Prime Trust Crypto IRA Set To Leave Beta as Bitcoin Volatility at Historic Low

Prime Trust’s IRA product comes less than a year after ForUsAll launched an investment vehicle that offers crypto exposure through 401(k) accounts

article-image

Blockworks exclusive art by axel rangel

share

key takeaways

  • The IRA offerings include options with exposure to bitcoin, ether, solana, litecoin, cardano and avalanche tokens
  • Prime Trust launched its beta crypto IRA in March

When Prime Trust launched its beta test for a crypto IRA product, the financial infrastructure firm said it was just following the money. The trend hasn’t changed, so the firm has moved forward with its official launch. 

“Half of US wealth is in retirement funds,” Sara Xi, chief product officer at Prime Trust, said. “Even if we have 1% penetration, we’re talking about $500 to $600 billion.” 

Prime Trust in March announced the launch of its beta program for the Prime Trust Crypto IRA, a first-of-its-kind retirement account with a single application programming interface (API). On Monday, the company said it was ready to offer the product to the public. 

The IRA offering includes traditional and Roth IRAs with options for exposure to bitcoin, ether, solana, litecoin, cardano and avalanche tokens. Market volatility has not deterred investors, Xi said, even for smaller tokens relative to bitcoin and ether, which are more commonly seen in traditional portfolios

“I think people need access to a diversified portfolio right when the market is not good,” Xi said. “Everyone is looking for all the different ways to diversify, and crypto might be volatile in the short term, but if you’re investing in a longer term, it’s a fairly attractive diversification vehicle.”

Security has been a top concern for clients, Xi said, and the product will offer a warm-hot storage architecture supported by multi-party computation technology.

The Prime Trust Crypto IRA is backed by the company’s institutional-grade financial API technology, Xi said, which includes compliance, custody, payment rails, crypto trading and settlement resources. The idea is to make it as easy as possible for business-to-consumer clients to offer the services, she added. 

Prime Trust’s IRA product comes less than a year after ForUsAll, a retirement investment platform for small businesses, partnered with Coinbase to launch its Alt 401(k), an investment vehicle that allows employers to offer crypto exposure through 401(k) accounts.

The news also comes as bitcoin finds itself in an unusual position: It is currently less volatile than major equities. For the first time since 2020, bitcoin’s volatility has dropped below that of both the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 equity indexes, according to data from Kaiko, so investors suffering from the market turndown might find some respite in crypto.


Don’t miss the next big story – join our free daily newsletter.

Tags

Upcoming Events

HYATT REGENCY SALT LAKE CITY

TUES, OCT. 8, 2024

Guided by the expertise of Blockworks Research Analysts team, this one day event will feature senior leaders, entrepreneurs, and developers from across the crypto industry. Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in an immersive experience to explore the latest trends, […]

Salt Lake City, UT

WED - FRI, OCTOBER 9 - 11, 2024

Pack your bags, anon — we’re heading west! Join us in the beautiful Salt Lake City for the third installment of Permissionless. Come for the alpha, stay for the fresh air. Permissionless III promises unforgettable panels, killer networking opportunities, and mountains […]

recent research

hivemapper.jpeg

Research

We believe crypto market participants overlook Hivemapper’s fundamental potential due to a poor understanding of both the niche map data market and Hivemapper’s positioning relative to incumbents. Hivemapper’s token model catalyzes both a cost and product advantage via unmatched map freshness and near real-time accuracy, which is its wedge into a market characterized by stale data and high data collection costs. Its current and potential future product suite may represent one of the strongest possibilities for PMF in crypto today.

article-image

As part of its 19b-4, the potential issuer included a correlation analysis of ETH that’s “substantially similar” to the BTC analysis done by the SEC before it approved the spot bitcoin ETFs

article-image

A greater focus on data availability sampling is top of mind, including additional work that layer-2s must do to become faster and more secure

article-image

The former FTX CEO was sentenced in a New York courtroom on Thursday

article-image

👨‍⚖️ SBF’s courtroom sequel: Plus, Coinbase’s legal loss was DeFi’s gain

article-image

Public mining companies have been acquiring sites, refreshing machine fleets and diversifying business models in preparation for the event