iTrust Capital Review: Pros, Cons, and More

iTrustCapital has emerged as one of the bigger players in the realm of alternative investment solutions, particularly for those looking to diversify their retirement account with cryptocurrencies and precious metals. 

In a rapidly evolving financial landscape where traditional assets and stock markets are often juxtaposed with the volatile yet lucrative potential of digital assets, iTrustCapital has positioned itself as a bridge between the conventional and the contemporary. 

In our iTrustCapital review, we’ll delve into the platform's features, pricing, and potential areas for improvement, offering insights for anyone considering iTrustCapital. Let’s get started.

About iTrustCapital

A closer look into the company background reveals their executive team:

• Kevin Maloney - CEO
• Blake Skadron - CVO & Co-founder
• Trevor Gregory - COO
• Chris Franks - CFO

Based in Southern California, the company’s mission is to provide customers a low cost, transparent and user-friendly platform for investing in cryptocurrencies and precious metals through IRAs. 

When you invest with iTrustCapital, you're placing your trust in their chosen custodian, Fortress Trust. A highly rated self-directed IRA custodian, Fortress Trust is your assurance of meticulous asset protection and unwavering commitment to safeguarding your assets. This collaboration offers you peace of mind. 

When you decide to diversify your portfolio with cryptocurrencies and precious metals through iTrustCapital, you can be confident that your investments are in safe hands, protected by the expertise and integrity of Fortress Trust.

Visit iTrustCapital.com to learn more.

iTrustCapital vs Coinbase: What's the Difference?

The best way to understand how iTrustCapital works is to envision it as a mix between a precious metal IRAs company and a cryptocurrency exchange. On the front, you're provided with an over-the-counter platform that lets you buy and sell cryptocurrencies in your retirement account just as you would on Coinbase or any other cryptocurrency exchange..

But because the fees for each transaction tend to run a little on the high side, you might not want to use this for regular day trading and instead simply move capital from one token to another.

Depending on how you've set up the IRA account, whether it's a traditional or Roth IRA, you'll enjoy some mix of the perks that come with an Individual Retirement Account. For many crypto investors, this makes iTrustCapital a smarter option compared to buying and selling through a cryptocurrency exchange.

And, of course, the company is structured differently. If you've ever dealt with an exchange, you probably know that customer support leaves a lot to be desired. On the other hand, crypto IRA companies want to establish long-term partnerships with customers and have a considerably more individual and attentive approach here.

What Assets Does the Company Offer? 

Crypto

Crypto is one of its two main offerings, and it functions pretty standard as what you’ll find with some of their competitors. You can fund your account with a low investment minimum and then continue making regular smaller contributions through wire transfer and the like.

While an IRA rollover might be the preferred method, there isn't as much of a front-load emphasis on funding as you'll find with gold IRA companies. You can start a new account, or rollover a portion of an existing IRA or 401(k). The easy-to-use platform allows options as long as you stick to general IRA rules and contribution limits.

This will allow a far greater number of investors to open an account and invest in some crypto for the long-term. When it comes to token choices themselves, iTrustCapital, like any crypto IRA company, has to try and strike a balance between popular demand and sensibility. They aren't likely to take investment advice from customers.

We've seen a few high-profile crypto project collapses over the past few years to varying degrees, if nothing else than in price terms. Because of this, these companies have to be selective about their offering, which tends to wind up with them being accused of not having a particularly wide selection. 

With 30+ top tokens, it's definitely not to be dismissed. The company features most of the popular cryptocurrencies you'd expect to find, as well as a few exotic picks. The coins are listed in a very exchange-y feel on the website, likely spurring even more comparisons with standard crypto exchanges.

Here is the full list of what's currently available in terms of tokens:

Related: BitIRA Review - Best Crypto IRA Company?

Precious Metals

Before delving into what's available in terms of precious metals, it's worth noting that a lot of crypto IRA brokers don't even dabble in gold or silver. So this should primarily be seen as an added bonus rather than something to make or break the company.

That being said, the offering of precious metals that iTrustCapital provides won't be for everyone, namely if you're used to how gold IRA companies typically handle the assets. iTrustCapital's precious metals definitely have a blockchain feel to them. In essence, you're buying digital gold with physical backing from bullion stored in the vaults of the Royal Canadian Mint.

It might be fair to say that this isn't as good as having physical gold and silver in your IRA that is stored in the U.S. and therefore "closer to home." On the other hand, along with low and transparent premiums ($50 over spot), the metals available through iTrustCapital are also available for physical delivery.

This makes their metals offering very competitive even compared to dedicated gold IRA providers.

Click here to open a new account (free) with iTrustCapital today.

iTrustCapital Fees and Costs

The fee structure is transparent and appealing. There are no recurring fees to stay on the platform and the company states its commitment towards no hidden fees.

Custodial and storage fees, when present, can be pretty inconvenient and start from $100 to $200 annually. So, having these entirely absent will obviously be a plus for many.

Here is what's presented in terms of costs:

·        $1,000 investment minimum for both crypto and precious metals

·        1% fee on any cryptocurrency transaction, both buy and sell

·        $50 an ounce premium over spot for gold

·        $2.50 an ounce premium over spot for silver

·        Free account setup

·        No monthly fee

iTrustCapital Reviews

Even with the volatility of cryptocurrencies and the lack of preparedness on the part of many investors for the losses they might incur, iTrustCapital has a fairly clean review profile. On the Business Consumer Alliance (BCA) website, they have an AAA rating by the company and a 1-star rating by consumers.

However, this one-star rating is from just three consumer reviews, all of whom have a complaint that might not warrant such negative feedback. It’s important to note that iTrustCapital has more than 200,000+ active customers. To find three complaints with the BCA is low considering the number of people using the platform. More on that soon.

Google reviews show a 4.7/5 star rating based on 538 customer reviews. One 5-star reviewer commented: 

“Awesome customer service. Both Daniel and Trent went above and beyond with their service and ongoing communication with the account setup and keeping me up to date on status of the receipt of my transfer check. Account setup was extremely simple.” 

The Trustpilot profile of the company is by far the most visited, with as many as 2,750 reviews accumulated on it. The review profile is a little mixed, but heavily skewed to the good: 75% 5-star reviews, 14% 4-star ones and 6% 3-star ones.

The positive reviews are very much reminiscent of what you might see on a precious metals IRA company's page, which is a good thing. It affirms the notion that iTrustCapital's customer service functions more like a gold IRA company rather than a crypto exchange.

And indeed, plenty of customers note that they've had a friendly and knowledgeable representative assigned to them, which is certainly not something you can hope for from a crypto exchange.

Good or bad, the company seems to reply to every single review within 24 hours, which very much adds to its credibility. This kind of customer engagement is what you want to see from anyone you're trusting with your money, but all the more so when dealing in crypto assets that can leave a lot of people feeling as if they're swimming in open water.

Related: Gold vs Bitcoin - Which is a Better Investment?

iTrustCapital Complaints 

The two complaints on the BCA page both have to do with the assets taking too long to transfer and appear in the iTrustCapital IRA portal. In all fairness, there are several moving parts when it comes to transferring funds from one IRA to another.

Perhaps there are factors outside of iTrustCapital’s control that made the process take longer. Either way, you should review the BCA complaints and decide for yourself if these are red flags that would prevent you from working with this company. Likewise, the BCA website does give them a 100% customer satisfaction rating when it comes to responding to and solving complaints.

Elsewhere, customers won't hesitate to give them 1 star because a fee was charged for closing the account, which is another common practice when dealing with self-directed gold or crypto IRAs. The negative reviews focus almost entirely on functionality, along with complaints that have more to do with the crypto market than the company itself.

Not only is the negative feedback far from off-putting, but some of the 1-star reviews have been edited in the meantime with the customer expressing satisfaction, leaving a bizarre looking 1-star review with positive feedback. In general, nothing to dwell on too much when it comes to complaints, and it's very clear that the company tries to individually satisfy each of their customers.

Related: What is a 401(k) and How Does it Work?

iTrustCapital Pros and Cons

Pros

• 1% transaction fee (lowest in the crypto IRA space)  
• 200,000+ active users    
• Crypto platform with real customer support
• Various tax advantages for those trading crypto regularly as well as storing them over the long-term
• Very low investment minimum will open the platform to a wide variety of investors

Cons

The crypto market can be very turbulent, requiring risk tolerance for any kind of placement of retirement funds in these assets

Cold storage - How are Assets Stored?

Any reputable crypto IRA provider should offer its customers the option to store their digital assets offline, which iTrustCapital does. There is really no replacement for cold storage when it comes to assets of this type, and all the better if it's paired with insurance. This becomes all the more prominent when you're talking crypto IRAs, which are by definition meant to be a long-term savings tool.

When trading cryptocurrencies inside a tax advantaged retirement account, your assets don't generally need to leave cold storage. The trading, for the sake of convenience and security, is done through the use of the iTrustCapital platform collateral. Therefore, besides losses due to wrong calls, there isn't actually an elevated risk if you use the platform in the form of exchange hacks, account security compromises and so on.

iTrustCapital Review - Verdict

Any time you're reviewing a company with a crypto offering, there is a question that comes to the forefront: how much of the negative feedback is related to the company, and how much to the crypto market itself? Remember, this isn't gold: cryptocurrencies routinely leave hasty investors very dissatisfied.

In the case of iTrustCapital, most of the negative reviews have to do with either the crypto market or challenges in transferring funds to the new account.

What we're left with is an overwhelmingly positive customer feedback profile that makes iTrust Capital easy to recommend to those wanting to go even more alternative with their retirement investments.

The mix of relatively low fees, transparency, good token diversity, digital gold and silver with physical delivery and dedicated support is appealing, to be sure.

If you've traded cryptocurrencies but were left dissatisfied with how the platform treated you, or are a newcomer hoping to safely invest, iTrustCapital should serve you well in both the short and long-term.