In this iTrustCapital review, we will explain how cryptocurrency IRAs allow individuals to invest in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other major cryptocurrencies for tax-advantaged retirement planning. As a digital asset IRA platform, iTrustCapital provides investors with self-directed individual retirement accounts (or IRAs) to use for alternative investments, like cryptocurrencies.
You will also learn more about how iTrustCapital Crypto IRA offers low transaction fees, one of the most cost-effective in the industry, to buy and sell cryptocurrencies as part of your retirement investment plan, offering no monthly fee and a 1% transaction fee. To top it up, users of the platform can also get access to iTrustCapital’s award-winning U.S.-Based customer service team through phone, email or an online chat. Let’s review what the iTrustCapital platform can offer you to start and manage your crypto investments in your retirement accounts.
Best Crypto Exchange Apps
Cex.io is an online marketplace where you can buy or sell cryptocurrencies, trade crypto assets or exchange them for fiat money.
Kraken is a Bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange platform to sell, buy and trade cryptocurrencies no matter your trading experience level.
Gemini is a cryptocurrency exchange, digital wallet, and custodian to securely store crypto and easily buy and sell cryptocurrencies.
Nexo is helping crypto holders earn interest on crypto and borrow cash and stablecoins. In this Nexo review, learn what the company offers.
About iTrustCapital
iTrustCapital is a leading fintech software platform for alternative assets. The company provides 24/7 access to cryptocurrencies, and precious metals through self-directed, tax-advantaged* IRA, and Non-IRA account options. The company offers several IRA account types, but unlike others, iTrustCapital focuses on accounts holding cryptocurrencies, or crypto IRAs.
What Is a Crypto IRA Account?
A Crypto IRA is a form of self-directed Individual Retirement Account (SDIRA) that includes digital assets. These IRAs allow investment in a range of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), Solana (SOL), and more, offering a diversified approach beyond traditional assets like stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recognizes crypto as property, necessitating a self-directed IRA for such investments.
When you invest in a Crypto IRA, you are investing your pre-tax or after-tax dollars into cryptocurrencies, depending on the type of IRA you have (Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, or SEP IRA). The tax benefits you receive are in U.S. dollars, and you receive the tax benefits once you withdraw from your Crypto IRA – making Crypto IRAs comparable to Gold IRAs. This is because the IRS views cryptocurrencies separately from U.S. dollars and treats them as property instead of currency.
Selling one cryptocurrency and buying another is considered a taxable event. In the same fashion, selling crypto for U.S. dollars is considered a taxable event. However, crypto-assets held longer than 1 year are considered long-term investments and are taxed as long-term capital gains upon selling.
In short, cryptocurrencies are treated as property but not as currency. Therefore, Crypto IRAs allow you to invest in cryptocurrencies in a tax-advantaged* way, letting you reap the rewards upon retirement.
What is the Difference Between a Crypto IRA and an account through an Exchange?
At a high level, a Crypto IRA is a self-directed retirement account that allows investors to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrency within a tax-advantaged* structure. By contrast, a crypto exchange account is a standard, taxable account that lets you buy and sell digital assets but without the retirement or tax benefits.
Best Crypto Exchange Apps
Cex.io is an online marketplace where you can buy or sell cryptocurrencies, trade crypto assets or exchange them for fiat money.
Kraken is a Bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange platform to sell, buy and trade cryptocurrencies no matter your trading experience level.
Gemini is a cryptocurrency exchange, digital wallet, and custodian to securely store crypto and easily buy and sell cryptocurrencies.
Nexo is helping crypto holders earn interest on crypto and borrow cash and stablecoins. In this Nexo review, learn what the company offers.
Naming Conventions
The term Crypto IRA is the most accurate and inclusive, since it can support a wide variety of digital assets. If a provider only offered one cryptocurrency, such as Ethereum, it could be branded more specifically as an “Ethereum IRA.” However, regardless of the label, the structure is still a Crypto IRA.
Key Distinction from an Exchange Account
The biggest difference between a Crypto IRA and an exchange account lies in purpose and tax treatment:
- Crypto IRA: Held within a Traditional, Roth, or SEP IRA structure. Contributions may be tax-deductible or tax-free depending on the account type. Withdrawals follow retirement account rules and regulations.
- Exchange Account: Functions like a standard brokerage or cash account. Any gains are typically subject to short- or long-term capital gains tax in the year you sell or dispose of your crypto.
In short, both allow you to buy and hold cryptocurrency, but a Crypto IRA is designed for long-term retirement planning with potential tax advantages*, whereas an exchange account is geared toward regular investing without those benefits.
Why Choose iTrustCapital As Your Crypto IRA
iTrustCapital boastsseveral advantages over other Crypto IRA companies that stand up to scrutiny. The first is that the company displays its fees clearly on their website.You can find all of the costs associated with an account clearly laid out on the pricing page. There are no monthly, maintenance, annual, or commission fees.
When it comes to the prices themselves, iTrustCapital is relatively inexpensive. They charge a 1% transaction fee when buying or selling cryptocurrencies. In addition, their minimum investment requirements are not especially high, simply an initial investment of $1,000 and a minimum of $500 if you choose to add additional funds to the account, although this is not required.
On top of these factors, iTrustCapital offers a wide selection of cryptocurrencies and staking.
Best Crypto Exchange Apps
Cex.io is an online marketplace where you can buy or sell cryptocurrencies, trade crypto assets or exchange them for fiat money.
Kraken is a Bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange platform to sell, buy and trade cryptocurrencies no matter your trading experience level.
Gemini is a cryptocurrency exchange, digital wallet, and custodian to securely store crypto and easily buy and sell cryptocurrencies.
Nexo is helping crypto holders earn interest on crypto and borrow cash and stablecoins. In this Nexo review, learn what the company offers.
iTrustCapital Crypto IRA Account Review
Let’s take a closer look at how the Crypto IRA works.
How the Crypto IRA Accounts Works
An iTrustCapital Crypto IRA is meant to be simple and accessible. Opening an account and investing in cryptocurrencies are both easy to do.
As with any other IRA (or other financial products), you will need to go through an I.D. verification process. But once you do that, you can connect a payment option and fund your account. After that, you can begin investing in cryptocurrencies, as well as physical silver and gold.
How to Fund Your Account
You can transfer funds from any existing IRA you have. If you have an employee sponsored retirement plan from a job and leave your employer for any reason, you can rollover funds from a:
- 401(k)
- 403(b)
- TSP
- 457
Lastly, you can contribute cash funds via ACH or bankwire, so long as you follow the contribution limits.
While you can not transfer any cryptocurrencies held on an exchange or digital wallet into an iTrustCapital Crypto IRA, you can transfer your crypto in-kind from another Crypto IRA provider. This is due to IRS rules stipulating that you can only fund an IRA with U.S. dollars.
Simply put, if you already have a crypto IRA, your provider can have it transferred to an iTrustCapital IRA without needing to liquidate your assets.
Available Cryptocurrencies
These are the digital currencies available in the iTrustCapital trading platform.
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- XRP (XRP)
- Solana (SOL)
- Sui (SUI)
- Ethereum (ETH)
- Hedera (HBAR)
- Cardano (ADA)
- Dogecoin (DOGE)
- Stellar (XLM)
- Ondo (ONDO)
- Chainlink (LINK)
- Curve DAO Token (CRV)
- Bittensor (TAO)
- Avalanche (AVAX)
- Algorand (ALGO)
- Render Network (RNDR)
- Sonic (SONIC)
- Pepe (PEPE)
- Gigachad (GIGA)
- The Graph (GRT)
- Orca (ORCA)
- Sei (SEI)
- NEAR Protocol (NEAR)
- VeChain (VET)
- dogwifhat (WIF)
- Echelon Prime (PRIME)
- Fetch.ai (FET)
- Bonk (BONK)
- Flare (FLR)
- Quant (QNT)
- Internet Computer (ICP)
- Cosmos (ATOM)
- Aave (AAVE)
- Shiba Inu (SHIB)
- Polkadot (DOT)
- AIOZ Network (AIOZ)
- Aptos (APT)
- Injective (INJ)
- Gala (GALA)
- Litecoin (LTC)
- Official Trump (DJT)
- Berachain (BERA)
- Polygon (MATIC)
- MooDeng (MOODENG)
- Maker (MKR)
- Toncoin (TON)
- Filecoin (FIL)
- Immutable (IMX)
- Uniswap (UNI)
- SushiSwap (SUSHI)
- Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
- Helium (HNT)
- Optimism (OP)
- Decentraland (MANA)
- Axelar (AXL)
- Arbitrum (ARB)
- The Sandbox (SAND)
- Floki Inu (FLOKI)
- Stacks (STX)
- Compound (COMP)
- yearn.finance (YFI)
- Flow (FLOW)
- EOS (EOS)
- ApeCoin (APE)
- Axie Infinity (AXS)
- Tezos (XTZ)
- MetisDAO (METIS)
- Celestia (TIA)
- Lido DAO (LDO)
- Chiliz (CHZ)
- Jito (JTO)
- 1inch (1INCH)
- Basic Attention Token (BAT)
Best Crypto Exchange Apps
Cex.io is an online marketplace where you can buy or sell cryptocurrencies, trade crypto assets or exchange them for fiat money.
Kraken is a Bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange platform to sell, buy and trade cryptocurrencies no matter your trading experience level.
Gemini is a cryptocurrency exchange, digital wallet, and custodian to securely store crypto and easily buy and sell cryptocurrencies.
Nexo is helping crypto holders earn interest on crypto and borrow cash and stablecoins. In this Nexo review, learn what the company offers.
Tax Benefits
The iTrustCapital IRA accounts offer tax benefits corresponding to their IRA type.
iTrustCapital Traditional Crypto IRA
An iTrustCapital Traditional IRA grants the same tax benefits as a Traditional IRA. The account is tax-deferred, meaning you fund them with pre-tax income and don’t pay taxes until you withdraw during retirement.
iTrustCapital Roth Crypto IRA
Roth IRA accounts offer the opposite structure. You fund a Roth IRA with post-tax income. That means you pay your taxes before you deposit funds into the Roth IRA. The benefit is that because you fund them with post-tax dollars, you don’t pay taxes when you withdraw them during retirement.
iTrustCapital SEP Crypto IRA
Simplified Employee Pension IRAs are tax-deferred accounts like Traditional IRAs. But they enable the business owner or sole proprietor to make contributions as well. For the account owner, the tax benefits are the same as they are with a Traditional IRA.
Fees and Account Minimums
iTrustCapital Crypto IRA accounts come with straightforward minimums and fees.
- You must invest at least $1,000 to open an account
- Additional contributions after initial funding must be no less than $500
- There is a 1% trading fee for transactions
Withdrawals, liquidation, and in-kind transfers are free of charge.
Security Features
All clients’ crypto assets are secured with institutional storage providers via Coinbase Custody and Fireblocks. Crypto assets are stored within a fully secure, audited, and regularly stress-tested institutional environment using Cold Storage, MPC, and HSM.
In addition, individual user accounts are protected with two-factor authentication by Authy. That means that even if a would-be attacker discovers your password, they will not be able to access your account. Secondary authentication factors include voice, SMS, or in-app authentication.
iTrustCapital Customer Reviews
Customer review platforms such as Google and Trustpilot show that iTrustCapital clients are overwhelmingly happy with the service, with over 10,000 excellent reviews.. Other independent review sites also seem to praise the product and services offered by iTrustCapital.
Best Crypto Exchange Apps
Cex.io is an online marketplace where you can buy or sell cryptocurrencies, trade crypto assets or exchange them for fiat money.
Kraken is a Bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange platform to sell, buy and trade cryptocurrencies no matter your trading experience level.
Gemini is a cryptocurrency exchange, digital wallet, and custodian to securely store crypto and easily buy and sell cryptocurrencies.
Nexo is helping crypto holders earn interest on crypto and borrow cash and stablecoins. In this Nexo review, learn what the company offers.
How to Set Up an iTrustCapital Crypto IRA Account
You can set up an iTrustCapital account in a matter of minutes by following these instructions:
- Go to their website and select “Make a Free Account”
- Verify the email account you provide them with
- Follow the steps they guide you through for KYC verification
- Open an account of your choice
- Fund your account with a transfer, rollover, or cash contribution
- DocuSign your formal application
- Purchase the assets you want to add to your account
