BitIRA: Crypto Cold Storage Individual Retirement Account Service?

BitIRA, or BitIRA.com, is an online service that will help you place digital currencies in your IRA. Find out more about the website today in our review.

What is BitIRA?

BitIRA is an online informational website dedicated to explaining how to place cryptocurrencies like bitcoin in your IRA.

The website has some basic information about bitcoin IRAs on its own. However, you can also enter your first name, last name, email address, and phone number (optional) to get a free guide called “The Essential Guide to Digital IRAs”.

BitIRA might seem like a helpful and friendly website. However, as you may have guessed, the site is trying to turn you from a free visitor into a paying customer. The main goal of the site is simple: it was created by an IRA company called Preferred Trust Company to push you towards their IRA products. The Nevada-based company is launching a digital currency IRA custodian service.

How Does BitIRA Work?

BitIRA wants to be your IRA custodian. An IRA custodian manages the administrative duties of your self-directed IRA. Yes, you can put bitcoin in your IRA – but even with a self-directed IRA, you’ll need a custodian for that IRA to be legal.

That’s where BitIRA wants to make money: bitcoin IRA companies typically charge significantly higher fees than traditional IRA custodians. They know that there aren’t many IRA custodians specializing in bitcoin, so fees are relatively high.

In any case, BitIRA.com wants to convince you to sign up for a digital currency IRA from Preferred Trust Company. Preferred Trust Company wants to be the custodian of your IRA.

As a custodian, Preferred Trust Company will carry out your directions and administer your account. By law, all self-directed IRAs must be managed by a certified custodian.

You can place six different cryptocurrencies in your IRA, including bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, and Ethereum Classic.

After you purchase cryptocurrencies, BitIRA.com and Preferred Trust Company will setup a cold storage, multi-signature wallet for you. Your funds are kept in cold storage for maximum security.

Who is Preferred Trust Company?

Preferred Trust Company is a licensed trust custodian founded in 2007. The Las Vegas, Nevada-based company specializes in self-directed IRAs.

BitIRA appears to be directly affiliated with Preferred Trust Company. However, BitIRA.com may have promoted other companies in the past. The website features the address for a California-based company called Birch Gold Group.

In any case, BitIRA.com recommends using Preferred Trust Company to hold cryptocurrencies in your self-directed investment account. The company has four teams dedicated to managing your IRA, including:

• Customer Service Team: This team assists customers with general account inquiries.
• Transfer Team: Preferred Trust Company will work with your prior custodian to seamlessly transfer funds to the platform.
• Investment Team: This team facilitates processing of your investment choice – say, cryptocurrencies – for placement in your IRA.
• Accounting Team: The accounting team processes all IRA payments, contributions, distributions, account statements, and tax documentation.

These are the services provided by BitIRA and Preferred Trust Company as your IRA custodian.

Preferred Trust Company offers a number of different investment accounts, including traditional and Roth IRAs, SEP accounts, and SIMPLE accounts.

In addition to digital currency IRAs, Preferred Trust Company offers precious metal IRAs. We’ve seen a number of precious trust IRA companies branch into the newly formed industry of bitcoin IRAs.

Benefits of a Digital Currency IRA

BitIRA.com advertises digital currency IRAs as a powerful investment vehicle, allowing you to enjoy tax-free growth, high security, and better diversification. Some of the advertised benefits on BitIRA.com include:

Tax-Free Growth:

Any growth in your IRA account is tax deferred. You won’t pay taxes on your earnings until retirement, which is when you’re expected to withdraw your earnings at a lower tax bracket.

Security:

All transactions are confirmed via a peer-to-peer protocol on the blockchain network for maximum security.

Diversification:

Diversify your IRA beyond just mutual funds and stocks.

Hedge Against Inflation:

“Adaptive scaling of digital currency makes it impossible to artificially inflate supply,” explains BitIRA.com in a slightly misleading way.

Cut Out the Banks:

“Decentralized infrastructure means that it’s untouchable by big institutions,” explains the official website.

Pricing

BitIRA.com is affiliated with Preferred Trust Company. You can view Preferred Trust Company’s fee schedule here. Otherwise, here are some important fees you need to know about:

• IRA Account Establishment Fee (Traditional, Roth, SEP, or SIMPLE IRA): $50
• Partial Transfer Out Fee: $80
• Full Transfer Out or Account Termination Fee: $300
• Incoming and Outgoing Wire Transfer Fee: $30
• Overnight Delivery Fee: $40
• Stop Payment / Return Check Fee: $30
• Cashier’s Check Fee: $50
• Retitling Fee: $50
• IRA Account Conversion Fee: $50
• ACH/Wire Rejection Fee: $30
• IRA Service and Research Fee: $100 per hour
• Contribution Only IRA Account Establishment Fee: $50
• Contribution Only IRA Account Administration Fee: $100 per year

Preferred Trust Company also charges hefty annual IRA account administration fees. The more money you have in your account, the higher your annual administration fee will be:

• IRA Account Value of $0 to $50,000: $300 annual IRA account administration fee
• $50,0001 to $100,000: $400
• $100,001 to $200,000: $500
• $200,001 to $300,000: $600
• $300,001 to $400,000: $700
• $400,001 to $500,000: $800
• $500,001 to $600,000: $900
• $600,001 and Up: $1,000

Who’s Behind BitIRA.com?

BitIRA.com appears to be run by Preferred Trust Company, a Las Vegas-based company. The company’s address is listed as:

2140 E Pebble Road, Suite 140

Las Vegas, NV 89123

You can contact the company by phone at 702-990-7892 or 888-990-7892.

Preferred Trust Company has a license from the Financial Institutions Division of Nevada (license number TR1002).

Although Preferred Trust Company is mentioned on the BitIRA.com website, the website lists a totally different address: it lists its location as 3500 W. Olive Ave, Suite 730, in Burbank, California. That’s the address for another precious metal IRA service called Birch Gold Group. Different contact information is also posted on the BitIRA.com website.

BitIRA Conclusion

BitIRA.com is one of several bitcoin IRA services available online. The company offers bitcoin IRA services to investors across the United States. BitIRA.com is affiliated with an IRA service called Preferred Trust Company, although they also appear to be connected to a separate company called Birch Gold Group.

In any case, the website can setup a bitcoin IRA for you in exchange for relatively high fees ($300 to $1,000 per year custodian fee + $50 account establishment fee and a number of other deposit/withdrawal/cancelation fees).

To learn more about BitIRA.com and their bitcoin IRA services, visit online today at BitIRA.com.