Common Mistakes When Blending Crypto & IRAs (And How to Avoid Them)

Let’s explore a hypothetical scenario to bring theory to life: Sarah is 45, has a Traditional IRA worth $200K, and is curious about allocating 10 % to crypto. Her broker doesn’t support crypto, so she’s debating whether to open a completely new crypto IRA or restructure her current plan.

She encounters One Account or Two? How a Crypto-Enabled IRA Fits Alongside a Traditional IRA, which gives her structured decision rules:

  • If she keeps one account, she needs a custodian that supports hybrid assets (stocks + crypto) with clean reporting.

  • If she uses two, she gains isolation but doubles administrative burdens.

Sarah runs models: if crypto doubles over 10 years, the tax impact is different depending on whether the growth happened inside a Roth vs traditional structure. The linked article helps her test different scenarios.

She also reflects on psychology. She knows herself: she’s tempted to shift crypto when prices swing. So she leans toward a separate crypto IRA to avoid “touching” her main account. The guide’s behavioral notes helped in that decision.

Sarah then vets custodians using the checklist from the article: security, fee structure, reporting quality, and asset support. She picks one and migrates $20K crypto into the new IRA, keeps $180K in traditional investments, and sets clear rebalancing thresholds.

Years later, as crypto experiences volatility, she is glad she kept the accounts separate. Her core retirement plan stayed steady, and she wasn’t tempted to overtrade. The case, fictional though it is, mirrors many real investors’ choices — and the reasoning aligns with the principles in “One Account or Two? How a Crypto-Enabled IRA Fits Alongside a Traditional IRA”.