CoinIRA Blog Archives | Page 2 of 38

May 20, 2022

Stablecoin Meltdown: What Happened?

It’s been a blistering spring for the 300-million community of crypto investors. Bitcoin (BTC) has gone underneath $31,000, the popular stablecoin UST has plummeted much lower than its peg of $1, and its sister token Luna has sunk to a sad number of three decimal places against the U.S Dollar. So, how’s everyone dealing with the current crypto breakdown? Not my first rodeo, you’ll hear veteran HODLers say and try to keep their cool. Experts in the business field, on the other hand, are somewhat frustrated but hardly surprised — they predicted this crisis as a direct side effect of the unfavorable macroeconomic environment. But new investors might get discouraged thinking that Bitcoin’s heyday is over. However, Bitcoin and its fellow crypto coins have demonstrated a Phoenix-like power throughout the years and have risen from their ashes time and time again, so this time it shouldn't be any different, right? Well, before jumping to any conclusion on the next crypto pitch — upwards or downwards, let's go through the main reasons for this crisis in the global crypto market. Starting with stablecoins!

What Are Stablecoins?

Stablecoins are a separate class of digital assets that came along with a clearly defined purpose to soften the volatility in the crypto trading arena. Similar to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, stablecoins reside on the blockchain, but their supply isn’t controlled by any consensus mechanism. Instead, stablecoins work with a centralized company in the back, which doesn’t limit their supply but must sustain the production of each newly-minted coin by adding another asset to a specific fund reserve. The backup asset is usually a fiat currency, such as USD, but it can also be a commodity like gold or even another cryptocurrency For that reason, we say that stablecoins are pegged to a single unit of another asset in a 1:1 ratio. So, the stablecoins’ price can’t explode and plummet as a result of the public mood. If they’re tethered to USD, their market value is 1 USD sharp or an amount around 1 USD. Being a border case between fiat and crypto, stablecoins are raising governments' scrutiny since the company running the stablecoin doesn’t usually let the backup fund rest in a bank account but invests it in other dynamic businesses for profit. Technically, this isn’t illegal, but it means that the company doesn’t maintain the necessary liquidity at all times, and hence, stablecoins have no value at all. However, they have turned out to be the moving force in the crypto trading industry. Stablecoins have made the crypto scene a more flexible ecosystem, which wasn’t possible with fiat currencies because of the slow and expensive crypto-to-fiat transfers. For example, the most popular stablecoin, Tether (USDT), is the third crypto by market cap and, believe it or not, the first in trading volume according to CoinMarketCap. However, remember that stablecoins aren’t a suitable investment material for HODLers and crypto-saving accounts since price booms aren’t on their agenda. Now let’s find out how Luna and UST made a plot twist in this stablecoin story.

The Collapse of Terra (Luna) and TerraUSD (UST)

The volatility of crypto-assets hasn’t been uncommon in the short but eventful crypto history. However, much of 2022 had been oddly quiet for the cryptocurrency market, and it stayed like that until one of the best-ranked stablecoins lost its stability. Out of the 100 circulating stablecoins, very few use algorithms as a backup instead of a tangible asset. Run by Terraform Labs company, UST is one of these algorithmic stablecoins that utilizes complex code combinations and LUNA to maintain continuous stability. More precisely, every time a UST token is generated, LUNA tokens of the amount of $1 are burnt and vice versa. This allowed UST holders to sell their coins in exchange for $1 of Luna, with a slight profit every time there was a threat for UST deppeging — going below the $1 standard. Since its launch in 2019, Luna has been a well-performing token with a steady rise and high rank on all relevant crypto charts. However, once the bearish climate started discouraging investors on a global scale, they started massively selling out their UST coins, which caused lethal inflation and devaluation of Luna. For illustration, at the beginning of 2022, there were 345 million units of existing LUNA tokens, and this number drastically jumped to 3.47 billion on May 12, only to hit an unbelievable 6.5 trillion units of Luna the very next day. Ironically, LFG (Luna Foundation Guard), the company responsible for adding collateral supply to maintain the UST peg, presented a recovery package whereby the foundation purchased a huge amount of bitcoins to be added to the treasury reserve, thus keeping UST alive. However, this was only a short-term plan executed at the wrong time — in May 2022, BTC wasn’t doing well on global markets, which led to additional negative outcomes for LFG. Eventually, major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum are bouncing back, leaving Luna as collateral damage in this market mess. Three days after the black May 12 (1 BTC = 28,000 USD), Bitcoin’s price rose by nearly 10%, while Luna ended up delisted from all dominant crypto exchanges.

Macroeconomic Factors

In the spring of 2022, the world faced interest rate rambles, rising inflation, and political instability due to the Russian-Ukraine war. This series of events triggered critical alerts among some investors that inflation in the post-pandemic era could impact global business development, including virtual assets. Interestingly, Bitcoin was designed to serve as a hedge against inflation on the market, but figures show that it didn’t stay immune to the painful shafts happening right now. From a psychological point of view, the general atmosphere tends to discourage investors from expanding their virtual portfolios amid insatiable times. However, experts didn’t change their estimations for Bitcoin’s future because of the momentary crisis. For example, Caleb Franzen, a market analyst for the world-renowned Cubic Analytics, asserts that Bitcoin will keep serving as an inflationary hedge in the years to come, despite the very close correlation between crypto and the traditional stock market.

The Bottom Line

There is no straightforward answer to explain the current crypto plunge — all listed factors contribute to building the public image as a driving force in establishing the prices of the circulating cryptocurrencies. The latest LUNA/UST debacle shows that we need a tighter framework for regulating stablecoins. Otherwise, they can easily take the Ponzi route without regular checkups and hence, negatively impact the upward growth of established cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin (LTC), ZCash (ZEC), and Stellar (XML). As for macroeconomic factors, we can’t control them, but we can definitely use them to our advantage. Bearish spells are the optimal time for buying stocks or cryptos as attractive financial instruments at a low price. For all other crypto-related questions, you can reach out directly to our Coin IRA team. They may be able to offer you some insight on current market conditions so you can decide what your best options are based on your risk tolerance and personal financial goals.

May 03, 2022

Coin IRA Announces New Cryptocurrency Self-Trading Platform

Coin IRA has been helping its customers establish Cryptocurrency IRAs since April 11, 2017. As we approach our 5 year anniversary, we're excited to announce the launch of our new Digital Asset Self-Trading Platform where our new and existing customers can SELF-TRADE cryptocurrencies inside their Cryptocurrency IRAs and also establish Individual NON-IRA Trading accounts -- with NO fees for setup, maintenance, or cold storage.

With our partner, Equity Trust Company, as custodian for both types of accounts, customers can invest with confidence knowing their digital assets are held by an industry leading IRS approved custodian with over 40 years of experience and $34B in assets under custody. All digital assets custodied by Equity are held in cold storage and insured against internal and external theft, physical loss and destruction, at no additional charge.

Choose the type of account you're opening, IRA or Individual.

You can set up your new Cryptocurrency IRA or Individual Custody Account in less than 5 minutes, and say goodbye to Coinbase and other platforms that complicate and limit your funds transfers and trading options. Fund your IRA with a transfer from an existing IRA or rollover from an eligible 401k (or other employer sponsored plan), and easily fund your Individual Non-IRA Custody Account for the exact amount you want to trade without limitation or delay, by wire, ACH or check directly from your checking or savings account.

With our platform's clear step-by-step instructions, customers can easily navigate the setup, funding and trading process themselves, but as always, Coin IRA's Cryptocurrency Specialists are available to provide a guided experience from start to finish. With no account fees and some of the lowest transaction fees in the industry, Coin IRA's commitment to its customers has reached a whole new level of customization and convenience!

Account-List-668x410 — Access multiple accounts under one login.

Dashboard-567x410 — Easily access an overview of your portfolio, trading and investment options from the dashboard.

Mar 21, 2022

How Many Ethereum Are There?

Cryptocurrency Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) are becoming increasingly popular thanks to the rapidly rising adoption rate of top cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). As the world’s first cryptocurrency, BTC has so far been the primary choice for crypto IRAs, but this is gradually starting to change. While BTC is strictly used as digital cash, Ethereum offers more versatility from a development perspective because it is a multipurpose cryptocurrency. The Ethereum blockchain is one of the largest crypto ecosystems on the market, with thousands of decentralized apps, DeFi platforms, and crypto tokens based on the ETH network. Crypto enthusiasts exploring crypto IRAs should definitely pay attention to Ethereum as a viable option to include in their IRA. Let’s take a detailed look at Ethereum to help you understand all the key characteristics of one of the most valuable cryptocurrencies on the market.

A Brief History of Ethereum

The Ethereum blockchain was launched back in 2015 by a team of crypto veterans and blockchain developers led by programmer Vitalik Buterin. The idea behind Ethereum was to create an open-source, nonprofit blockchain that provides users with much more than just digital cash services like Bitcoin and Litecoin (LTC). Instead, the Ethereum blockchain aims to provide developers with programming tools and resources for launching different kinds of tokens and platforms, such as DeFi apps, exchange platforms, staking protocols, crypto games, NFTs, and virtual marketplaces. The ecosystem was powered by the Ether token, which is used to facilitate all transactions on the ETH blockchain. The project was an immediate hit, as there weren’t any similar crypto projects on the market at the time of its launch. Other altcoins were mostly copying Bitcoin by providing virtual cash functionalities. Ethereum went much further by giving real problem-solving features to cryptocurrency and providing developers with free tech tools for developing platforms.

How Does the Ethereum Blockchain Work?

The ETH blockchain is a Proof of Work (PoW) blockchain, similar to Bitcoin in its basics. This means that the blockchain is fully decentralized, without any single authority or central server responsible for validating network traffic. Instead, all transactions are checked and validated by independent network nodes, i.e. Ethereum miners and their computers. Every transaction needs to undergo a rigorous validation process that requires miners to use their rigs’ hashing power to find the right hash for each transaction. When miners find the right hash, they present it to the whole network as proof of work and wait for additional confirmations before they add it to the next block of the ETH blockchain. This process consumes a lot of time and computing power, which is why miners earn a block reward of freshly mined ETH coins.

Ethereum’s Main Features

Smart Contracts

One of the revolutionary features of the ETH blockchain is the smart contract, self-executing, automated pieces of computing code that are created in order to perform certain tasks without the need for human supervision or participation. For example, a company can use smart contracts to automate the salary payout procedure for their employees, or a crypto exchange can use these contracts to enable trustless transactions between complete strangers. A smart contract operates on the basis of safe locks that make sure both parties need to fulfill their end of the deal before they can get the agreed-upon results. This way, when two strangers agree on an exchange of assets, both sides need to deposit the agreed amount of funds before they can get their share of the deal.

Decentralized Applications

Decentralized applications are the main utility of the Ethereum blockchain; however, without smart contracts, developers wouldn’t be able to create and launch dApps. These applications don’t use developer resources from centralized big tech companies that control all apps and platforms launched with their programming tools. Instead, Ethereum-based dApps are built with the help of the Ethereum programming language called Solidity and the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). DApps can be launched for all types of businesses and entertainment purposes, from decentralized exchange platforms like Uniswap (UNI) and DeFi protocols like Curve to NFT marketplaces like OpenSea and crypto games such as Axie Infinity (AXS).

Ethereum Tokens

Developer teams that want to quickly launch their own cryptocurrency as part of their dApp or DeFi ecosystem don’t need to create a whole blockchain from scratch. They can always use the Ethereum chain to launch a crypto token, thanks to the ERC-20 token standard. This token standard includes a set of rules and parameters for launching cryptocurrencies based on the ETH network, and it’s totally free. Anyone with some programming knowledge and a solid project can launch their crypto as an ERC-20 token. This was one of the most innovative features of the ETH blockchain when it was launched because before Ethereum developers had to either create a whole blockchain from scratch or fork an existing chain like the BTC network. Another very important Ethereum token standard is the ERC-721 standard, which is the token standard for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) built on the Ethereum chain. The ERC-721 standard paved the way for key NFT marketplaces like OpenSea and played a key role in the popularization of NFTs, which are exponentially growing in terms of popularity and adoption rate.

So, How Many Ethereum Are There?

Now that we’ve laid out the key characteristics of the Ethereum blockchain, let’s take a look at the numbers behind the Ethereum ecosystem.

Ethereum Supply

Ethereum is PoW-based crypto that’s going through a transition process to a Proof of Stake model where mining won’t be possible anymore. Until then, the Ethereum supply is constantly on the rise thanks to miners. The easiest way to monitor the current supply of ETH coins, along with the Ether price and market capitalization, is through the Ethereum page on Coinmarketcap. The circulating supply of Ethereum is well over 100 million coins, and the number is constantly increasing. There isn’t any ETH hard cap that regulates the maximum amount of coins, unlike Bitcoin, which is capped at 21 million coins.

Ethereum’s Performance in 2021

Ethereum’s GAS fees are known to be some of the highest on the crypto market, and this didn’t change for the better in 2021. In fact, Ethereum fees have only gone up thanks to the high influx of new ETH chain users. The fees are especially high during periods of high traffic when users compete with each other in so-called gas wars by setting exponentially higher transaction fees to get their transfer processed as fast as possible. The trend of sky-high gas fees is especially visible on the NFT market, which is dominated by Ethereum and received a huge increase in market cap during 2021. Around 41 billion USD worth of ETH was transferred in NFT related transactions. In terms of price action, 2021 was the best year so far for Ethereum since the coin managed to reach a new all-time high of 4,891 US dollars per coin. Although new dApp and smart contract centered blockchains like Solana (SOL) and Avalanche (AVAX) are becoming increasingly popular, Ethereum is still firmly dominating the market when it comes to smart blockchain networks with high interoperability features. Ethereum managed to constantly hold over 15% of the total crypto market cap throughout 2021, while the Ethereum mining figures remained within the optimal 18 million Ether annual amount.

A Few Ending Words…

The information about Ethereum presented in this post aims to provide you with relevant knowledge about the second-largest crypto on the market in order to enable you to make your own decisions on whether you want to include ETH in your IRA or not. If this article peaks your interest in exploring Ethereum IRA options, feel free to contact one of our Coin IRA crypto specialists at 888-998-COIN.

Dec 01, 2021

How Does Cryptocurrency Gain Value?

As the cryptocurrency market continues to outgrow itself with each passing year, more and more people and investors are drawn to crypto assets as a lucrative opportunity for making money. In the past few years, both small-time investors and high-rollers like investment banks have been attracted to the growing crypto market with the belief that the future of finance is unfolding on the frontiers of crypto space. But even in the midst of unparalleled growth, certain aspects of the crypto economy remain somewhat obscure. In this article, we will tackle one of the most important questions relating to cryptocurrencies: how does cryptocurrency gain value?

Why Do Cryptocurrencies Have Value?

In order to pinpoint how cryptocurrencies gain value, we should first take a look at why cryptocurrencies have any value in the first place. As you know, fiat currencies have value because they are sanctioned by state authorities that guarantee their purchasing power. Basically, a currency has value because you can exchange it to purchase goods and services. On the other hand, stocks and securities have value because they represent the goods and services that are available for purchase on the market. Company stocks, for example, gain value because there is a demand for the products produced by the company. Cryptocurrencies are a relatively new asset class that occupies the middle ground between regular currencies and stocks. They are not currencies in the regular sense of the term, because the purchasing power of a cryptocurrency is not guaranteed by any authority. They are also different from stocks because there may not necessarily be a product or service behind the cryptocurrency. For example Bitcoin, the most valuable cryptocurrency in the market, doesn’t represent anything but itself. It is an asset that has value because people think it is valuable. Of course, there are thousands of cryptocurrencies in the market with different specifics so it is hard to extrapolate why cryptocurrencies gain value in general. But it is possible to make sense of why certain digital currencies gain value whereas some others are considered less valuable than penny stocks if we take into account the most basic and foundational principle underlying most modern economies: supply and demand.

What Fuels the Demand for Cryptocurrencies?

In order to understand what fuels the demand for cryptocurrencies, let’s look at two of the biggest and most developed cryptocurrencies on the market: Bitcoin and Ethereum. Bitcoin and Ethereum are good examples because they are two very different types of cryptocurrency..

Why Is Bitcoin Valuable?

Bitcoin is generally considered an asset that is akin to currencies or gold because it is considered to have both exchange value and store of value. That means that Bitcoin can be used to purchase goods and services around the globe, but it is also considered an investment that keeps its value over a long period of time without being affected by economic ups and downs that can wreck the traditional asset markets, much like gold. In other words, Bitcoin gains value because people and institutions think the digital asset is - and will continue to be - valuable as a medium of exchange and as a store of value. That is mainly because Bitcoin has characteristics that make it useful and also valuable. Bitcoin is the first and the largest cryptocurrency, which means its network is wide enough to withstand hacks that threaten other smaller cryptocurrencies. It provides instant and fast value transfers across the globe that make it tremendously useful in a world where sending money across borders can be an economic and bureaucratic nightmare. In other words, Bitcoin has value because it emerged as an original solution to a widespread problem. Other altcoins with similar characteristics and goals as Bitcoin, on the other hand, struggle to gain as much value as Bitcoin because they are in competition with the original. Any one of these cryptocurrencies can beat Bitcoin to the top, if and when they provide better alternatives to it. In addition, there is a limited supply of Bitcoin. There will only ever be 21 million Bitcoins, so as demand increases, the value of each Bitcoin rises.

Why Is Ethereum Valuable?

Ethereum represents another variety of cryptocurrencies because Ethereum has a different promise than Bitcoin. Whereas Bitcoin is considered as an exchange and storage method for value, Ethereum is a platform for different services. Ethereum introduced smart contracts, the concept of executing automatic and direct transactions between parties without an intermediary, giving start to a flourishing DeFi industry. In other words, people think Ethereum is valuable because it offers a product that is valuable. It is another unique solution that opens new avenues for growth. While Bitcoin and Ethereum have different mechanisms, goals, and products, they both have something in common: these cryptocurrencies offer value to the world because they establish new ways of making things happen. They are innovative. They promise usefulness and they back it up with strong development teams and clear plans for the future, even though their roadmaps differ a lot due to their unique visions for the future. At the moment, these cryptocurrencies constitute the blueprint for many other crypto projects that try to follow in their footsteps, and luckily for us, they also provide a blueprint for us to understand why and how other cryptocurrencies gain (or lose) value.

How Does Demand Factor In?

For any cryptocurrency to gain value, there has to be a demand for that cryptocurrency. In the previous section, we explored how Bitcoin and Ethereum create such demand by offering unique methods to overcome the restraints of our current financial systems. But while vision and usefulness are the most fundamental components for a cryptocurrency to gain value, there are also other factors that play into cryptocurrency valuation. One of the most important aspects of valuation is information. There can be no demand for a product or a cryptocurrency if the public doesn’t have the necessary information regarding the value a cryptocurrency promises. That is why educational materials and marketing play a very important role in cryptocurrency valuation. News about the cryptocurrency industry, including news about crypto hacks, new regulations, crypto-related crimes and new business partnerships between cryptocurrency projects and established companies have a direct effect on cryptocurrency valuation, i.e. the value of cryptocurrencies. When companies like PayPal, Twitter or Tesla embrace cryptocurrencies, they signal institutional trust in these assets, increasing the reach of digital coins and increasing their value. In short, cryptocurrencies gain value based on both general and specific considerations related to the crypto industry as well as the specific cryptocurrency. Crypto-related news, opinions of prominent figures and industry leaders, and regulations on cryptocurrencies set the broader trends regarding crypto valuation, but each specific cryptocurrency gains value based on its own real or perceived merit. While some cryptocurrencies create demand by providing unique services and products, others take advantage of hypes and other marketing tactics to promote themselves and their value.

A Few Words Before You Go...

Investing in cryptocurrencies can be risky mainly because the cryptocurrency ecosystem is still in its infancy in many ways. There are many valid cryptocurrency projects that offer valuable products, but there are also numerous others that take advantage of the FOMO mentality to create artificial demand, which can result in great economic loss for many people. Learning about cryptocurrencies with an open mind while keeping a critical outlook is a must when it comes to crypto investments. If you are interested in cryptocurrencies, we invite you to contact our Coin IRA specialists who can help you make informed decisions about crypto ownership and investments so that you can sail ahead without worrying about scams and missed opportunities

Oct 14, 2021

Why Are There So Many Cryptocurrencies?

If you have yet to get your feet wet in crypto, we are here to tell you that the crypto market is a vast space. It is inhabited by millions of users who operate with a seemingly endless variety of assets. As most new users delve into the crypto market, they are immediately astounded by the sheer number of offerings available to them. There are dozens of assets, exchanges, and platforms with all kinds of purported use cases and promises of profit potential. Thousands of cryptocurrencies are vying for the liquidity and attention of users while striving to become the top crypto coins, each attracting users with anything from elaborate tech-focused advancements to simple investing tactics that aim to convince users of revolutionary specs. While this is the case, there are only a select few, for example, Bitcoin and Ethereum, who have proven their performance and utility over time. But why are there so many? If there really is value in crypto, then shouldn’t there just be a couple of main competitors? As it turns out, not so much. The diversity of cryptocurrency offerings isn’t actually a sign of their inherent purposelessness, but rather of the very reason why they are so transformative.

The Technology of Cryptocurrency

One of the main reasons there are so many cryptocurrencies is because of the puzzle that Bitcoin left to the world after the infamous Satoshi Nakamoto dropped the blockchain bombshell in 2008. With the onset of Bitcoin came the introduction of blockchain technology to the world. While Bitcoin was controversial due to its ties to the dark web and anonymous payment concerns, the real value was in the trustless system that worked in the backend. All blockchains are limited by three main factors – scalability, security, and decentralization. Blockchain service offerings have made incremental progress in these areas over the years, but the tech is still in its infancy. The existence of these limitations has been stimulating developers in the industry to create their own blockchains, each offering varying degrees of advantages over others. The limited throughput of the Bitcoin network led to the development of Ethereum, whose limitations, in turn, have led to the development of other blockchains like EOS, TON and others. This new digital currency offered a way for ordinary people to conduct transactions outside of any third-party regulation. It showed how efficient a transaction could be, in addition to inventing a new mode of recording these transactions and improving privacy and security. The concept of “trustless transactions” was completely new to our way of dealing with the world. It used technology as a way to ensure that two parties can exchange value without relying on trust alone in a genuinely intriguing manner (see description of blockchain here). This technology, however, is complex and not easy to master. This is why so many cryptocurrencies have been developed - because they believe they are adopting the proper approach and methodology to this intricate future tech.

The Market Factor

Another important factor that has led to the increase in the number of blockchain cryptocurrencies is human nature, which was encouraged by entrepreneurship and the search for profit by market demand. The law of supply and demand governs the crypto market like any other, so when Bitcoin made its first major debut in late 2017, people rushed to start buying the new asset in order to try their hand at this mysterious new technology. Many of these people understood the basics of Wall Street assets and applied the same methodology, while others saw more utility and wanted to bring real value to the world (such as Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin). Satoshi knew that the technology itself was still not fully developed - which is actually one of the main reasons many people speculate that he released it. Blockchain and the concept of worldwide digital assets is a deep, complex, and nuanced problem. It requires new and creative approaches. It needs to go through the gauntlet of capitalism in order for the most powerful, scalable, and efficient version to be created.

Proving Their Worth

Cryptocurrencies, while relatively volatile, are an important progression for humankind. The advent of smart contract technology along with the Internet of Things (IoT) is poised to revolutionize every industry on the planet ranging from logistics to banking. It has the capability to help developing nations more easily develop their GDP while also helping us to better track and optimize our resources. The sheer number of cryptocurrencies is a natural byproduct of this new, exciting development in society. Many of these projects, unfortunately, exist just to make money off of the space. But, importantly, many of them exist to help contribute to pushing the science of digital currency forward. Ethereum is pioneering smart contracts; Grayscale is helping to establish trust in the space, and Coinbase was even listed on NASDAQ this year! With that being said, don’t let the massive number of cryptocurrencies fool you. Cryptocurrencies are a serious asset class, and the large number of digital assets that are available is simply a byproduct of the space fleshing itself out and finding its place in our fast-moving and rigid technological world.

Ready to invest in Crypto?

If you are ready to invest in cryptocurrency, look no further than our cryptocurrency specialists at Coin IRA. They can help both newcomers and more adept participants in crypto learn more about how cryptocurrency can add value to long-term retirement plans. Buying, selling, trading, and storing Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies inside a Crypto IRA is safe and easy with the help of Coin IRA’s experts.

Sep 30, 2021

Who Can I Trust to Open a Crypto IRA?

Saving and investing are as old as the capital markets. They have existed in different forms since man learned how to trade. Whether for a house, kid’s college, a new car, general comfort, or even a weekend party, financial planning is a crucial part of our financial lives. How well we execute our savings and investment plans are the backbones to sustainable living and a happy future.

Introduced in the United States in 1974, Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) are tax-advantaged accounts you can use to save and invest for retirement. IRAs are provided by Internal Revenue Service (IRS) approved financial institutions, including brokerage firms, mutual advisors, mutual funds, and banks. They include a wide range of options, limitations, dividends, and penalties depending on the type of IRA or action performed within or outside the specified period.

Understanding IRAs and How They work

In planning for your retirement, you’re very likely to be familiar with or come across retirement plans with different names. For example, IRAs specifically refer to Individual Retirement Accounts that aren’t tied to an employer; you establish these types of accounts yourself with the help of a financial institution of your choosing acting as custodian or trustee. On the contrary, 401(k) plans are employer-sponsored plans offered by for-profit companies that you would open through your employer, and 403(b) plans are U.S. tax-advantaged retirement savings plan available for public education organizations, some non-profit employers, cooperative hospital service organizations, and self-employed ministers in the United States

Types of IRAs

No matter your income level, you should always keep your retirement plan in mind when making your current financial decisions. Obviously, an earner with higher income usually has more disposable income, and can take full advantage of the funding options, but anyone can contribute any amount up to the allowable limit. Let’s take a look at four main types of IRA and how they work.

Traditional IRAs: Contributions to a Traditional IRA defer income tax on the amounts you contribute until they are distributed to you after age 59 ½. The IRS sets the allowable annual contribution limits based on your age. Contributions are usually tax-deductible (consult your tax preparer) and withdrawals will result in a 1099 at the end of the year in which you took the distribution. You’ll then claim that income on your tax return for that tax year.

Roth IRAs: In Roth IRAs, contributions are made with after-tax dollars, and if left in the IRA for the requisite time period, withdrawals after retirement are tax-free. Eligibility to contribute is based on your income level (consult your tax preparer), and contribution limits are the same as for a Traditional IRA.

Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) IRAs: SEP IRAs are typically used by small business owners, freelancers, and entrepreneurs to make retirement contributions for themselves and their employees. SEPs have higher contribution limits and other requirements that make it necessary for you to consult your tax professional before moving forward.

Simple IRAs: In a Simple IRA, employees make direct contributions, and employers are required to make a matching contribution for the employee.

Cryptocurrency IRAs: The astronomic rise of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies during the past couple of months has been ascribed to many variables. From institutional investor acceptance and investment, rapid digitization, mainstream acceptance, and even the pandemic, one thing is certain — the Bitcoin revolution is no longer a Generation Z or Millennial euphoria. It has transcended age groups. By outperforming stocks, bonds, and the most traditional asset classes like gold and oil, cryptocurrencies have continued to break and set new all-time highs in 2021.

Of course, the aim of having an IRA is to plan for the future by saving and investing in the best interest-yielding reserve assets. Historically, stocks, bonds, annuities, and mutual funds have been the go-to assets. However, with many more people now favoring Bitcoin as a reserve asset, digital assets are increasingly popular in retirement accounts. Cryptocurrency IRAs are self-directed IRAs that allow individuals to invest in cryptocurrencies inside their retirement portfolios.

Are Cryptocurrencies IRAs Legal?

In 2014, the IRS classified cryptocurrencies as property, qualifying them for IRAs.

Choosing a Cryptocurrency IRA

Some people are skeptical about a Bitcoin investment because of its perceived volatility. However, there are two questions you should be asking: First, is the rapid adoption of cryptocurrencies by the biggest companies in the world a coincidence? And second, how much scrutiny would a sizeable company do before investing in this new digital asset class?

Choosing a Cryptocurrency IRA is a decision that requires proper research, education, and some degree of familiarity with the asset. However, its never too late to start planning for your future, and you can start now. Before trusting a Crypto IRA provider with your retirement funds, here are a few questions you might need to ask yourself and the IRA provider:

Does the Crypto IRA provider have experience and a strong reputation?
Do they provide excellent customer service?
Do they provide expert assistance with the transfer from my existing retirement account?
Can they answer all my questions to my satisfaction?
Can I quickly trade in or out of a crypto investment?
How secure is the crypto stored inside my IRA?

Coin IRA

Coin IRA is one of the pioneering companies in the United States offering Cryptocurrency IRAs.

There are many advantages to working with Coin IRA, but primarily is the wealth of experience they bring to each and every customer and the professional relationships they have established that customers benefit from – from reputable custodians to the top cryptocurrency exchanges. The Coin IRA website offers users and potential customers key information about cryptocurrencies, setting up an IRA account, and proactive customer support to answer questions and guide you through the process.

Coin IRA allows you to fund your IRA from an existing 401(k), Traditional, Roth IRA, SEP or Simple IRA, or to establish a custodial non-IRA account. With Coin IRA, cryptocurrency assets are securely locked away in military-grade cold wallets, protecting your digital assets from malicious attacks or loss.

Ultimately, Coin IRA saves you time, stress, and money by offering you an expert-assisted self-directed Cryptocurrency IRA, guiding you each step of the way. Coin IRA has built genuine trust with partners and account holders over the years. Visit coinira.com today to find out more!

Sep 23, 2021

The Undeniable Future of Blockchain Cryptocurrencies

It has been almost 15 years now since the inception of cryptocurrencies from the Bitcoin revolution back in 2008. Since then, the crypto space has gone through a roller coaster ride of regulatory issues, price fluctuations, and new innovations. Throughout this time, though, many institutions have begun to catch on to the underlying value that these digital currencies bring to the table.

This value comes from the revolutionary innovations that blockchain created. While many people are focused on the different cryptocurrency investment options and trading possibilities, the real driver of value has always been the underlying blockchain technology. Leading institutions such as Goldman Sachs and other major financial players are now all-in on cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, with one representative stating “We’ve crossed the line now…because of the underlying technology that’s coming.”

In order to understand why cryptocurrencies are here to stay, it is important to understand the basics of this underlying tech:

Blockchain and Decentralization

Bitcoin’s value stems from the overall bias of society that desires to keep strangers away from their personal data and assets. Currently, banks operate under a single, centralized ledger that is owned and operated under a single corporation, governed by a small group of individuals. As you can tell, this requires some serious trust in these strangers.

In 2008, the weakness in this approach was laid bare for all to see, and the housing market crash ruined the United States’ economy. If you haven’t learned about how this occurred, the flaw was trusting small groups of people and individuals to verify transactions and ensure they were able to be executed. Houses were bought with money that didn’t exist, and the homeowners could not afford their monthly payments. With this happening consistently, the market was bound to snap – and it did.

Enter Bitcoin

After this crisis, Bitcoin brought with it the concept of “trustless” transactions, among other innovations. This simply means that there is no trust involved in a bitcoin transaction, as the exchange of value is stored, publicly visible, and verified by multiple parties with an incentive to ensure its proper verification. Therefore, blockchain enables two “untrusting” parties to engage in a transaction without the need for a moderator. Additionally, it distributes the control of the system to the entire community, removing centralized power structures and essentially creating the “decentralized” system it has become known for.

Mass Adoption Is Happening

As you can see, blockchain has the ability to radically reform the way in which our society handles and approaches money. At its core, it provides the rails for which many current fintech innovations are able to operate at their highest level – digital wallets, DeFi exchanges, encrypted data, smart contracts, etc. These tools all have the ability to comprehensively modernize supply chains across the world in industries such as logistics, finance, healthcare, investing, real estate, and much more.

Huge corporations have been actively researching this technology, and recently, have begun serious efforts to implement blockchain into their current infrastructure. According to a 2021 survey conducted by the Bank of International Settlements, 86% of central banks are actively researching the potential for CBDCs, or central bank digital currencies. This includes Sweden’s Riksbank, The Bank of Canada, and even the European Central Bank.

The cracks in our current infrastructure have been exposed, and many big players are realizing that this technology is going to be a part of our future for a long time to come. Cryptocurrencies are here to stay, and they are only going to continue to gain mass adoption as an investment asset as the underlying technology continues to revolutionize the world we live in.

If you are ready to invest in the asset class of the future, you can reach out to a cryptocurrency specialist at Coin IRA to learn more about how you can add cryptocurrency to your long-term retirement plan. Buying, selling, trading, and storing Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies inside your IRA is safe and easy with the help of Coin IRA’s experts.

Sep 16, 2021

Tax Benefits of a Cryptocurrency IRA

Cryptocurrencies make a great investment but just like stocks and bonds, they are subject to capital gains tax. However, if you invest in the cryptocurrency inside a Cryptocurrency IRA, and depending on whether you establish a Traditional or Roth IRA, your tax liability is limited to income tax, not capital gains.

There is no question that cryptocurrencies have been booming in 2021, with their overall market valuation now over $2.3 trillion. That's a nearly three-fold increase from a market that was worth less than $800 billion at the end of 2020. A similar boom occurred back in 2017, and while the market suffered a mild retraction afterward, it was soon back in the green.

Large rallies such as these are often criticized for their sharp corrections, but in the long-term, prices have been shown to enjoy exponential growth. In fact, over the past ten years, Bitcoin has been proven to be more profitable than any other investment on the market. For this reason, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin look set to make great long-term investments, particularly as a retirement hedge against deflationary fiat currencies.

Death and Taxes

When speaking of retirement investments, one can't help but think of Benjamin Franklin's famous quote: "Nothing is certain but death and taxes". That’s certainly applicable to both cryptocurrency and almost all retirement plans, as both are subject to taxation.

Back in 2014, the IRS officially declared that Bitcoin and certain similar digital assets would be deemed property, and therefore subject to capital gains tax. This gives the government the right to claim a percentage of any profits made through cryptocurrency investing, just as it would with stocks and bonds.

Fortunately, the same rule also deems that you can reduce these taxes by investing in cryptocurrencies using a self-directed IRA, and either defer the taxes until distributions from the IRA are taken, or in the case of a Roth IRA, potentially eliminate taxes on gains entirely. This can be done in a number of different ways, each providing significant tax benefits which we will discuss here.

Taxes on Cryptocurrency

Reducing or eliminating the amount of income tax you have to pay on your cryptocurrency investments is the key advantage of using a Cryptocurrency IRA. Many new investors in the cryptocurrency space are unaware of the amount of capital gains tax they have to pay on their investments, and often get caught out at year-end for not properly reporting their profits.

If you intend to hold your crypto investments for a long time in order to maximize profits, then a cryptocurrency IRA is the ideal way to reduce your tax overhead. In addition to the handsome tax savings, you aren't required to report any individual transactions made within your IRA, eliminating the need to keep detailed records of your investment activity.

With the tax deferral benefits of a Traditional Cryptocurrency IRA, you can maximize the profits you make by deferring the distributions from the IRA until you are no longer working, and earning substantial income, when you most likely would then be in a lower tax bracket. Having your cryptocurrency inside your IRA also helps you to avoid panic selling or spending on frivolous purchases, although buying and selling cryptocurrency inside your IRA can be accomplished quickly with a simple phone call.

Cryptocurrency IRA Taxes

With a self-directed Cryptocurrency IRA, you can choose either a Traditional IRA or a Roth IRA. These are the two most common types of IRAs, and they each offer significantly different tax benefits.

In short, with a Traditional IRA, you make investments with pre-tax dollars but pay income tax when you take distributions. If you wait until you are at least 59 1/2, you will avoid the penalties associated with early withdrawals. With a Roth IRA, you contribute after-tax dollars and are not taxed on the growth provided the Roth IRA is held for the required period of time (talk to your tax professional about that). Depending on your investment strategy, these options offer different advantages.

As long as you are working and earning income, you can contribute to your Traditional, Roth, SEP or SIMPLE IRA. The IRS sets the amount you are eligible to contribute annually each year. For a Traditional or Roth IRA, the amount of your eligible annual contribution is based on your age. For 2021, if you are under age 50, you can contribute $6,000 annually, and $7,000 annually if you are 50 or older. You can also rollover funds from an existing qualified plan, or transfer funds from an existing IRA, without limit. SEP and SIMPLE IRAs have different rules and contribution limits, so it would be a good idea to talk to your tax professional if you are interested in these more complex options. In any event, you can truly capitalize on the early growth of cryptocurrencies by getting started as soon as possible, and ultimately mitigate the tax liability by utilizing a Cryptocurrency IRA, generational wealth is entirely possible by investing now and investing wisely.

Diversification

Another one of the key reasons that some investors choose a Cryptocurrency IRA is diversification. While traditional stocks and bonds may seem like safer options, they typically offer relatively conservative returns compared to cryptocurrencies. If you look at the investment portfolios of some of the world's most famous investors, you'll see that they always rely on diversification to ensure they have an equal balance of risk and safety. This requires keeping a large percentage of funds in a low-risk fund while also taking advantage of riskier investments that offer potentially higher returns.

By diversifying a portion of your existing retirement fund into a Cryptocurrency IRA, you can take advantage of Bitcoin or other crypto's spectacular returns while keeping the majority of your investment in a less volatile environment. Additionally, new evidence suggests the cryptocurrency market is becoming less correlated to traditional stocks, offering a potential safe haven in the event of a financial crisis.

Reduce Your Taxes Today with a Cryptocurrency IRA

Investing in cryptocurrency has proven to be a highly profitable choice for thousands of companies and individuals around the world. When investing through a safe financial product like an IRA, you not only receive beneficial exposure to the price gains but also the security of a well-trusted and licensed custodian.

Coin IRA provides an easy method of investing in cryptocurrency via an IRA. You can do this in several ways: by rolling over all or part of an existing 401(k) into a Cryptocurrency IRA; transferring all or part from an existing IRA into a Cryptocurrency IRA; or making your allowable annual contributions to your Cryptocurrency IRA.

Call a Coin IRA cryptocurrency specialist today at 888-998-COIN to find out how you can benefit from this promising new investment opportunity.

Aug 26, 2021

How to Read Crypto Charts

Learning how to navigate and read cryptocurrency charts is of utmost importance when users are starting off as traders. It usually takes them a while before they familiarize themselves with the crypto lingo and terminology. Cryptocurrency charts aren’t vastly different from other standard charts that you are used to seeing, however, there are some aspects in which they differ, especially when it comes to tool features. Traders have to learn to navigate the stock screen and trades in real-time. Sometimes, data will be arriving at a breakneck pace, so taking some time to focus on chart reading will go a long way, especially when the numbers start piling up. So, are all crypto charts the same? Are they all created equal? Not necessarily. Let’s take a closer look.

Crypto Candlestick Charts and How To Use Them

Crypto charts can be navigated by following the movements that occur when a cryptocurrency changes its market value in relation to its price during a certain period of time. Charts can help predict in which direction a cryptocurrency will go, based on its history. There is no sure way of knowing, but it gives traders an insight into where the price has been and how it has developed. This way, even though they don’t tell us for sure what tomorrow will bring, traders can try to base their decisions on something tangible. There is really no way around it: if you are serious about engaging in crypto trades then you’ll have to learn how crypto charts function. By learning how to navigate crypto charts, you will be able to recognize and act on market shifts and alterations, research the trajectory of any coin, and dive into the technical analysis (TA).

The Two Types of Candlesticks

There are bearish candlesticks and bullish candlesticks. Candles are indicated by rectangles, known as the real body, along with a point, known as the wick. The wick’s color depends on the market trend at the moment. The candle’s color is determined by the market's direction. If the candle is green, then the current price is higher than what it used to be during the opening of the trade - which is categorized as a bullish candlestick. If the candle is colored red, then the current price, or closing price, is lower than the opening price. Red signals a bearish candlestick. Should both the opening and the closing prices remain the same, then the candle will appear as a horizontal line in the time selection. Cryptocurrency candlesticks can be customized according to preference so that users can make them as wide or as narrow as they like when calculating their moves. The charts can display any timespan you’d like to see - be it the past 5 minutes, the previous month, or the currency’s trajectory in the whole of last year.

Volume

Volume bars indicate the amounts of trading volumes that have gone down during a certain period. The higher the number of trades and the more lucrative the deals, the longer the bar representation volume will be. Green volume bars represent a growing interest regarding a certain digital asset, while red volume bars represent a drop in interest regarding the cryptocurrency in question.

Cryptocurrency Analysis Tools

Candlestick prices are used as tools to navigate how the market is going to move so that traders can settle for a certain approach or trading strategy. Analysis tools, on the other hand, provide an analysis of a given data set. When prices and volumes are on the move, the user can take advantage of such tools to read the market and decide whether now is a good time to pull the trigger by making an informed decision. At first glance, you might feel like they’re asking you to fly the Millennium Falcon because most crypto chats do appear intimidating. It’s easy to get lost in the endless parameters, analysis tools, charts, and portfolios, especially when you’re trading through multiple exchanges at the same time and switching between various accounts. However, most crypto trading platforms will offer the option for chart customization, so make sure to set up a chart that suits you and to remove all the unnecessary parameters that would otherwise distract you. Don’t worry, you can always bring them back should you need to in the future. If you happen to be a new trader, you might be asking yourself which of these parameters to keep and which ones to hide. This is where chart trading tools come in handy. We’ll give you a head-start with our favorite - TradingView.

TradingView

TradingView is essentially a social media platform where traders from all over the world gather to take a look at the raging ball of fire that is cryptocurrency. TradingView is available as a desktop chart or as a mobile app for those that make quick moves and like to keep their business hub in their pocket. The platform began its journey as a stock scanning chart, but it soon expanded to accommodate the seemingly infinite number of digital currencies. TradingView offers users insight into multiple cryptocurrency exchanges, so that they can compare and analyze in great detail.

The Crypto Fear and Greed Index

There is also the Fear and Greed Index. This is a very interesting metric that displays how invested traders have been in a trade by charting their fear and greed. It has an overview that informs traders which emotion is dominating the market at any given time and provides a database of archived charts that can be set to display specified days, weeks, months, and even years. The platform collects, stores, and integrates data from a myriad of sources and then draws conclusions from trader actions and reactions. The extreme fear metric shows how concerned investors are in regards to a certain digital asset. This usually intensifies when the currency in question will start dropping in value in a short time span. Should many currencies start dropping in value, users will notice that the graph line on the platform will rise above a value of 80. A steady climb is an indication that the market is driven by greed. The Fear and Greed Index has found its legs because the market is driven by emotions. Although it seems like a nebulous metric at first, it definitely has its place when navigating the latest market developments that unravel on an hourly basis.

In Closing

Knowledgeable crypto traders will always have the upper hand, no matter the circumstances. Luckily, it looks like there will be more and more opportunities for traders to try out new approaches and become well-informed traders with some time and practice. It all comes down to who wants to put the work in. As a trader, you don’t have to know absolutely everything under the crypto sun in order to make a profit. However, knowing how to read a chart or two might be the difference between having a long career as a crypto trader and losing all your assets to the point of throwing in the towel. If you want to learn more about Cryptocurrency IRAs and the ways that investing in crypto can benefit your retirement savings, contact Coin IRA today. Our representatives have plenty of experience helping investors like you make cryptocurrencies part of their investment portfolios. What are you waiting for? Start your cryptocurrency journey by contacting Coin IRA today.

May 13, 2021

How to Invest in Cryptocurrency: 401(k) Rollover to IRA and More Techniques

An Individual Retirement Account (IRA) provides you with an alternative to a 401(k) and offers a wider range of options to invest your savings. When planning for retirement, many people choose to conduct a 401(k) rollover to a Cryptocurrency IRA because it typically delivers better returns than other accounts. There are various types of IRAs, the most popular being traditional and Roth, which operate in similar ways but offer different tax benefits. For those who want more control over their investment choices, a self-directed IRA gives you the power to choose exactly where your money goes. A Cryptocurrency IRA is a type of self-directed IRA that provides exposure to the exciting new digital asset class of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Ethereum. Over the past few years, Bitcoin has enjoyed incredible gains, making it the most profitable asset of the past decade. With a Cryptocurrency IRA, you can benefit from these excellent returns by investing a portion of your IRA into Bitcoin and other profitable cryptocurrencies. Just like a standard Self-Directed IRA which commonly invests in other types of alternative assets such as real estate or precious metals, a Cryptocurrency IRA can be directed towards a variety of digital assets. With the confident backing of the IRS that deems cryptocurrency as property, American's can safely invest in this powerful and promising new asset class. When purchasing cryptocurrency through an IRA, you get the full backing of a trusted, third-party custodian that holds the assets for you. This ensures that your investment is always protected to the highest safety standards, leaving you free to enjoy life with the knowledge that your retirement is secure. There are several methods of funding a Self-Directed IRA, including a rollover, a transfer, and annual contributions. Here we'll look into the various benefits and disadvantages of each option.

401(k) Rollover (or other Employer Plan to IRA)

One of the easiest and most popular ways to fund a new Cryptocurrency IRA is a rollover from an existing 401(k) or similar qualified accounts, such as a 403(b) or Thrift Savings Plan. When changing jobs, many people choose to roll their existing employer-sponsored plan to an IRA because it offers significant tax savings and better investment opportunities. A rollover typically involves transferring the money from your old employer plan, such as a 401(k), into a new IRA, after which you can diversify it into a wide variety of investments of your choice, including cryptocurrency. Once your new IRA account is set up, the rollover request can often be accomplished online or with a phone call to your employer plan administrator. Should you only wish to move some of the funds out of your employer plan, you can also do a partial rollover if the plan rules allow for that. The IRS has something called the "IRA One-Rollover-Per-Year Rule", which can be restrictive depending upon the way the transaction is completed. Coin IRA's IRA Specialists are experienced in working within these kinds of IRS rules and will structure your rollover accordingly. In most instances, your previous plan administrator will transfer the funds directly to your new IRA account.

IRA Transfer

An IRA transfer involves sending funds from an existing IRA to a new IRA. This can be a full or partial transfer of funds. The funds are sent directly from your existing custodian to the new IRA custodian after your new Self-Directed Cryptocurrency IRA account is established. In the case of a Cryptocurrency IRA, you would need to convert any existing stocks or bonds to cash before initiating the transfer. Once the transfer is complete and your new account is credited, these funds can then be used to invest in cryptocurrency assets in your new IRA. With a trusted cryptocurrency custodian taking care of your assets, you won't have to worry about the complex technical aspects of storing cryptocurrency.

Annual Contribution

As long as you are earning income, you can also fund your cryptocurrency IRA through eligible contributions determined by the IRS according to your age. You simply make your annual allowable contribution or any portion of it using your earnings or any savings you have. You can do this directly from your personal checking or savings account. Payments needn't be yearly but can be done to your own preferred schedule, whether weekly, monthly or spontaneously, as long as you don't exceed the limit for your age. These are known as annual contributions because the amount you can put in is given a yearly limit by the IRS. For 2021, the combined value of all your IRAs is limited to a maximum contribution of $6,000, or $7,000 if you're over 50. However, if you choose a Roth IRA your annual contributions may be further limited based on your filing status and income and if you're married, whether you file separately or jointly. Even if you already participate in a retirement plan through your employer, you are also free to contribute to an IRA of your choice. In some situations, this could limit the amount of taxable deduction you're allowed but still gives you exposure to the excellent returns that a Cryptocurrency IRA can offer. Your CPA or tax preparer is the best person to advise you on contribution limits based on your income level, marital status, and filing status.

Discover the Benefits of a Cryptocurrency IRA Today

With a Cryptocurrency IRA, you can diversify your retirement fund beyond just cash or equities and take advantage of the full potential of this exciting new asset class. Coin IRA provides an easy method of investing in real, non-derivative cryptocurrencies through the safety of a Cryptocurrency IRA. To learn more about the benefits of starting a Cryptocurrency IRA, contact Coin IRA today.