iTrustCapital Review

Do you want to invest in gold or cryptocurrency as a retirement investment? Adding those assets to your existing or new IRA account adds various tax benefits to your investment. This way, you don’t only get to hold them in your retirement account but also enjoy IRA tax advantages on them. 

With that said, can you invest in both precious metals and crypto within an IRA account through a single platform? While most investment service providers don’t offer you that option, iTrustCapital is a digital asset investment platform that does. Ideal for beginner and seasoned investors, iTrustCapital allows you to open, fund, and invest in a self-directed IRA without going through any long and complex process.

Now comes the major question “Is iTrustCapital reliable?” Well, it’s time we find that out! Drawing from my decades of investment experience, this article will uncover everything I experienced while opening a precious metals IRA account with iTrustCapital. 

iTrustCapital: A Brief Overview

With a vision to help investors eliminate costly and outdated IRA investment processes, iTrustCapital allows you to hold alternative assets such as cryptocurrency, gold, and silver in your retirement account. 

The best part about investing with iTrustCapital is the 24-hour trading convenience at the asset’s spot prices. So whenever you're ready to add a cryptocurrency or gold to your IRA, you can buy it at the spot price in seconds. 

Besides these perks, investing with iTrustCapital has some downsides too, including limited product variety and accessibility to only US-based investors. We’ll discuss these downsides further in the article. 

What Makes iTrustCapital Stand Out?

Having invested with iTrustCapital myself, here are some standout features that I have explored on the platform so far: 

Crypto Investment

If you plan to open an IRA with alternative investments like cryptocurrencies, iTrustCapital has your back. Interestingly, this is one of few IRA investment platforms I have encountered that allows you to hold crypto assets in a retirement account. Not only can you invest in cryptocurrencies, but you also enjoy the tax benefits of an IRA on these digital assets. 

However, note that investing in cryptos with iTrustCapital only allows you to access 33 popular coins, as listed below:

Precious Metals Investment and Storage

In addition to cryptocurrency, I also found iTrustCapital to offer precious metals investment options. This means you can invest in physical gold and silver bars at spot prices from their market. 

But how does a digital investment and trading platform allow you to hold physical metals in your IRA account? For that, iTrustCapital partners with Kitco, a precious metals broker, to facilitate physical assets trades on the platform. Since Kitco is a leading trader in physical gold and silver, you can rest assured that you’re investing in only high-quality physical assets with iTrustCapital. 

How does Kitco operate? It collaborates with Tradewind's Vaultchain™ platform to track actual gold and silver investors’ ownership on iTrustCapital using blockchain technology. This adds to the platform’s efficiency, ensuring you receive the same assets you invest in once you’re eligible for IRA distributions. 

Regarding asset storage, The Royal Canadian Mint serves as Kitco Metals' secure storage supplier. Hence, the precious metal bars you invest in with iTrustCapital will be stored in the Royal Canadian Mint's vaults. So you can ensure that the physical assets you hold in an iTrustCapital IRA are held in a secure vault, which you can also visit in person. 

Trusted and Qualified Custodian

Since iTrustCapital is not a custodian, it collaborates with Fortress Trust, a state-chartered trust corporation to handle the custody of its investor's physical and digital assets. This trust corporation safeguards and holds the custody of the assets in your iTrust IRA account.

What makes Fortress Trust reliable for digital asset storage is its incorporation of unique technology, such as BitGo and Fireblocks platforms. These external businesses and leading trust companies like BitGo and Fireblocks undertake frequent security and financial assessments of iTrustCapital to add to investors' asset security. 

Easy-to-Use Platform

Over the years, I’ve realized that starting with an IRA investment is always better if you open a self-directed account. Why? Because this type of IRA account offers more control and flexibility on the assets you choose to hold in your retirement account. Interestingly, iTrustCapital allows you to open a self-directed IRA account without the need to go through complex account setup processes.

Other than their hassle-free account opening process, I am also pleased with iTrustCapital's straightforward website UI. This makes the trading platform easy to navigate even for complete beginner investors. 

In case you have any questions or issues — as I had regarding their IRA distribution process — their detailed FAQ section will prove to be of critical value. Of course, you can also contact their highly responsive customer support team by phone or email if you don’t find the answer you’re looking for. 

Online Security 

When making online investments, ensuring the security of your account and funds is just as crucial as the security of your assets. 

iTrustCapital understands that and offers unparalleled security solutions to ensure no one, but you can access the assets in your IRA. 

Here’s how the platform adds a layer of security for all it’s investors accounts:

How To Invest in Precious Metals IRA with iTrustCapital?

Interestingly, opening an IRA account and investing in it with iTrustCapital is hassle-free. It only took a simple 5 step process to open my IRA account with them and begin investing. 

Here’s how the process unfolds: 

1. First, click on the ‘Open Account’ option and fill in the basic details to create an account on the platform, including name, number, email, and password. 
2. After that, you will verify your email.
3. Once the email is verified, you can log in and complete the account setup by sharing residential details.
4. Next, you must choose your preferred IRA account type, i.e., Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, or SEP IRA. 
5. Lastly, select a funding method. For this, iTrustCapital allows you to choose between a rollover from an employer plan, cash funding, or IRA transfer. 

That’s it! Once all the details are filled in and your account is funded, you can begin investing in gold, silver, or any popular cryptocurrencies at their spot prices.

Note: It takes 1-3 business days to open a new IRA account with iTrustCapital once you submit your online application. However, how you fund your account will affect when you can begin investing.

iTrustCapital Fee

Besides its praiseworthy services, iTrustCapital is also transparent with its pricing. According to its website, the platform doesn’t charge any account setup or monthly fee. However, you will have to pay the following charges with every investment you make on iTrustCapital: 

• Cryptocurrency Investment Fee: 1%

• Physical Gold Investment Fee: $50 on spot price/per ounce

• Physical Silver Investment: $2.50 on spot price/per ounce

• Conversion Fee: A one-time cost of $75 for converting a Traditional or SEP IRA to a Roth IRA with iTrustCapital.

While iTrust charges a low investment fee, keep in mind that its minimum for the first IRA investment is $1,000. I found this minimum quite high, especially for small-budget and beginner investors who want to start small.

iTrustCapital Rating on Consumer Review Sites

Pros and Cons

Final Verdict

While cryptocurrency is a rather volatile asset, investing in popular coins like BTC and ETH often serves to be profitable in the long run. At the same time, investing in precious metals allows you to secure the value of your wealth for years to come. 

The good thing is that iTrustCapital lets you choose between both these asset classes when investing in an IRA. So you don’t have to make the difficult choice when you can hold both physical and digital assets in your retirement account. 

That said, knowing whether iTrustCapital is ideal for an IRA investment depends entirely on whether their services meet your specific investment preferences. To understand that, compare your requirements with the positive aspects like lower fees and easy account setup along and the downsides like limited product variety and alarming complaints on BBB. 

This way, you can better evaluate whether iTrustCapital is your ideal IRA investment platform, allowing for a more informed investment decision. If you are seeking other options, take a look at the best precious metal IRA companies.

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