Bitcoin IRA Definition | Investopedia

DEFINITION of ‘Bitcoin IRA’

Bitcoin IRAs allow for investing in various cryptocurrencies using retirement savings. It acts as a “self-directed IRA” provided by a few financial institutions in the U.S. which allow alternative investments for retirement savings. Essentially, one can keep other retirement accounts with traditional investments, and separately engage in the self-directed option for cryptocurrency investments.

BREAKING DOWN ‘Bitcoin IRA’

In a standard Individual Retirement Account (IRA), individuals can keep their investments in traditional securities like stocks, bonds and money market funds. Bitcoin IRAs provide an additional option for investing in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

Though most such IRA accounts tend to carry the name “Bitcoin” owing to the brand value linked with the most popular cryptocurrency, they also allow investments in other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin , Bitcoin…