$13B Custodian Launches Retirement Account Supporting Bitcoin

Kingdom Trust, a South Dakota-based financial custodian that manages more than $13 billion in assets, has launched a retirement account that supports legacy, alternative, and crypto assets.

The launch of the account “Choice,” follows the acquisition of Choice Holdings — a digital asset-focussed retirement account that was built by CoinShares.

Kingdom Trust already backs more than 100,000 retirement accounts and custodies over 20,000 assets including Bitcoin (BTC).

To incentivize sign-ups, Kingdom Trust will give $62.50 worth of BTC to the first 1,000 Choice account holders.

Custodian launches crypto-friendly retirement account

Speaking to Cointelegraph, CoinShares founder and Kingdom Trust CEO, Ryan Radloff, estimates that there are 7.1 million Bitcoin holders in the United States.

“By our estimates, there are 7.1 million Americans who own Bitcoin, have a retirement account, but currently don’t have the option to hold Bitcoin in their retirement account with their other assets,” said Radloff.

“What we are doing, is we are now opening up the ability to not just trade Bitcoin, but you can do digital assets or legacy assets like your stocks and bonds from one [retirement] account,” he added.

Bitcoin can be held in retirement accounts

Radloff stated that the Choice product was motivated by a desire to give people the option of investing their retirement accounts into alternative and crypto assets, allowing people to get out of “the Fed’s rat-trap.”

“When the [Internal Revenue Service] IRS decided to tax Bitcoin, consequently it enabled Bitcoin to be held by IRS and other qualified custodians that are regulated by the IRS and their state divisions. […] It directly enabled [Bitcoin] to be held by qualified custodians and in retirement accounts,” he said.

“Most of the Bitcoin community doesn’t even know that they can hold Bitcoin in their retirement account yet.”

“Right now, most of these Americans’ retirement accounts are sitting at some bank that is telling them that Bitcoin is too risky while at the same time forcing them to only own stocks or mutual funds,” Radloff continued.

“I’m mad as hell about that. So we’re out to do something about that, where you can have the choice to own Bitcoin or stocks and bonds from one account for the first time, so that we’re not just dictated by these banks to stay in the Fed’s rat-trap.”