Bitvest IRA Review
If you have a retirement account you want the best for it. Because it is the money you could pile up through your entire career.
You have found this post because you want to learn about Bitvest IRA.
Is it a legal custodian you can trust, or another scam that can drain your retirement savings? We will also talk about what other alternatives are out there that may offer you a better investment solution for your retirement savings.
Company Background
Bitvest IRA is an investment company owned by Bitvestmint LLC. The company has been up and running since 2014, and it can’t have much experience by looking at the short history of the company.
Bitvest IRA offers people to invest their 401k or IRA to potentially high-earning cryptocurrency assets. These assets can be Ethereum, Bitcoin, or most other major cryptocurrencies. These crypto-based accounts are called Bitcoin IRA or Ethereum IRA accordingly.
I was checking company website and guess I have found what on their homepage:
“Bitvest IRA has formed a strategic relationship with Madison Trust Company. A government approved and regulated chartered trust company.”
This statement sounds a little fishy. It looks that Bitvest IRA is using another company’s credibility or accreditation to improve its own credibility.
I would much rather want to see on the homepage from what trusted 3rd parties Bitvest IRA is accredited. It could give me more reason to believe what Bitvest IRA is offering.
I mean even the Bitvest IRA website doesn’t build trust and connect well with the potential investor.
When you land on the site, you feel it is built by a random developer in one afternoon. If it was an affiliate website or local restaurant, yeah this type of web design and architecture could be fine. However, if a company wants to attract millions of dollar business, it should look more serious.
You may be thinking why does web design and overall site experience really matter? Isn’t it the quality of the company we should be judging?
I would say if a company doesn’t even spend some good time and budget for an easy task, how could they achieve more important tasks like management of crypto IRA accounts.
What cryptocurrencies can you invest in?
You may be thinking if it is a crypto investment company there should be tens of options if not hundreds.
You are wrong. You can only invest in Bitcoin since it is the only option offered by the company.
A lot of investors like the diversify their assets by investing in different types of cryptos. However, this is not an option if you plan to invest with Bitvest IRA.
I would much rather work with a cryptocurrency investment company that offers a wide variety of cryptos that allows building a more versatile and complete type of portfolio.
Testimonials
Another important thing that really bugged me the celebrity images they have exhbited on their homepage.
These people don't say anything positive about Bitvest. They only talk about their expectations where BTC can be in the future. However, in the first look it gives an impression like these are the people endorsed Bitvest.
In reality, most people don't even bother to read what is written there. They take as a positive testimonial and assume if it is endorsed than it is fine. I mean come on guys, I bet those wealthy people are not even aware they have become the victim of some young investment companies marketing campaign.
Yes, there are some random testimonials on their site but it gives me the impression they all are written by the same guy.
Crytpo Mining Background: Better they didn't mention it.
According to the company site, the company comes from the cryptocurrency mining background. It would be much better they didn't remind us that since we all know what kind of exit scams crypto investors had to deal with BTC mining companies.
Again according to the company site, they have mined thousands of BTC under their mining crypto mining company BitVest Mint.
Problems with Investing Bitvest IRA
I did some quick research expecting to find essential information about the company but I couldn’t. It is unclear
- Who owns the company?
- What fees applied?
- Are there any testimonials?
- Lack of overall information
- Why should I prefer Bitvest IRA while there are many reputable companies that exist?
It is mentioned on the company site that starting to invest with Bitvest IRA is easy. However, they immediately switch by mentioning that the entire process is executed by their partner(Madison Trust Company). They say you will have checkbook control over your retirement assets once you start working with them. We all know this is already the final stage, not the starting.
There is no step by step instruction how the entire process will work for a potential Bitvest investor.
Questionable Discount Policy
Bitvest promises to apply a certain amount of discount (%10 – %20) from the current price of the GDAX exchange. Why is it a range instead of a certain amount?
And what conditions investors should meet to benefit from the discount?
Also, even after the discount, you would probably not get the best offer you can possibly get. Because GDAX is owned by Coinbase and it is not the most affordable option of purchasing Bitcoin anyway.
Cryptocurrencies are already relatively higher risk investment instruments in comparison to gold and other traditional assets. By investing in cryptocurrencies you hope to grow your initial investment faster while taking greater risks.
We know that cryptocurrency investment has its own risks. Being said that, you definitely wouldn’t want to take extra risks by working with a company that is not transparent with you.
In my opinion, the non-existence of all vital information described above are all red flags.
If you want to diversify your 401k or IRA with cryptocurrency assets, I would recommend you work with a company that has more reputation and trust behind it.
Should you trust their storage?
When you make a large amount of investment in Bitcoin (or any other crypto), you need to plan how you will store it in advance. If you make a simple Google search you will find many reputable crypto exchanges either get hacked or they claimed to be a hacked exchange.
Hence, you need take preventative measures before you move money into Bitcoin. If you have a really small symbolic amount of investment in Bitcoin then it would be fine to keep on the exchange or in some wallet online.
However, you should definitely store your crypto assets in cold wallets. Cold wallets are the physical devices pretty much like data storage devices. They are dedicated to storing cryptocurrencies in an isolated environment without it exposing online risks.
Is there any cold wallet offered by the Bitinvest?
Bitvest doesn't offer a cold wallet. If you invest with the company, you will need to find your own cold wallet to store your assets.
Here is a quite shocking excerpt from the company page:
“Your first 1/18th of your purchase will be delivered after 180 days has elapsed and another 1/18th will be delivered each and every month until you have received your entire purchase. Note: disbursements are sent the first and third Thursday of each month to the Bitcoin wallet address provided by the customer.”
It would really not practical to follow up with any investment if so many by being have to in touch with multiple entities.
By looking at all the above reasons, I would say, find yourself an investment company that is around a longer time, completed more transactions, and has a solid reputation.
📞 Customer Support
The company provides an email and phone number that you can contact for your questions. That being said, I couldn't see any live chat on the website.
The major concern they didn't mention how fast they will resolve your support requests. Many high-quality investment companies promise to respond &resolve possible problems in 24 hours or 3 days etc. Not knowing when your issue will be handled is a concern.
⚠️ Is Bitvest IRA a Scam?
It is not a scam, however it is not likely the best option I would go for. There are many questions in my mind that could be clearly explained on the company website.
It is the type of business that doesn't have much experience in the market and doesn't build solid trust with the potential investor. I have no idea who owns the company it's about the page not even bothered to mention it.
There is really no owner mentioned on either the BitVest IRA page and that can raise suspicion (you just want to invest with a company that is crispy clear about its processes).
They sell you BTC then they leave you alone when it comes to how to store it safely.
I have found some piece of evidence about Bitvest Digital Mining can infact have a real owner. However, take that evidence with a pinch of salt since it may/may not be true.
Reviews of Other Users
The general experience of other people does matter when deciding if companies are offering high-quality services.
It is also equally important to check reputable 3rd parties to understand what is mentioned about those businesses. If the trusted 3rd parties rate the company well it may be a quality signal.
However, I couldn't find sufficient data that may help us to better understand the company.
Final verdict on BitVest IRA
The company is pretty new in the investment space. We all know what kind of consequences can potentially happen if you had to deal with the new businesses that didn't prove themselves yet.
Yes, they offer a discounted BTC but still, you need to have your storage solution. If you have to roll your IRA to BTC with this company you may need to work with a few companies at the same time to manage your investment.
