Crypto IRA fee calculator: what each provider really costs

How the numbers are worked out

The same five steps run for every provider, every year, so you can check any figure with a pocket calculator:

1. Money goes in on the first day of the year: the starting amount (first year only) plus that year's contribution.
2. Buying costs come out: any setup fee in year one, and the provider's purchase fee on the money just added.
3. The balance grows for the year at the rate you chose.
4. Extra trades are charged: each moves the share of the balance you set, at the provider's trading fee.
5. Yearly fees come out of the account: a custody fee or fund expense ratio on the year-end balance, and any flat account fee.

The engine is tested against hand-worked examples before every release. The full method, and what is left out, is on the methodology page.

Spreads. No crypto IRA publishes the size of its spread — the gap between the price you pay and the market price. Where a provider says a spread sits inside its price on top of the stated fee, the true cost is higher than shown. The results use published fees only, and the provider notes below say where that applies.

Fees billed outside the account. Unchained and Swan bill their account fees to you directly instead of taking them from the IRA. The calculator takes every fee from the account so that all options compare like for like.

ETF trading costs. The brokerages cited charge $0 commission online. An ETF's own bid-ask spread — usually a cent or two a share on the large funds — is not included.

Why the ETF baseline is in the table

Since January 2024 you have been able to hold bitcoin in a retirement account without a specialist provider: buy a spot-Bitcoin ETF in the IRA you may already have at a mainstream brokerage. No crypto IRA pays us to mention that, which is why most comparison pages don't. We include it because leaving it out would make every crypto IRA look cheaper than it is.

It is not the same product, and cost is not the only thing that matters:

The pattern to look for in your results: per-trade fees hurt most when you trade often or add money every year; a yearly percentage hurts most over long holding periods on a large balance.

Provider notes

iTrustCapital

• No setup, account or custody fee. The cost is 1% on every crypto purchase and every sale; switching from one coin to another is two trades.
• The fee page adds that “additional asset pricing fees may apply” and that execution prices include its fees. The size of any spread is not published, so the real cost may be higher than shown.
• $1,000 minimum to open and $500 for later deposits.

iTrustCapital website (opens in a new tab) · Fee page

Fidelity Crypto IRA

• No fee to open or maintain the account or for custody. Fidelity Digital Assets charges 1% on each crypto purchase and sale.
• Four coins only, and Fidelity lists state restrictions — check that it is offered where you live.

Fidelity Crypto website (opens in a new tab) · Fee page

Coin IRA

• 1.25% of each purchase and 1% of each sale. No setup, maintenance or crypto storage fee.
• $5,000 minimum and $75 to close the account.

Coin IRA website (opens in a new tab) · Fee page

Directed IRA (Gemini)

• $50 to open, $295 a year, and 0.50% per trade through a linked Gemini account — the 0.50% includes Gemini's own fee.
• A flat fee weighs most on a small balance: $295 is 2.95% of $10,000 but 0.3% of $100,000.
• $200 to close the account and $200 per coin to move assets out in kind.

Directed IRA website (opens in a new tab) · Fee page

Swan IRA

• Bitcoin only. 1% per trade, plus 0.02% of the balance a month with a $20 monthly minimum — at least $240 a year. The minimum is what you pay on any balance below $100,000.
• The monthly fee is billed to you directly rather than taken from the IRA. No setup, transfer or closing fee.

Swan IRA website (opens in a new tab) · Fee page

Unchained IRA

• Bitcoin only, held in a three-key vault in which you control two of the keys.
• $250 per IRA a year and 1.5% per trade. The yearly fee is billed to you directly rather than taken from the IRA.
• $2,000 minimum for each transfer, rollover or contribution; $150 to close the account.

Unchained website (opens in a new tab) · Fee page

Public Crypto IRA (formerly Alto CryptoIRA)

• Alto sold its CryptoIRA business to Public (announced November 2025); accounts moved across in April 2026. Alto Trust Co. remains the IRA custodian.
• 1.25% on orders over $500. Smaller orders pay a fixed fee that works out higher — for example $6.29 on an order of $250.01 to $500.
• Custody costs 0.05% of the balance a month, reduced by the trading fees you paid in that month, and waived for Public Reserve members. The calculator applies that offset month by month.

Public website (opens in a new tab) · Fee page

IRA Club (Coinbase Prime)

• $195 a year, 0.9% per transaction, 0.4% a year for custody at Coinbase, and $35 for each wire that funds the trading account.
• IRA Club's general fee schedule also lists $195 a year per holding and $100 per asset transaction. The crypto page does not say whether those apply to this account, so they are not included here — ask before you open one.
• $500 minimum cash balance and $325 to close the account.

IRA Club website (opens in a new tab) · Fee page

BitcoinIRA

• 2% on each purchase and each sale, plus 0.08% of the balance a month with a $20 monthly minimum — at least $240 a year.
• The fee page says the purchase price also includes liquidity-provider costs such as spreads. Their size is not published, so the real cost is higher than shown here.
• Leaving costs extra: $300 to close the account and 1% per asset to move coins out in kind.

BitcoinIRA website (opens in a new tab) · Fee page

Looked at and left out

• BitIRA. Says it charges a fee based on transaction value but does not publish the amount, and discloses a liquidity cost of up to 1% inside the price. Without a published fee it cannot be ranked.
• My Digital Money. Its fee page lists 1.70% per trade under $50,000, falling to 0.75% on large trades, while its FAQ describes a 0.9%–1.9% platform fee based on account size. Until its own pages agree, it stays out of the ranking.
• Choice. Publishes account fees (1% a year for custody with a $20 monthly minimum) but we could not find a current trading fee on its site.
• BlockTrust IRA. A managed account rather than a self-directed one: 2% a year plus 25% of profits above a high-water mark. It is a different product, so it is not ranked here.
• River, Coinbase, Kraken. We found no retail IRA product on their own sites.

Questions

Sources

• iTrustCapital: iTrustCapital fees page, Help centre: account minimums — checked 4 October 2026.
• Fidelity Crypto IRA: Fidelity Crypto IRA help page, Fidelity Crypto for IRAs — checked 4 October 2026.
• Coin IRA: Coin IRA pricing page — checked 4 October 2026.
• Directed IRA (Gemini): Directed IRA crypto fee schedule (PDF, © 2026), Directed IRA cryptocurrency page — checked 4 October 2026.
• Swan IRA: Swan IRA page (fee table) — checked 4 October 2026.
• Unchained IRA: Unchained pricing page, Help: how Unchained IRA fees work — checked 4 October 2026.
• Public Crypto IRA (formerly Alto CryptoIRA): Public fee schedule (PDF, updated 23 September 2026), Public help: Crypto IRA fees, Alto: sale of CryptoIRA to Public — checked 4 October 2026.
• IRA Club (Coinbase Prime): IRA Club crypto page, IRA Club pricing — checked 4 October 2026.
• BitcoinIRA: BitcoinIRA fees and services, BitcoinIRA help: what are the fees (January 2026) — checked 4 October 2026.
• Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF (BTC): Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF fund page — checked 4 October 2026.
• iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT): iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF fund page — checked 4 October 2026.
• Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC): Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF fund page — checked 4 October 2026.
• IRA contribution limit: IRS news release IR-2025-111: IRA limit increases to $7,500 for 2026.