Alto IRA Review - Is It a Legitimate Crypto IRA Company?
Alto IRA is a highly praised platform where you can open a self-directed IRA and use your retirement savings to invest in cryptocurrency and other alternative assets.
Best for Tax Advantages
Highlights:
- Tax-deferred growth
- Over 200+ coin options
- Transparent fees
- Secure storage
Overall Rating 4/5
Fees
Investment Options
Ease of Use
Customer Service
Pros & Cons
Pros
- No fees for setting up your account
- No fees for account management
- You can invest in over 200 different cryptocurrencies
Cons
- There is a 1% fee for trading crypto
- There aren’t crypto staking rewards
An IRA is an Individual Retirement Account, which is a special form of pension that can be invested into as a fund for your later retirement.
The concept of an IRA isn’t anything new, but the idea of one that is invested into with cryptocurrencies and other alternative assets is quite new.
Typically, it has always been cash instead. This might lead some people to hesitate before setting up a crypto-based IRA, and that’s understandable.
After all, crypto can have its own pros and cons. For benefits, it has a potential for growth in the long-term that can really pay off.
On the other hand, it’s a risky thing to invest into, because it’s so volatile. A crypto can lose value very suddenly, giving you losses.
That’s a big thing to gamble with a retirement fund. However, there are a handful of platforms where you can open crypto IRAs, and they typically provide some form of help and guidance to help minimize the risks of the crypto investments.
A crypto investment should always be thoroughly analyzed beforehand, to lessen the risks. And if the investments work? They can be very rewarding.
So, is the popular and trusted Alto IRA going to be a good platform for those who want to open a crypto IRA?
We’ve got all the information you could need in our detailed review below, where we’ll look at the features, benefits, and disadvantages of this service. Read on!
Quick Summary
Service: Crypto IRA
Custodian Fees: 1% per trade
Promotion: No current promotions
About Alto IRA
Alto IRA is a platform that was set up to help users invest in crypto, especially with their IRA. In fact, they offer over 200 different cryptocurrencies that you can invest in, and they use integration with Coinbase to help you do so. Coinbase is a well-known crypto exchange platform.
Alto also offers 24/7 trading, so that you don’t have to ever miss a trade that you’ve analyzed carefully and feel has reduced risk.
They also make sure their fees are transparent up front, so that you shouldn’t be blindsided by any shock fees once you’ve made the trade.
Alto IRA also prides themselves on their security, which is especially important when it comes to crypto, since it’s a digital currency.
Crypto and digital assets are held in institutional-grade cold and hot storage. Any cash funds, on the other hand, are maintained in FDIC-insured accounts.
Alto IRA Services
Alto IRA is one of the more popular ways to open a crypto IRA, as well as a cash-based IRA, thanks to its ease and security. They offer a variety of services to users:
- Alto CryptoIRA lets you invest crypto in your IRA, and it’s tax-deferred
- Alto IRA lets you make alternative investments to diversify your portfolio
- Over 200 cryptocurrencies for you to invest in
- 24.7 trading
- Tax benefits, including no crypto capital gains tax
- Your assets are securely stored
CryptoIRA
The key service that Alto IRA offers is their CryptoIRA, where you can use the savings of your retirement to trade over 200 different types of cryptocurrency.
Through the Coinbase crypto exchange, Alto lets you buy and sell an enormous range of crypto, giving you a great deal of choice on which ones you think are going to be risk-free and profitable.
These 200+ cryptocurrencies include major ones like Ethereum, Bitcoin, Dogecoin, as well as Solana and dozens and dozens of others.
There is 24/7 real-time trading offered, too, so there isn’t ever a point where you’re not going to be able to make a trade or an investment in the crypto of your choice.
There is an investment minimum of $10, but that’s low, and there are also no monthly account fees to pay for the CryptoIRA.
However, there is a trading fee for every crypto transaction you pay, and that’s 1%. This isn’t too bad, and the benefit is that it’s fixed, no matter how big or small the investment.
It’s a transparent fee that you can be aware of from the very start, avoiding any nasty fee surprises later on. On top of that, there is also a tax advantage to this IRA, since you should be able to avoid crypto capital gains taxes.
On top of that, there can be other tax benefits.
Educational services
Crypto is a risky business that you need to fully understand before making investments. You should only make investments when you’ve analyzed the cryptocurrency in question, and to do that you need to have some kind of experience and knowledge in crypto.
As a result, Alto IRA does offer some level of education and guidance. On their website, they offer brief explanations of the 200+ cryptocurrencies, so you can familiarize yourself with them.
On top of that, they also have a dedicated support team on hand who can help you with some issues. The team isn’t just anyone either, but people who truly are interested in crypto.
With that being said, we don’t feel there is quite enough educational support offered by Alto IRA, particularly when compared to other crypto IRA services.
We’ve seen other ones, such as My Digital Money, which have loads of guides on crypto and its history, highlighting the point of it and helping you to become better at analyzing the risks or rewards of certain cryptocurrencies.
Alto IRA Fees
Alto are very transparent about their fees, so that users don’t have any nasty shocks whenever they make an investment. Their fees are quite fair, too.
For the Alto CryptoIRA, there is no monthly account fee at all, nor a custody fee. Whenever you make a crypto trade, however, there is a transaction fee of 1%.
This remains the same across investments of every size, so no matter how big or small your investment is, 1% of it will go to Alto.
With that being said, there is a fee for closing your account, and that’s $50. On top of that, outbound wire transfers also cost money – $25.
If you open an Alto IRA, on the other hand, where you can invest in alternative assets (such as real estate, crypto funds, venture capital, private companies, and more), there are fees.
For example, there is an account fee of $10 a month, or $100 if you pay for a full year up front, giving you a small saving. I
t also has the same account closure and outbound wire transfer fees as the CryptoIRA listed above, but also features a “partner investment fee” of $10. This fee is for the expense of each time Alto executes an investment on behalf of you.
In better news, there is no custody fee per month.
FAQs
Can You Trust Alto IRA?
As the reviews have shown, Alto IRA offers an easy to use platform for IRA investment in either crypto or alternative assets.
Compare To Other Companies
Lowest Fees
iTrust Capital
- Straightforward, easy-to-use platform.
- Trades settle within 5 minutes.
- Services operate 24/7.
- Offers live chat and phone support.
Best Overall
Bitcoin IRA
- Trusted, US-based company is an industry pioneer.
- Effective way to avoid many tax penalties when trading cryptocurrency.
- Transferring funds into your bitcoin IRA account is simple and fast.
- The platform is intuitive to navigate and includes a robust knowledgebase.
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Alto IRA Reviews & 3rd Party Ratings
Alto IRA has enjoyed positive reviews from both customers and 3rd party sources. Customers have especially praised the easiness of the platform and how simple it is to make trades.
On top of that, they also say that the customer guidance and support is excellent, and some even say that the transaction cost is reasonable.
As for 3rd party reviews, it also scores highly. It’s praised for the lack of account setup and management fees, as well as the wide (and growing) range of cryptocurrencies that you can pick from for investment.
Final Thoughts
Alto IRA is a well-praised crypto-based IRA with 200+ crypto for investing in.
Best for Tax Advantages
Best for Tax Advantages
Meet the tax-free way to invest in crypto. With a crypto IRA, you can use your retirement savings to buy, sell, and trade 200+ coins and tokens directly through Coinbase.