Bitcoin had an impressive 2020, growing by almost 10x from a bottom of $3,000 to a year-end peak of nearly $30,000. This has caused some of the world's best investors and most forward looking companies to place large bets on Bitcoin with hopes of continued outperformance against the US Dollar and US Stocks.
Many investors seek to get Bitcoin exposure within their 401k but are often stumped on how to do that. Luckily platforms like iTrustCapital allow investors to put Bitcoin in their 401k / IRA easily and with low fees.
- Why Investors Like Bitcoin
- How to Put Bitcoin in Your 401k
- See All 2 Items
Why Investors Like Bitcoin
Bitcoin has continued to impress investors from all over the world since its inception in 2010. Originally created by Satoshi Nakamoto, an anonymous developer, Bitcoin became the world's first blockchain that can store, send and transmit value anywhere in the world nearly instantly. The native unit of account within the system is also known as Bitcoin (BTC). Bitcoin is not only limited in supply, but it requires real world resources in order to generate new coins, similar to gold mining. This has caused many investors to consider Bitcoin as a “Digital Gold”, since it is scarce, can store value and can even be used as a means of exchange.
In March of 2020, the world renowned investor Paul Tudor Jones released his “Compelling Case for Owning Bitcoin” letter which highlighted why Bitcoin may be one of the greatest hedges against US Dollar inflation. Later in the year, a Fortune 500 company known as “MicroStrategy” swapped its entire treasury of more than 1 Billion Dollars directly into Bitcoin. While these two large investments made waves across the entire crypto industry, many more large investors and institutions have continued to quietly amass as much Bitcoin as possible.
How to Put Bitcoin in Your 401k
While the average American might not be as serious about investing as Warren Buffet or Paul Tudor Jones, they still have access to something very special - 401k’s and IRA’s. These vehicles allow Americans to not only buy alternative assets like Bitcoin, but they can even grow tax-free through Roth options and tax-deferred through Traditional options.
Those that want to put Bitcoin in their 401k simply need to do a rollover into a Crypto IRA. You likely qualify to turn your 401k into a Crypto IRA if you meet one of the following two criteria:
1. Your 401k is from a previous employer
2. You are over the age of 59.5
For those that qualify, they simply need to follow an easy 3 step process before they can buy Bitcoin in their IRA / 401k:
1. Create a free account at iTrustCapital.com
2. Complete the “rollover” setup process, which takes approximately 5-10 minutes.
3. Call your 401k provider using the instructions provided by email. They will send funds into your new Crypto IRA account.
4. Once your funds arrive, you are ready to trade on the 24/7 trading platform!
If you wish to learn more about how a Bitcoin IRA/401k might work for you, you can request a free investors guide here.