benefits of Cryptocurrency IRAs, how to convert existing retirement accounts to invest in cryptocurrencies, and more. From there, the company offers specialized cryptocurrency retirement experts who can walk customers through the process of setting up an account.
Coin IRA supports investment and trading in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and more. Assets are held in cold storage, off balance sheet, in the name of Equity Trust for the benefit of each specific account holder.
Coin IRA’s minimum investment is $5,000 to open a Cryptocurrency IRA, or $5,000 if funds are transferred from a non-IRA account. The company has confirmed there is no fee to set up the account, no annual or monthly maintenance fees, and no charge for insured cold storage for account holders’ digital assets.
BitIRA offers Bitcoin IRAs with dollar-for-dollar insurance coverage for digital assets and true offline cold storage of private keys, placing it in the top position as the best for security.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Digital assets kept in guarded offline storage
Full insurance coverage for digital assets
Multi-encryption encoding for transactions
Cons
Must open accounts with a digital currency specialist
Overview
Though only established in 2017, BitIRA has made a name for itself by offering the highest levels of security for both cryptocurrency transactions and storage, backed by unlimited insurance coverage, making it our choice as the best for security.
BitIRA uses multi-encryption encoding for transactions to keep them secure while they’re most vulnerable online. Once completed, transactions are moved to physical keys kept offline inside grade-5 nuclear bunkers protected by armed guards and computer security specialists 24/7.
BitIRA is so confident in its security measures that it covers all digital assets dollar-for-dollar, insuring all client digital currencies at full value. The company also offers a $1 million consumer protection insurance policy to protect against internal cases of fraud or theft.
BitIRA requires a minimum investment amount of $5,000 to start an IRA and requires customers to work with a digital currency specialist to open an account. The company allows clients to invest and trade in nine types of cryptocurrency, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, and Litecoin.
Equity Trust has been managing self-directed IRAs for 45 years with both traditional and alternative investments and no transaction fees, placing it in our top spot as the best for self-directed investments.
Pros & Cons
Pros
45 years' experience in self-directed IRAs
Supports traditional and alternative investments
No transaction fees
Cons
High administration fees
Must open accounts with a representative
Overview
As a financial services company established in 1974, Equity Trust branched into self-directed IRAs (SDIRAs) in 1983. The company’s extensive expertise in traditional and alternative investments, no transaction fees, and personal guidance make it our top choice as the best for self-directed investments.
Clients will need to speak to a representative directly in order to start an Equity Trust SDIRA. Once an account is open, clients can trade in up to eight cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin, with no fees and a one-day settlement.
Equity Trust also takes security seriously, employing over six security features, including multi-factor authentication, multi-encryption, and secure cold storage. The company also offers end-to-end insurance on its digital assets.
Equity Trust offers its clients access to SDIRA specialists who can help them manage their accounts as well as educational tools to help them understand their investment options. The company does offer a dashboard to its clients for handling transactions, requiring them to issue directions to an account specialist to invest funds from their accounts.
The company charges annual administration fees between $75 to $2,640 depending on the size of the account as well as a $50 setup fee, and a 0.07% monthly cold storage fee based on the account balance.
Best Variety of Cryptocurrency Supported:
Regal Assets
Regal Assets offers IRAs that allow clients to invest in both hard assets as well as digital assets including all popular cryptocurrencies, placing it in our top spot for the best variety of cryptocurrency supported.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Supports all popular cryptocurrencies
Flat-rate fees
Cons
Must open accounts with a representative
Overview
Founded in 2009 as an alternate assets investment firm, Regal Assets added cryptocurrency to its portfolio in 2017. Although its original focus is on precious metals, the company allows trading of popular cryptocurrency investments and is our choice for the best variety of cryptocurrency supported.
Regal Assets makes it easy to create an IRA account with an initial investment or by rolling over funds from a traditional IRA. Once a client fills out an online application, a team member will contact them to set up their account.
As a top-rated crypto IRA company in the U.S., Regal Assets was the first company in the industry to receive a crypto trading license. Although the company’s site only lists 22 supported cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, and Litecoin, it allows its clients to invest in just about any cryptocurrency they want.
Another unique feature of Regal Assets is its flat fees, which include a $100 annual administration fee and a $150 yearly storage fee, both of which are waived during the first year. The storage fees include multiple offshore storage options for precious metals, which is less than other firms offer.
Final Verdict
As more firms allow their clients to add alternative assets like Bitcoin to their IRAs, understanding which ones offer the best expertise, security, and support can be tricky. In the end, companies with deep expertise in managing both traditional and digital assets are the ones who can future-proof their clients’ retirements.
Bitcoin IRA takes our top spot as the best overall, Coin IRA is our pick for the best investor experience, iTrustCapital wins for the best rates and fees, BitIRA aced the best for security category, Equity Trust is our choice as the best for self-directed investments, while Regal Assets closes out our list by winning for the best variety of cryptocurrency supported.
Supports investing using all popular cryptocurrencies
Frequently Asked Questions
How Do Bitcoin IRAs Work?
A Bitcoin IRA allows individuals to diversify their IRAs with investments in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. Because the IRS considers Bitcoin property, taxing them like stocks and bonds, account holders need a custodian to manage their IRA.
Bitcoin IRA firms also allow account holders to freely trade cryptocurrency on their platforms and offer either secure online or offsite storage for their clients’ digital assets.
How Should I Choose a Bitcoin IRA Company?
Security and fees are two of the most important criteria for choosing a Bitcoin IRA company. Since cryptocurrency isn’t backed by any fiat currency, investors who have their accounts hacked risk losing everything. As a result, many firms store digital assets in physical vaults to protect accounts from cyberattacks and also insure investments up to a certain dollar value.
Fees are also a big consideration, since many firms charge high trading and administrative fees based on the size of accounts, as well as storage fees, potentially cutting into the profitability of investments. It’s also important to choose a company with dedicated experience in managing IRAs and not just cryptocurrencies.
Are All Bitcoin IRA Companies Safe?
Some would say that the uncertainty of cryptocurrency, in general, makes Bitcoin IRAs inherently risky. Those willing to accept the risk must find firms with the technology and infrastructure to manage transactions securely and protect their digital assets.
To this end, firms that offer multiple layers of transaction encoding and security features, a variety of cryptocurrency choices for investing, and offline cold storage provide the most security available for their clients.
What Are the Benefits of Bitcoin IRAs?
The main advantage of Bitcoin IRAs is that they add diversification to retirement portfolios to both mitigate risk and maximize potential returns. Investors who diversify their IRAs with precious metals due to their relative market stability are now looking to cryptocurrencies for the same reason. Including digital currencies in some types of retirement accounts can also help investors avoid heavy capital gains taxes.
How We Chose the Best Bitcoin IRA Companies
We looked at nearly a dozen Bitcoin IRAs for this review. Our first consideration was to find companies with deep experience in managing IRAs as well as alternative assets like cryptocurrencies.
Security was also a major consideration. Since Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency isn’t backed by any bank or hard assets, a cyber hacker could potentially wipe out an entire Bitcoin IRA. For that reason, we made sure to choose companies that provided state-of-the-art security features and high insurance coverage for their digital assets.
Finally, we included companies with low or reasonable fees since managing a Bitcoin IRA can be potentially much more expensive than managing most traditional retirement accounts.